Request for Proposal: Global Salary and Benefits Review

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) is requesting proposals for a consultant to evaluate our current salary scale and benefits offerings globally for equity, appropriateness, and transparency. A description of our organization, the services needed, and other pertinent information follows. Please submit proposals by July 30, 2022. We will be making decisions shortly thereafter.

Background of IRAP

IRAP is a dynamic and growing legal and policy advocacy organization that works to develop and enforce a system of legal and human rights for refugees and displaced people around the world. We are the leading organization providing free and comprehensive legal services to people in need of a safe place to live and a safe way to get there.

IRAP operates offices in the U.S. (New York City, Washington, D.C.), Jordan (Amman), Lebanon (Beirut), and Germany (Berlin). Our legal and advocacy teams work closely with a corps of pro bono lawyers from 75 leading law firms and multinational corporations, and law students who have created 29 IRAP chapters across the United States and Canada. Through this work, we aim to assist refugees and other displaced people to find safe passage and to transform the landscape of refugee rights. IRAP has over 100 full-time staff members. We are an adaptive organization staffed by an innovative and collaborative team that is committed to high standards of quality and close partnerships with our clients, peers, and colleagues.

IRAP is currently undergoing growth and geographic expansion, and this audit and redrafting of our salary scale and benefits offerings is part of that process.

Background of Salary scale and benefits assessment and review project

In the next five years, IRAP plans to grow to approximately 160 staff across our existing 5 offices in 4 countries and possibly open offices in new geographies or make hires through secondment or contractors in other places in the world.

IRAP developed its first salary scale in 2018 and revises the scale annually. IRAP is committed to being an employer of choice and an ethical and equitable employer for all of our staff. As we have grown geographically and in numbers in many of our offices, we have observed that it is challenging internally to assess all of the factors needed to create competitive and equitable compensation packages for all of the roles in our many offices.

This assessment and revision project will have two parts – the first will be to perform an audit on our current salary scales and benefits. The second part of the project will be to suggest revisions to the scales and our benefits offerings in both substance and structure to remedy any deficiencies and support our growth with a clear and transparent system for evaluating changes to the compensation structure.

We envision this assessment project happening in three phases.

Phase one, to be completed between June and September 2022, will be an assessment of current salary and benefits offerings in all of IRAP’s offices. This will include review of relevant documents, which will be provided, as well as the opportunity to interview leadership and human resources staff in all of IRAP’s offices who are involved in compensation and benefits to assess what gaps and opportunities exist.

Phase two of the assessment, to be completed from September until November 2022, will include research into compensation structures at other organizations as well as research into the options available in all of IRAP’s office locations. THe result of this research and the phase one assessment will be a written report on options and recommendations for IRAP’s salary scales and benefits packages, which the Human Resources department, along with the leadership of each IRAP office and the IRAP leadership team will review. The Human Resources Department will get back to the Consultant with the options that we would like to engage with further.

In Phase 3 of the project, From December 2022 until February 2023, will involve redrafting IRAP’s salary scales and working with local teams to revamp benefits offerings as needed. New salary scales should be completed by March 1, 2023 in order to facilitate budgeting for fiscal year 2023 as well as to inform IRAP’s labor contract negotiations, anticipated to take place in late 2023 and early 2024.

Methodology and Scope of Work

Expected Deliverables Phase 1

• In consultation with the IRAP lead team (see above), determine what information needs to be gathered, and what staff or external providers need to be interviewed. IRAP will provide existing salary scales, benefits summaries, collective and bargaining agreement.
• The “Audit” portion of the report should be preliminarily complete by September 1, 2022, and a draft should be made available to the HR team for review. The audit report should contain sections evaluating:
  • Total compensation package assessments for all roles at IRAP
  • Comparison between total compensation packages within IRAP offices, with special attention to inequities
  • Comparison between total compensation packages within local geographies
  • Assessment of local policies or conditions that may disproportionately impact the compensation of some staff (for example taxation or expenses that disproportionately impact immigrant staff)

Expected Deliverables Phase 2

• Report containing audit, external research, and recommendations
  • Finalized version of the audit from Phase 1
  • Distilled research on how other organizations and companies equitably manage compensation strategies across similar geographies and in similar industries
  • Assessment of local and industry norms
  • Recommendations for changes to IRAP’s salary scale structure and benefits packages
• After the Report is assessed by IRAP staff and advisors, Human Resources will report back to the consultants on which options and recommendations IRAP will elect.

Expected Deliverables Phase 3

• Revised salary scale and structure to include new or revised documents articulating compensation and benefits philosophy, as well as details of salary scales.
• Assist staff at all IRAP offices to standardize benefits packages per the new compensation philosophy
• Transparent guidance on how IRAP can ensure that its compensation structure should be revised going forward including assessments of cost of living, changes in IRAP’s budget, and more.

Qualifications

• Team or individual consultant with extensive international experience in assessing and creating compensation structures
• Demonstrated experience building equitable compensation structures for NGOs/non-profits
• Strong preference for consultants based in Jordan, Lebanon, or Germany.
• Education: certification or degree in human resources and/or non-profit management preferred
• Ability to work efficiently and responsively in a multicultural setting
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience in design, layout and creative presentation a plus

Requirements for Proposal

In responding to this request, please:

1. Provide a resume(s) for the consultant or consultant team who will be working on the project.
2. Please provide a cover letter that includes your experience with similar projects. Please detail your experience in compensation and benefit structure assessment and design including details related to regions you have worked on, particular experience with international, law-related, and non-profit workforces, and your experience applying principles of DIversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA.) Describe how you will approach the assessment, including meeting the proposed deadlines.
3. Set forth your fee proposal including a budget for travel or special technology or communications needs and other expenses.
4. Provide references that could speak to your qualifications for conducting the assessment.

Please email your proposal materials to: [email protected] by June 30, 2022. Questions can be directed to: Crystal Adams at [email protected].