This stipend supports international staff, including, Arab-Palestinian Citizens of Israel, Palestinians in the Diaspora with senior technological expertise or leadership experience, who will work with Palestinian IT services firms to build the technical and managerial capacity of their workforce. The Expatriate and Diaspora stipend covers either the salaries or the additional costs of hiring individuals with international skillsets that cannot be found in the West Bank and Gaza. Expatriates are required to have technological expertise or leadership roles during the terms of their contracts to maximize high-tech knowledge transfer and build teams of junior staff. Expatriates need to be either integrated in revenue-generating client projects or be involved in strategic roles to upgrade the capabilities of the enterprise (for example, as temporary Chief Technology Officer or support to improve internal systems and processes). The size of the stipend will be commensurate with the skills and experience of the individual based on market value, as well as previous earnings of the individual, and valid for a maximum of two years. The expatriate contracts will include KPIs and periodic evaluation.  

The stipend covers either (i) up to 70% of the basic salary of the individual (the beneficiary company will be required to cover up to 30% of the basic salary in addition to any performance-based bonuses if any), or (ii) the expatriate benefits such as relocation costs, housing allowance, health insurance, schooling, and hardship allowance (the beneficiary company will be required to cover the full salary and performance based bonuses if any). The company must present a diagnosis of gaps and a credible business plan for the utilization of the expatriate staff for workforce capability upgrading to address those gaps. The business plan will need to present the salary and other expenses that the firm will invest in this upgrading process to make a case for value for money. 

 

Selection Criteria 

The following criteria will be used to assess companies’ applications: 

• Firms should provide evidence they have growth potential and a commercially sound business plan, that they have plans for business expansion, workforce expansion plan and can showcase the use of the stipend windows in their business development activities. 
• The company has experienced and complementary leadership and a management team with the right skills and personal strengths  
• Firms should present a brief diagnosis of existing technological gaps and a credible plan for the utilization of the expatriate staff to address those gaps to help the firm upgrade the workforce capability, processes, and product development and contribute to the growth potential of the firm. 
• Firms should clearly define the role and scope of work for the Expatriate, including clear KPIs during the contract, proposed duration of the contract with the expatriate, and present the technological experience and / or leadership skills that the expatriate has in order to fulfill that specific role. 

 

The following are the selection criteria for the proposed individuals: 

• The proposed individual must be living and working abroad for at least the last 12 months 
• The proposed individual must have senior international experience in the field related to the submitted gap diagnosis 
• The proposed individual must be physically present in the West Bank or Gaza for enough time during the proposed contract period to properly coach and deliver the planned tasks. Hybrid model working will be permissible  
• The proposed expat must not be an immediate family member of the owner/manager or an immediate family member for the spouse of the owner/manager of the IT firm. Immediate family members include: spouse, child, niece/nephew, parent, siblings, grandchild, in-laws. 

 

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The provision of this grant is subject to fund availability.