Conducting an independent institutional assessment of the Water Research Commission (WRC) organisational operating model

Overview

This RFI seeks information to inform the potential procurement of an independent institutional assessment of the WRC's organisational operating model, to be undertaken by a professional services firm with expertise in organisational design, governance, change management, service-delivery modelling, and monitoring & evaluation for public-sector or research institutions.

The WRC invites responses from professional-services firms capable of delivering a phased assessment, including governance, risk, IT governance, and change-management components, with a 15-month engagement as outlined in the attached Draft Scope of Work (Annex C).

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in institutional/organizational assessments for public-sector or research bodies.
• Ability to deliver phased outputs: Project Implementation Plan; Comprehensive Institutional Assessment Report with maturity assessment; Draft and Final Implementation Plan; Final Implementation Plan with an M&E plan; monthly progress reports and quarterly executive updates; ad hoc Board reporting (Annex C).
• Access to required information and confidentiality for WRC documents (as listed in Annex C).
• Availability of multidisciplinary staff (strategy, governance, finance, IT governance, change management, M&E).
• Respondents must submit: Company Profile; Company Registration Documents; CSD Report (optional); Technical Information; Commercial Information; Recommendations; Supporting Documents (Annex A).
• Willingness to engage across Phase 1 (12 months), Phase 2 (3 months), and Phase 3 (Monitoring & Evaluation, duration to be determined with bidder input).

How to Apply

• Submission deadline: 30 October 2026 at 11:00 (RFI closing).
• Submission method: Electronic submission to tenders@wrc.org.za (RFI document references the submission email).
• Documents to submit: Annex A checklist items—Company Profile; Company Registration Documents; CSD Report (optional); Technical Information; Commercial Information; Recommendations; Supporting Documents (Annex A).
• Pre-qualification/registrations: Provide CSD number where available (CSD requested in supplier information).
• Briefing session: No briefing details are specified.
• Where to obtain documents: RFI content is provided in the attached document titled "WRC-RFI-001-2026-27 - INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT.pdf" (Annex C for scope and deliverables).

Notes: This is an information-gathering exercise, not a quotation or tender; responses feed future procurement planning and TOR/SOW development (Annex E).