Individual national consultancy for legal and institutional assessment of child- and youth-centred data interoperability

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The purpose of this national consultancy is to provide specialised legal and institutional support to the comprehensive assessment of conditions required to establish interoperability between administrative data systems and registries across the education, employment, social welfare, child protection, health, and related sectors in Montenegro.
To make the assessment operational, interoperability will be assessed through a limited set of priority child- and youth-centred use cases, to be agreed with UNICEF, MoESI and the Coordination Team during the inception phase. These use cases should include, at a minimum:
• identification and follow-up of young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET;
• early identification of children at risk of school dropout, prolonged absenteeism or disengagement from education;
• improved intersectoral response to violence against children and child protection risks;
• improved monitoring and tailored support for children with disabilities and other children requiring additional support in education.
The assessment shall therefore not be limited to a general mapping of systems, but shall examine the legal basis, data flows, institutional responsibilities, safeguards, operational procedures and technical feasibility required for each selected use case.
The National Legal Consultant will ensure that all proposed data exchanges, institutional responsibilities, safeguards and operational recommendations are legally grounded, institutionally feasible and actionable within Montenegro’s legal and administrative framework. The consultant will develop the legal analysis, Legal Basis Register, legal and regulatory gap assessment, and recommendations for laws, by-laws, protocols, agreements or institutional procedures required to enable lawful and secure inter-institutional data exchange.
The consultant will not access identifiable child-level data and will work only with system metadata, legal documentation, institutional procedures, anonymised or aggregated examples where needed, and information provided through consultations.
The assignment will include consultations with relevant institutions, including but not limited to: Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation; Ministry of Public Administration; Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue; Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography; Employment Agency of Montenegro; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Justice; Examination Centre; Universities; Tax Administration; Ombudsperson’s Office and other relevant institutions and stakeholders.

Scope of Work: The National Legal Consultant will support the International Consultant and work closely with the National Technical Consultant. The International Consultant will lead the overall methodology, synthesis and final interoperability roadmap; the National Technical Consultant will lead the national technical and systems assessment; and the National Legal Consultant will lead the legal, regulatory, institutional and data protection analysis.
Key responsibilities include:
• Conduct legal and regulatory analysis related to administrative data exchange and interoperability;
• Analyse compliance with national legislation, including but not limited to the Law on Electronic Administration, Law on Administrative Procedure, Law on Information Security, Law on Personal Data Protection and other relevant legal and by-law frameworks;
• Assess institutional mandates, responsibilities and governance arrangements in the selected priority use cases, with a focus on data exchange between education, employment, social welfare, child protection and health, as well as other relevant base registries or public-service systems;
• Review existing inter-institutional agreements, protocols and legal bases for data sharing between MoESI and education institutions, employment services, social welfare and child protection bodies, health institutions, Ministry of Interior/civil status and identification systems, Ministry of Justice where relevant, the Examination Centre, higher education institutions, Tax Administration and other institutions identified as relevant for the agreed priority use cases;
• Prepare and maintain a Legal Basis Register for all proposed data exchanges. For every data field to be accessed, received or reused by another institution, the register shall identify the providing institution, receiving institution, purpose of processing, relevant law, by-law, rulebook, protocol or agreement, specific article or provision where available, applicable data protection basis, limitations on use, and any conditions required before exchange can take place;
• Where no adequate legal basis exists, or where the existing legal basis is unclear, fragmented or insufficient, identify the specific legal or regulatory gap and provide a recommendation on the law, by-law, rulebook, protocol, agreement or institutional procedure that should be amended or adopted;
• Assess compliance with GDPR principles and data protection obligations, including data minimisation, purpose limitation, lawful basis, transparency, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, accountability and safeguards for the use of data in decisions affecting children and young people;
• Analyse legal and organisational safeguards related to sensitive personal data, especially data concerning children and vulnerable groups, including role-based access, authentication and authorisation requirements, logging and audit trails, retention and deletion rules, procedures for correcting inaccurate data, restrictions on onward sharing, confidentiality and accountability;
• Provide legal inputs to business-process descriptions, data-flow maps, Data Exchange Matrix, draft SOPs, data-sharing protocols, governance arrangements and operational recommendations;
• Support stakeholder consultations and coordination with national institutions, particularly legal departments, data protection focal points and institutional decision-makers;
• Work in close coordination with the International Consultant and National Technical Consultant to ensure that technical proposals are legally feasible and that legal recommendations are operationally realistic.
The National Legal Consultant will be responsible for ensuring that all legal findings and recommendations are accurate, actionable and aligned with Montenegro’s legal and institutional framework.
The consultant will work under the direct supervision and guidance of the ADAP Officer (NoB), as well as closely with the Education section and all relevant programme colleagues. The consultant will also work in close cooperation with the International Consultant, National Technical Consultant, Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and other relevant government institutions.

All documents shall be produced in the English and Montenegrin languages.

Tasks/Deliverables/Timeline:

Work Assignment Overview: Legal and regulatory desk review input to the Inception Report, including legal-analysis methodology, list of relevant laws, by-laws, protocols and agreements, and template for the Legal Basis Register.
Deliverables: Legal and regulatory desk review; development of legal-analysis methodology and Legal Basis Register template.
Due date: By October 7th 2026

Work Assignment Overview: Legal and institutional mapping of mandates, responsibilities, existing agreements/protocols and preliminary legal bases for data exchange in the agreed priority use cases.
Deliverables: Mapping of institutional mandates, responsibilities, governance arrangements, existing agreements and legal frameworks; consultations with legal and institutional focal points.
Due date: By November 10th 2026

Work Assignment Overview: Draft Legal Basis Register and data protection assessment for each proposed data exchange, including legal basis, data protection basis, limitations, safeguards and conditions for exchange.
Deliverables: Preparation of Legal Basis Register; GDPR/data protection analysis; assessment of safeguards for sensitive personal data and child-related data.
Due date: By November 30th 2026

Work Assignment Overview: Legal gap analysis and recommendations for amendments to laws, by-laws, rulebooks, protocols, agreements or institutional procedures, plus legal inputs to SOPs, data-sharing protocols and governance arrangements.
Deliverables: Identification of legal/regulatory gaps; development of recommendations and legal inputs to SOPs, protocols and governance framework.
Due date: By December 15th 2026

Work Assignment Overview: Final legal inputs to the assessment report and Interoperability Roadmap, including revised Legal Basis Register and participation in final validation/presentation.
Deliverables: Finalization of legal inputs following stakeholder feedback; co-facilitation of validation/presentation with International and Technical Consultants.
Due date: By or before January 15th 2027.

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Minimum requirements:

Education: Masters degree
Disciplines: Law, Public Administration, Governance, Data Protection, Human Rights, or other relevant fields

Work Experience:
• At least five years of professional experience in administrative and public law; personal data protection and privacy legislation; public administration reform and governance; legal analysis related to digital governance and interoperability;
• Proven experience in legal drafting, policy analysis and institutional assessments;
• Experience working with government institutions and inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms;
• Experience working on issues related to education, social protection, employment, health, child protection or administrative data systems is an asset;
• Experience in multi-sectoral coordination and stakeholder engagement.

Language Requirements:
• Advanced knowledge of English;
• Fluency in Montenegrin/Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
• Strong understanding of Montenegro’s institutional and legal framework;
• Familiarity with GDPR and EU acquis related to interoperability, personal data protection and digital public administration;
• Excellent analytical, communication and drafting skills;
• Previous experience of collaboration with the UN/UNICEF is an asset.

Desirables:
• Excellent writing skills, presentation skills, strong strategic and analytical skills.
• Ability to work with different stakeholders.
• Demonstrates tact and a high sense of responsibility and discretion.
• Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
*Listed requirements will be used for technical evaluation in the competitive process.

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Selection methodology:

Evaluation Criteria
A) Technical Evaluation (75 points) assessed through the interview selection process:

Technical Evaluation Criteria:

CV and sample of previous legal/policy/institutional analysis authored by the candidate (15 points)
Proposed methodology for legal assessment and Legal Basis Register (15 points)
Technical questions at the interview (40 points)
Language: 5 points

Qualifying score in technical evaluation is 53 out of 75 points.

Technical proposal requirement (if applicable):
1. CV and sample of previous work authored by the candidate
2. Proposed methodology for the legal assessment B) Financial Proposal (25 points)

The applicants are requested to submit their financial proposal as a separate document, consisting of all-inclusive professional fee for the services to be provided.
Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 25].

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UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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Failure to comply with such requirements, where applicable and without a duly approved medical exemption from the relevant UN authority, will result in the cancellation of the selection or may lead to other administrative measures, including separation from service

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

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