Technical consultant

Project Context and Scope

Vanuatu is a leading labour-sending country in the Pacific for temporary labour mobility schemes in Australia and New Zealand. In the 2022–2023 season, more than 16,000 Ni-Vanuatu workers participated in these schemes, with 7,100 in New Zealand and 9,462 in Australia. Labour mobility remains a key livelihood strategy, particularly for rural communities, with nearly 20.4% of the working-age male population (aged 20–59) engaged in seasonal work abroad.
 

The Department of Labour and Employment Services (DOL) is responsible for regulating, licensing, and overseeing the private recruitment agencies that facilitate overseas recruitment and employment placements. These licensed recruitment agencies play a central role, accounting for the majority of worker recruitment and placements under the recognized Pacific labour mobility programs, namely the Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and New Zealand’s Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. It is estimated that over 80% of seasonal worker deployments are facilitated through licensed recruitment agencies, making their compliance with national laws and international standards critical to ensuring ethical recruitment and protecting workers’ rights.
 

With the anticipated enactment of the Labour Migration Act (to replace the Seasonal Employment Act 2007) in late 2025 and growing international focus on fair and ethical recruitment, DOL Vanuatu aims to strengthen its internal systems to better monitor and enforce compliance among these recruitment agencies. This will help improve transparency, streamline licensing, and protect the welfare of migrant workers.
 

With this, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Vanuatu aims to engage a consultant(s)/ Consultancy firm to support DOL Vanuatu in enhancing the capacity to monitor licensed recruitment agency operations, ensure adherence to the Code of Conduct and the upcoming Labour Migration Act, and improve enforcement mechanisms, including grievance handling and record-keeping—building on existing efforts and systems such as the In-Country Recruitment Database (IRD) managed by DOL. The initiative is supported under the IOM Development Fund “Enhance Migration Management in Vanuatu for Regular Labour Mobility Pathways” project in Vanuatu.

  Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing
Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion

IOM Vanuatu aims to engage a qualified consultant(s)/Consultancy firm to develop a Framework, Operational Procedures and tools/templates that enable DOL Vanuatu to effectively evaluate, monitor, and ensure the compliance of licensed recruitment agencies with the Labour Migration Act (underway), Code of Conduct, and relevant national laws and international standards/guidelines (i.e. IOM’s Handbook for Governments on Ethical Recruitment and Migrant Worker Protection). The development of the framework, procedures and tools will be guided by and build on efforts done so far by DOL Vanuatu, and designed in a way that reflect the local context of Vanuatu, including the internal capacity of the Department. The consultant(s) is therefore expected to work closely with DOL Vanuatu and IOM, as well as other key local stakeholders.

The selected consultant(s)/consultancy firm is required to participate in both online and in-person consultations/meetings throughout the assessment, as necessary. Specifically, the selected consultant(s) will undertake the following tasks:

1. Conduct a desk review of the current licensing, monitoring, inspection and grievance procedures used by DOL and engage with key stakeholders (DOL staff, licensed recruitment agencies, inspectorate units, and worker groups) to understand gaps and recommendations, particularly against the Labour Migration Act (draft/final), Code of Conduct, and IOM’s Handbook for Governments on Ethical Recruitment and Migrant Worker Protection.
2. Present an initial outline of the Recruitment Monitoring and Compliance Framework, based on the findings and recommendation from desk reviews and consultations, including:
   a. Licensing eligibility criteria and document/information verification;
   b. Inspection protocols (planned and unannounced);
   c. Warning, suspension, and revocation procedures;
   d. Grievance handling and referral mechanism (related to recruitment);
   e. Reporting obligations and mandatory record keeping;
   f. Public transparency tools and resources such as a licensee register.
3. Draft and finalize the Framework based on initial feedback on the outline, in English, for DOL and IOM review and approval.
4. Produce a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and templates/tools, corresponding to each area of the Framework (above) for internal use by DOL.
5. Deliver a one-day, online or in-person (tbc), training to DOL staffs on the developed Framework, SOPs and templates/tools.
6. Suggest improvements to DOL’s internal systems to incorporate the developed templates/tools for monitoring and tracking purposes.
7. Develop external-facing guidelines for recruitment agencies on the developed Framework.
   Throughout the assignment, regularly communicate with DOL Vanuatu and IOM on the progress of the deliverables, any challenges/changes required, and unexpected impact.

   Education
   • University degree in Labour Law, Migration Studies, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Compliance/Audits or related field from an accredited academic institution;
   • At least 5 years of experience in labour migration governance, recruitment regulation, labour inspection frameworks, or relevant professional experience.
    

   Experience
   • Demonstrated understanding of labour migration, migration laws/regulations, fair recruitment and ethical labour standards;
   • Proven experience in designing compliance procedures and tools;
   • Familiarity with the Pacific or Vanuatu context preferred;
   • Excellent written and oral communication skills;
   • Experience in working in a multi-partner or regional project and with UN agencies is an advantage.

   Language
   • Fluency in English is required; working knowledge of Bislama is an asset.

   Required Competencies   IOM’s competency framework can be found at this link. Competencies will be assessed during the selection process.   Values - all IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these three values:
8. Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.