ZSL Consultancy Request for Proposal – M&E Audit

ZSL invites you to submit your proposal for a new M&E Audit consultancy job.

Scope of Work

ZSL (Zoological Society of London) is an international conservation charity working to create a world where wildlife thrives. From investigating the health threats facing animals to helping people and wildlife live alongside each other, ZSL is committed to bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction. Our work is realised through our ground-breaking science, our field conservation around the world and engaging millions of people through our two zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

ZSL is currently receiving funding from The UK Government’s Forest Governance Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme. The project aims to drive transparent, legal and sustainable forestry practices through financial, market and governance incentives. The tropical forestry sector has the potential to positively contribute to economic and social development and reduce poverty through improved stewardship of forest resources, and associated protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The primary tool used to facilitate this engagement has been ZSL’s SPOTT initiative, through engaging key producers and traders of tropical timber and their influencers in the finance sector, civil society, and government, while encouraging the adoption of appropriate policies on legal and sustainable forest management and trade.

SPOTT is a free online platform supporting sustainable commodity production and trade. By tracking transparency, SPOTT incentivises the implementation of corporate best practice. SPOTT assesses commodity producers, processors and traders on their public disclosure regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. SPOTT scores tropical forestry, palm oil and natural rubber companies annually against over 100 sector-specific indicators to benchmark their progress over time. Investors, buyers and other key influencers can use SPOTT assessments to inform stakeholder engagement, manage ESG risk, and increase transparency across multiple industries.

Project interventions are being evaluated against the impact, outcome and output indicators set out in the project logframe. The Results Framework provides means of verification for progress and provides targets against a given baseline (where possible) throughout the project. The project’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework has been designed to support effective implementation and measure progress toward the project outcome, using the Results Framework to support adaptive management and ensuring lessons learnt from past activities are integrated into ongoing project delivery. This rigorous M&E is crucial to ensure the project achieves its aim, satisfies internal and external scrutiny regarding ZSL’s impacts and demonstrates value for money to funders.

The grant period comes to an end on 31st December 2022. ZSL is looking for a consultant to evaluate the impact of the project to support conclusions drawn in the final report and provide recommendations for improving the M&E system for use in future grants.

Tasks

• Evaluate the project’s Theory of Change (diagram and narrative) and Logframe to determine if the project design is well-structured to deliver the intended impact
• Review the current M&E system against the project Logframe, including the M&E procedures and impact metrics recorded to evaluate if the M&E system is robust
• Sample results from ZSL SPOTT M&E reporting and review evidence of results from project team
• Identify gaps and provide recommendations for improvement of M&E system for use in future grant rounds
• Provide an overview of project impact as well as attribution challenges

Required skills, experience and knowledge

ZSL are inviting proposals from individuals or organizations with the following:

• Extensive, demonstrable monitoring and evaluation (M&E) knowledge and expertise, with experience of the NGO sector
• Demonstrable ability to design, plan, organise, and implement projects and tasks
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, in English
• Experience of the forestry sector would be an advantage, but not essential
• Submission guidelines and requirements

The candidates must submit the following:

• A technical proposal that is not more than 3 pages
• Examples of previous relevant work
• Proposals must be received by 18th September 2022 to be considered
• Proposals should be submitted to annabelle.dodson@zsl.org for consideration
• ZSL reserves the right to amend the scope of this RFP in order to get the most suitable consultant

RFP & project timeline

Budget

The consultant fee is outlined below:

Gross (£) (Incl. VAT, if applicable)  £5,000
NOTE: Consultants are expected to pay all applicable local taxes. Where applicable, these should be included in the cost proposal provided to ZSL.

Download the Scope of Work and Application Instructions Here: