Consultancy Tender: Global HR Framework with focus on Job Architecture, Total Rewards and HR Administration

Executive Summary

SOS Children's Villages International, the world's largest non-governmental organization focused on supporting children without parental care or at risk of losing it, seeks an experienced consultant or consultancy firm to establish a global human resources framework. This initiative is aligned with the ongoing General Secretariat (GSC) Transformation, which aims to create a leaner and more adaptive operational model, enabling better support for member associations worldwide.

The consultancy work is pivotal for creating a sustainable and consistent HR framework, with a focus on Total Rewards and HR Administration for the GSC, that supports the organization's mission to provide family-like care for children and empower vulnerable families. It focuses on implementing HR systems tailored to the organization's decentralized structure while adhering to safeguarding principles and ensuring compliance with international and local labor laws.

Key Objectives

• Job Architecture Development: Establish globally consistent and locally adaptable job classification systems, which can be job families, role profiles, and grading systems.

• Compensation and Benefits: Design remuneration principles for fair, market-aligned, salary bands and benefits structures informed by market data.

• Payroll Systems and Compliance: Analyze and recommend solutions for payroll, employment contracts, severance payments, and end-of-contract procedures, with an emphasis on local compliance. If the consultant can deliver or collaborate with partners for implementation, this will be considered a significant advantage. However, this is not an excluding factor.

• HR Administration Practices: Analyze and propose efficient HR administration systems to support staff throughout their tenure, ensuring compliance with labor laws and safeguarding principles. The ability to deliver or work with partners to implement these systems will be an added benefit. However, this is not an excluding factor.

Methodology Considerations

The consultancy process will involve stakeholder engagement, regional input, and a phased approach to assessment, design, and implementation. The solutions must reflect best practices, remain market-responsive, and comply with international labor laws, safeguarding principles, and local regulations.

Deliverables

The successful bidder will deliver a comprehensive HR framework, including job architecture, salary and benefits structures, payroll systems, and HR administrative processes. A detailed implementation plan and actionable recommendations will also be provided to enable scalable and sustainable adoption across all regions.

Scope and Timeline

The scope covers all regions where the General Secretariat of SOS Children’s Villages International operates, with special attention to Africa and emerging markets. SOS Children’s Villages International invites national and international service providers to submit proposals, including technical and financial details, by 04 March 2025 CET. Proposals must be in English and include past project experience, list of customers, a list of services, and geographical areas of operation.

This project represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the evolution of a global organization dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children and families worldwide.

1. About SOS Children’s Villages

SOS Children's Villages (SOS CV), founded in 1949, is the world's largest non-governmental organization focused on supporting children and young people without parental care, or at risk of losing it. SOS Children’s Villages is a global federation of 136 national SOS Children’s Villages associations, working in more than 2000 programme locations worldwide. We work together with a single vision: every child belongs to a family and grows up with love, respect, and security.

We provide family-like care for children who have lost parental care (alternative care service), and we work with vulnerable families and communities to help strengthen them and prevent child abandonment. The main focus of the organisation is to provide sustained support to vulnerable children who have lost or are at high risk of losing parental care. The organization offers a variety of alternative care responses, including residential family-like care and foster care for children who have been separated from their families of origin for various reasons. The ultimate goal is for children to reintegrate into their families of origin, in accordance with their best interest, or to leave care as autonomous and independent adults. Through Family Strengthening Programmes (FSP) SOS CV helps parents and communities build capacities to care for their children and prevent family breakdown. For more detailed information, see: https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/.

Together with partners, donors, communities, children, youth and families, we enable children to grow up with the ties they need to develop and become themselves. We stand up for the rights of every child and advocate for change so that all children can grow up in a supportive environment. Our work is governed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children.

2. Background and Context

SOS Children’s Villages International is the international unit of a global organization dedicated to creating safe, nurturing, and empowering environments for children and young people who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it. At the heart of our work is the principle of safeguarding—ensuring that all interactions with program participants, employees, and partners uphold the highest standards of safety, dignity, and care.

The organization is currently undergoing a General Secretariat (GSC) Transformation, a strategic initiative aimed at making the GSC fit for the future, leaner, and more adaptive. This transformation is designed to enhance the GSC’s ability to better support member associations (MAs) in delivering on our collective purpose—ensuring that children and young people grow up with the bonds they need to become their strongest selves. A key focus of this transformation is to increase the flexibility of the GSC, enabling it to respond more effectively to changing local contexts and empowering MAs to achieve greater impact in their respective countries.

As part of this transformation, SOS Children’s Villages International is moving away from a traditional model with regional offices on different continents. Instead, we are establishing global teams that will be distributed across various locations. To better align with this new structure, the organization is creating two core units with a total of approximately 450 full-time equivalents, spread across approximately 40 to 50 different labor law contexts across the globe:

• Federation Secretariat (FSC): A unit focused on governance, strategic direction, and federation-wide coordination with its major hub in Austria.

• International Development Support (IDS): A unit designed to provide technical, operational, and programmatic support to the federation’s member associations (MAs), enabling them to deliver quality care and support to children and families globally. Its major hub will be in Africa, but the operational and programmatic teams will also be spread across the globe, working seamlessly in coordination with each other and the FSC. A considerable proportion of the roles will be project based/with limited contracts.

The number of FTEs reflected above can fluctuate given the new organizational structure and the need to respond to fluctuating demands from our stakeholders.

The project team working with the consultant will be set up as follows:

• Core team with HR professionals from different locations of SOS CVI.

• A steering committee comprised of HR leadership and relevant stakeholders from other functions.

A member of the executive committee of SOS CVI will serve as project sponsor.

In this context, SOS Children’s Villages International is seeking to establish a comprehensive global human resources framework for total rewards, contracting, and administration that supports key aspects of the employee lifecycle while ensuring alignment with our safeguarding principles and organizational values. The goals of this initiative are to:

• - Set Up a Global Job Architecture: Define a job classification system which can include job families, role profiles, grading systems, and organizational structures to create consistency, transparency, and equity across the organization.

• - Develop a Global Rewards and Benefits Structure: Design fair, market aligned,

salary bands, and benefits packages that reflect market benchmarks while addressing local needs. Depending on the type of work, there will be both global, regional, and national roles across the two units. This means that the compensation and benefits would need to be considered differently (e.g., for global roles, the local market standards would need to be considered, combined with an equitable approach. In addition to the FSC and IDS, SOS performs its work in the MAs, which currently may have their own systems, which we will need to harmonize in terms of function grid.

• - Streamline Global Payroll and Contract Management: Implement systems to manage payroll, employment contracts, and end-of-contract processes (including severance payments) at the local level of the CVI organization. This will be achieved by partnering with organizations, companies specializing in a global payroll service, or employers of record operating in the respective locations.

• - Establish Global End-of-Contract Processes: Define clear, compliant, and efficient offboarding processes, ensuring alignment with local labor laws, cross-national legislations and safeguarding principles.

• - Strengthen Global HR Administration: Build global robust systems to manage rewards, payroll, contracts, and offboarding processes, enhancing organizational efficiency and supporting employees throughout their tenure.

This project is a critical part of the GSC Transformation, as it will ensure that the HR systems supporting our workforce are aligned with the leaner and more adaptive GSC model. It will also enable us to better support MAs by providing a flexible, localized framework that is consistent with global standards and aligned with the organization’s mission.

3. Purpose and Objective

1. Purpose

To achieve this, we are seeking an experienced consultancy firm with proven global expertise in:

• Setting up a comprehensive job architecture for the two future business units (FSC and IDS) and for roles in the MAs that are in scope: family practitioners, etc.

• Job evaluation and grading.

• Compensation and benefits design.

• Payroll systems and local integration through specialized organizations or employers of record.

• Employment contract administration, including severance and end-of-contract processes compliant with local regulations.

• End-to-end HR administration solutions for global organizations.

The selected partner will collaborate closely with SOS Children’s Villages International to design and implement a human resources framework that reflects the organization’s mission, values, and the operational changes resulting from the GSC Transformation.

3.2. Specific objectives of this assignment are:

The objective of this assignment is to collaborate with an experienced consultancy firm to establish a comprehensive global HR framework that aligns with the ongoing General Secretariat Transformation. Key objectives include:

• Job Architecture: Develop a globally consistent yet locally adaptable job architecture that ensures transparency, fairness, and equity across all locations.

• Rewards and Benefits Structure: Design competitive salary bands and benefits structures based on global and regional market data, ensuring alignment with SOS Children’s Villages’ values and organizational goals.

• Payroll and Contract Management: Provide an analysis and recommendations for locally compliant payroll systems, including employment contracts, severance payments, and end-of-contract procedures. Optional, if the consultant can support or partner to implement these solutions, it will be considered an added advantage.

• Efficient HR Administration: Recommend best practices for HR administration to support staff throughout their tenure, ensuring compliance with safeguarding principles, local labor laws, and organizational standards. Optional, If the consultant can deliver or collaborate on implementing these practices, it will be a significant benefit.

This partnership will help SOS Children’s Villages International ensure a scalable, compliant, and efficient HR framework, critical to supporting the transformation and empowering the workforce to meet organizational goals.

4. Methodology and Scope

The proposed assignment will encompass a global scope, designing and implementing a comprehensive HR framework to align with the needs of SOS Children’s Villages International, focusing on job architecture, rewards and benefits structure, payroll systems, and contract management across diverse geographical locations. This process will be guided by both international best practices and local labor regulations, ensuring that all systems are locally adaptable and globally consistent.

The consultant is expected to:

- Conduct a thorough assessment of current HR systems, job structures, and benefits in place at SOS Children’s Villages International, with particular focus on local labor laws, market compensation data, and regional challenges in the key locations where we operate, including those in Africa and other emerging regions.

- Design a comprehensive job architecture that includes role profiles, job classification system, job families, and a global grading system that is adaptable to local contexts, ensuring equitable compensation and career progression opportunities for staff globally.

- Develop a competitive and compliant rewards and benefits structure aligned with market data and local legal requirements. This structure will take into account varying economic conditions, labor markets, and cultural differences across countries while ensuring that our offerings are competitive, fair, and in line with SOS Children’s Villages’ values of safeguarding, accountability, and sustainability.

- Establish payroll systems and contract management frameworks that are flexible and compliant with local legal standards, including provisions for payroll processing, tax compliance, severance payments, and end-of-contract procedures. If the consultant can support or partner to implement these solutions, it will be considered an added advantage.

- Design and implement end-of-contract processes ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations for offboarding, including severance payments, final settlements, and the protection of both the employee and the organization’s interests. If the consultant can support or partner to implement these solutions, it will be considered an added advantage.

The provider will be expected to deliver a comprehensive report detailing each of these processes, including key recommendations, identified challenges, and proposed solutions, in alignment with our organizational culture and safeguarding principles. The final deliverable should provide clear guidelines on implementation and allow for a flexible roll-out across multiple regions.

As part of the proposal process, we request that the agency provide a sample of similar work done in the past, showcasing their ability to create frameworks in alignment with organizational values, international compliance standards, and regional adaptability.

4.1 Key methodology considerations

The methodology for this assignment is designed to deliver a scalable and globally consistent HR framework that aligns with the ongoing transformation of SOS Children’s Villages International. Key considerations include:

• Transition to Distributed Global Teams: With the organizational shift towards global teams spread across various locations rather than regional structures, the HR framework will be tailored to support a decentralized workforce. The new design will ensure seamless collaboration and effective management across distributed teams, fostering operational cohesion and alignment with the organization’s future vision.

• Alignment with the GSC Transformation Goals: The HR framework will directly support the objectives of the GSC transformation by addressing inefficiencies, reducing redundancies, and creating systems and processes that complement the leaner and more adaptable organizational model. It will ensure HR operations are fit for purpose within this evolved structure, contributing to the overall success of the transformation initiative.

• Streamlining HR Systems: The framework will focus on removing duplications across HR systems, standardizing processes, and enhancing efficiency. By consolidating administrative functions and introducing streamlined mechanisms for payroll, contracts, and employee lifecycle management, the project will enable a more efficient and effective HR infrastructure.

• Market-Responsive and Scalable Design: A market-driven approach will inform the development of job architecture, salary bands, benefits structures, and payroll systems. These will be designed to remain competitive and locally relevant while also being scalable to accommodate future workforce growth and the evolving needs of the organization.

• Stakeholder Collaboration and Regional Input: Active collaboration with regional HR teams will be integral to the methodology. Through workshops and feedback sessions, the project will ensure the HR framework is practical, compliant with local labor laws, and capable of supporting the organization’s leaner, decentralized structure.

• Compliance with Legal and Ethical Standards: The methodology will rigorously adhere to international labor laws, data protection regulations (including GDPR), and the safeguarding principles of SOS Children’s Villages International. This commitment to legal and ethical compliance will underpin every stage of the project. Please see the relevant policies and regulations linked in the chapter Code of Conduct and Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy.

• Phased and Iterative Implementation: The assignment will follow a phased approach, beginning with an assessment and design phase before progressing to implementation. This iterative process will allow for continuous feedback, refinement, and adaptation, ensuring the framework is aligned with both the global vision and local realities.

• Sustainability and Long-Term Scalability: A core priority will be to develop a framework that is sustainable and adaptable to future organizational changes. The design will support long-term growth, enabling the HR systems to evolve alongside the global teams and the overall GSC structure.

• Project-based staff: The proposal would need to include a component regarding project-based workforce, with short-term contracts, working in hostile environments and/or humanitarian response contexts.

5. Deliverables and Schedules

In the positive case of the two parties signing the contract, we expect you to deliver the following outcomes with the respective timelines/deadlines:

• Conducting a thorough assessment of the current practices at SOS CVI and presenting a concept note.

• Design of a comprehensive job architecture.

• Development of a competitive and compliant global rewards and benefits structure.

• Establishment of global payroll systems and contract management frameworks.

• Development of a high-level implementation plan.

• Design and implementation of end-of-contract processes.

• Providing training materials and delivering training to the HR community on the new HR infrastructure.

The priority has to be the development of a function grid as well as a salary grid for SOS Children’s Villages International, followed by the development of a global function grid, consistent across the whole SOS Children’s Villages Federation and a global payroll system for the operations of SOS Children’s Villages International.

6. Instructions for tenders

6.1 General

Bidders are welcome to compete for the given assignment. This tender is open to all national and international providers that are legally constituted and can provide the requested services. The bidders will bear all the costs of the offer; the costs of a proposal cannot be included as a direct cost of the assignment.

Offer language

The proposal and all supporting documents must be submitted in English.

Bid currency

The financial offer must be expressed in Euros (including VAT).

6.2. Bid Submission Process

To facilitate the submission of proposals, the duly stamped and signed submission can be made electronically in PDF format and sent to Ioana Pop at ioana.pop@sos-kd.org and Nina Eder-Haslehner at nina.eder-haslehner@sos-kd.org.

Documents to present/Criteria

1. General information

• Identification Form - see the annex below.

• A technical proposal for the elements presented in the tender, which should include the methodology proposed.

• Budget estimation for the services provided.

• An example of similar projects conducted for 1- 2 organizations, including information about the nature, sizing, the locations of the organization, the tools and methods used, the resources allocated, the timeline. NGO-like prior experience is a plus.

• Testimonies/references from previous clients regarding similar work.

• The CVs of the team working on this assignment, including the level of seniority.

• Experience in working with large scale NGOs or similar global organizations.
  

1. Job Architecture

• Proof of previous experience in setting up a global HR structure and processes. Proof of experience in job analysis, job profile developments, job evaluation.

• For job evaluation, proof of experience in job classification, job analysis, job grading, job descriptions conducted for global or similar organizations.

• Proof of experience in setting up global salary scales.
  

1. Compensation and Benefits

• Proof of experience in setting up global compensation and benefits models.

Deadline for submission

The proposal must be received no later than 4th March 2025, end of business day (CET). Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.

For any questions, kindly contact us before 28 February 2025.

Modification and withdrawal of offers

Proposals may be withdrawn upon written request prior to the closing date of this invitation. Any corrections or changes must be received before the closing date. Changes must be clearly indicated in comparison to the original proposal. Otherwise, it will be at risk and expense of the offered.

Any missing information and material will be shared at a later stage by SOS Children’s Villages International.

Contract signing

SOS Children's Villages International will electronically notify the successful bidder and submit the contract form within 10 days of the close of the bid submission period. The successful bidder will sign and date the contract and return it to SOS Children's Villages International within two calendar days of receipt of the contract. After both parties sign the contract, the winning bidder must deliver the services according to the delivery schedule described in the offer.

Rights of SOS Children's Villages International

• Contact any or all references provided by bidders.

• Request additional complementary or supporting data (from the bidder(s)).

• Arrange interviews with bidders.

• Reject any or all proposals submitted.

• Accept any proposal in whole or in part.

• Negotiate with the highest rated/ranked service providers, i.e., those providing the best value proposition(s) overall.

• Recruit any number of candidates as necessary to achieve the overall objectives of the tender.

7. Technical Administration, Contract Duration and Payment Terms

7.1 Financing and payment

Payment will be made only after SOS Children's Villages International accepts the work performed in accordance with the deliverables described above. Financial proposals must include proposed installment payments. Payment will be made by bank transfer in the billing currency and is due 45 days after receipt of the invoice and acceptance of work.

8. Delay Notice

If the successful bidder encounters a delay in the performance of the contract that may be excusable in unavoidable circumstances; the contractor shall notify SOS Children's Villages International in writing of the causes of such delays within one (1) week from the start of the delay.

After receiving the notice of delay from the Contractor, SOS Children's Villages International will review the facts and the extent of the delay, and will extend the execution time when, in its judgment, the facts justify such an extension.

9. Copyright and Other Proprietary Rights

SOS Children's Villages International shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights, including, but not limited to, copyrights and trademarks, in respect of products, processes, inventions, ideas, know-how or documents and other materials that the Contractor has developed for SOS Children's Villages International and which have a direct relationship with, or are produced, prepared or collected as a consequence of, or during the course of the performance of the assignment. The consultant acknowledges and agrees that such products, documents and other materials constitute commissioned work for SOS Children's Villages International.

All materials: plans, reports, estimates, recommendations, documents, and all other data compiled or received by the consultant, shall be the property of SOS Children's Villages International and shall be treated confidentially and released only to SOS Children's Villages International authorized officials upon completion of the work. The external consultant is obliged to provide all raw data collected during the assessment to SOS Children's Villages International.

10. Code of Conduct and Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy

SOS Children's Villages International has a Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct which all consultants are expected to abide by and sign a statement of commitment to the policy and Code of Conduct. The Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy is binding on all member associations as well as the General Secretariat (GSC). The Policy applies throughout the organization at all levels and in all types of programmes. All SOS Children's Villages employees and associates, including consultants, are required to report any concerns, suspicions or reports of child abuse on child protection. The types of child abuse are outlined in the SOS Children's Villages Child Protection Policy, together with the mandatory reporting steps the consultant must take if abuse is suspected. Concerns about child protection should be reported here. The successful bidder must act in accordance with SOS Children's Villages policies and guidelines. Please see the documents links as reference:

• Code of Conduct

• Child Protection Policy

Annex: Submission of Offer / Identification Form

This offer form must be completed, signed and returned to SOS Children's Villages International. Bids must reflect the instructions outlined in the Request for Proposals. 

To facilitate the submission of proposals, the duly stamped and signed submission can be made electronically in PDF format and sent to Ioana Pop at ioana.pop@sos-kd.org and Nina Eder-Haslehner at nina.eder-haslehner@sos-kd.org.

The Bidder, having read the complete Request for Proposals, including all annexes, offers to provide the services specified in the request, in accordance with the Terms of Reference included in this document. 

Offering service for: SOS Children's Villages International 

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