Consultancy for Liaison and Administration in Thailand

Call for application

The Norwegian Refugee Council is seeking a consultant to support on the registration process of NRC in Thailand, liaison and administration. The consultant is expected to guide NRC through the administrative and legal requirements for the registration, channels of communication with the contracted law firm and with the stakeholders. The consultant is also expected to plan and manage the temporary office space and short-term visits from NRC staff.

Terms of Reference

Consultancy Liaison & Administration Support

Position: Liaison and administration Support

Reports to: Country Director Myanmar

Supervision of: –

Duty station: Bangkok, Thailand, home-based contract

Travel: –

Project number: MMFM2313

Duration and type of contract: 12 months, consultancy contract

Grade : Grade 6 equivalent (consultancy contract)

All NRC consultants are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships.

The consultant is personally responsible of ensuring access to documents including NRC handbooks and guidelines on intranet, and other information necessary to the post.

1. Consultancy Assignment Background

The ALAR (Asia and Latin America Region) for NRC comprises a diverse range of country programmes across a vast geographical area. ALAR Office is based in Head Office covering: Latin America and Asia. The operating environment is varied, encompassing a complex and multi-faceted set of humanitarian and recovery response needs in several countries.

To better respond to the needs of displaced populations in the region, NRC is setting-up a Regional Office in Thailand. The consultant will be responsible to coordinate and implement the registration process for NRC in Thailand as well as to support the process with an administrative role.

2. Objectives and Scope of Work

The purpose of the consultancy is to ensure the adequate, timely and complete submission of the necessary documents and other tasks with regards to the registration process of NRC with the Royal Government of Thailand. The consultant guides NRC through the administrative and legal requirements, allowing the correct understanding of the requirements and channels of communication with the contracted law firm and with the RTG stakeholders. The consultant also supports the planning and management of the temporary office space and possible short-term visits from NRC staff.

Specific tasks:

1. Establish efficient communication, cooperation, and close working relationship with the authorities of the Kingdom of Thailand to ensure that NRC has a legal presence in Thailand.
2. Liaise with relevant Government Departments and the NRC legal representative to ensure that NRC regional registration is completed and kept updated, that NRC staff will be able to work in country supported with visas, work permits and other administrative requirements.
3. As and when delegated by NRC Country Director, representing NRC with the Thailand Government and authorities, attending possible meetings and ensuring translation, if necessary.
4. Lead and coordinate all communication and requests with the legal representative hired for the registration process.
5. Advise NRC on legal changes in the Thai National law, as well as on opportunities for collaboration with the National and Local authorities, being the focal point for engagement with the Thailand Government.
6. Support the NRC Office space management and administration supports office administration tasks such as liaison with the bank, dealing with staff expense reports, managing day to day office management.
7. Manage substantive outputs including regular reporting to Thailand administration.
8. Advise and assist the NRC regional office in Thailand reporting requirements to the Thailand Government as required
9. Support the organization of and the support to missions to Bangkok of delegations from the HO, RO and COs in the sub-region.
10. Additional relevant tasks as assigned by the Country Director

3. Critical interfaces

• Country Directors and Heads of Support/Programme in the sub-region: support and coordinate all documentation needed to ensure regional presence in Thailand.
• ALAR Senior Sub Regional Adviser: support and coordinate with ALAR and HO in Oslo all documentation needed to ensure regional presence in Thailand.

4. Institutional and organisational arrangements

Intellectual property

NRC will own the intellectual property rights to all materials submitted by the consultant under the contract. The consultant must therefore ensure that they have possession of any materials provided to NRC as a part of the deliverable. The rights to reproduce the reports will fall to NRC and its contracted agents. NRC will be free to reproduce the materials at will and to grant reproduction rights.

Duties of the consultant

The consultant shall produce the expected tasks and deliverables listed above as per the agreed timeline with NRC. Any anticipated delays shall be duly notified at least a week before any given deadline.

The deliverables, before translation in Thai language as appropriate, shall be submitted in Microsoft Word format, in UK English. All text shall be unformatted. Graphs or other graphical devices shall be editable (i.e. not pictures). All references must be cited according to convention, and detailed in a bibliography, using the Harvard system as set out in the UNESCO Style Manual. All verbatim quotations must appear in quotation marks, and must not be of excessive length. All data collected under the consultancy must be submitted with the deliverables, in a widely recognised format such as Microsoft Excel.

Everything submitted to NRC must be the original work of the consultants. Any plagiarism in any form, or any other breach of intellectual property rights, will automatically disqualify the consultant from receiving any further payments under the contract by NRC, and NRC will seek to recover any payments already made.

The consultant shall follow the Ethical Research Involving Children (https://childethics.com/) guidance on the ethical participation of children. In addition, all participants in any study or other interaction will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the interaction and their requested involvement. Informed consent must be obtained for any photographs, audio or video recordings, etc., in accordance with NRC’s policy on consent.

Duties of NRC

NRC shall cover the costs related to any meeting, field visit outside of Bangkok required for the completion of the tasks and mutually agreed between NRC and the consultant in advance. Quotes for such expense shall be submitted in advance and approved by NRC as per the procedure indicated to the consultant. Any expense incurred by the consultant with prior and written approval by NRC will not be reimbursed.

As requested by the consultant, NRC shall facilitate access and contact for the consultant with the legal representative and any other stakeholder the consultant will need contact within the framework of this agreement.

5. Qualification of the consultant

Experience and Qualification:

• University degree in business administration, international relations or another relevant subject;
• Minimum 1 year of relevant experience in similar roles in guiding and managing relevant administration for humanitarian and development contexts
• Experience working in an office management role;
• Experience of government or other institutional relations in Thailand. Experience with representation with government, UN, and donor audiences for coordination, an asset

Context/Specific skills and knowledge:

• Strong organisational and independent working skills
• Strong coordination skills specifically with the ability to effectively coordinate with local partners and among internal team members (technical, finance, management).
• Planning and delivering results
• Excellent interpersonal and communication and networking skills, including the ability to relate across different organisational functions, structures, levels, and cultures.
• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office, etc.).
• Legal right to work in Thailand
• Fluent in Thai and English (both written and spoken).

***Important Note***

Consultants are self-employed and work independently from NRC, they are liable for their own tax, VAT to local authority, social security payments, health insurance, sick pay. The Consultant accepts and acknowledges that they are solely responsible for complying with all applicable taxation and social security laws and regulations. The Consultant accepts and acknowledges that NRC will not carry out any tax or social security deductions on behalf of the Consultant or make any tax or social security payments related to the Consultancy Agreement.