UNDP Jobs - 41368- International Consultant

International Consultant - Senior Institutional Development & Strategy Expert / MEDEP - PISU/PN/040/2013

Location :

Kathmandu with field visits, NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jan-2014

Application Deadline :

10-Nov-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

18 months from 1 Jan 2014-31 Dec 2016 with 3 missions to Nepal, 6 months in 2014

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

18 months from 1 Jan 2014-31 Dec 2016 with 3 missions to Nepal, 6 months in 2014

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The goal of the Microenterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) is to contribute to the poverty reduction and employment generation efforts of the Government of Nepal (GoN) through micro-entrepreneurship development. This approach is in line with the strategy of the GoN’s periodic plans.

During the fourth phase of MEDEP, 73,000 new micro entrepreneurs will be created (30,000 with MEDEP resources, 32,000 by Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation ( MEDPA) and 11,000 Local Bodies) with particular focus on supporting households that are living below the national poverty line, women and the socially excluded, by strengthening the national system to support the establishment of micro-enterprise start-ups. This will be achieved by building the capacities of government at central and local levels to develop and implement policies for the support of micro-entrepreneurship, as well as by strengthening access to markets, finance and business development services.

MEDEP IV will strengthen mainly five areas for the delivery of MED in Nepal which will be implemented by five separate components. The first component will support the capacity of micro-enterprise development service providers to deliver good MED and be sustainable. The second component will focus on building the capacity of GoN to implement MEDPA and pool resources for MED. The third component will be focused on improving public-private dialogue and the regulatory framework for micro-entrepreneurship. The fourth component will strengthen the capacity of ME associations to deliver services to members (like access to market) in a sustainable way. The fifth component will focus on helping ME associations to be effective facilitators of financial services to their members.

Building on its experience of 14 years of providing support to micro-entrepreneurs in Nepal, MEDEP will create micro-enterprises indirectly, by mentoring and supporting the strengthening of the GoN’s Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation (MEDPA). The programme will be implemented in partnership with central and local government institutions, as well as by supporting non-government and private sector organisations. MEDEP’s outcome therefore will not be limited to just creating new entrepreneurs. Its main contribution will instead be to endow Nepal with a sustainable institutional setup for the delivery and support of entrepreneurship even after the end of the programme.

MEDEP will also support peace and stability in Nepal, by significantly contributing to addressing poverty and social exclusion, which are among the root causes of conflict in the country.

Services of an institutional development expert is sought to help the programme to develop strategy frameworks and to support programme team to become catalyst for the engagement of state and non-state organizations in the delivery of Micro Enterprise Development.

Duties and Responsibilities

The role of the SIDSE will be to assist National Programme Manager (NPM) with the development of the MEDEP and MEDPA strategic framework and to ensure that the interventions developed by the programme contribute coherently to the achievements of the programme objectives. In addition, the SIDSE will support the entire MEDEP programme team to successfully translate programme activities, from creating micro-entrepreneurs to becoming a facilitator, a catalyst for the engagement of state and non-state organisations in the delivery of Micro Enterprise Development (MED).

In particular the SIDSE will:

Provide advice to the National Programme Manager (NPM) and the MEDEP team to develop intervention strategies that will deliver maximum impact, and in particular, will generate sustainable institutional change;
Support the NPM and the Component Managers to develop intervention strategies aimed at strengthening the market for MED services, as well as membership-based services provided by national and district level micro-enterprise associations;
Organise and lead monthly internal strategy review meetings for the benefit of the whole MEDEP team (including Area Programme Support Offices);
Provide guidance and support to programme operations aimed at strengthening the government-run MEDPA programme;
Work closely with the CTA to develop institutional capacity development for Ministry of Industry (MoI), Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development ( MoFALD), Ministry of Agricultural Development and Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC), MoFSC in the area of micro-enterprise development;
Support the Monitoring and Evaluation specialist to develop and refine indicators to track significant changes in institutional development by MEDEP Programme partners;
Identify and analyse issues that may undermine the success of the programme and propose them to the attention of the National Programme Manager;
Assist the National Programme Manager in the preparation and consolidation of the overall budget, monitor expenditures in accordance with UNDP/Nationally Implemented Modality (NIM) financial rules and cost-recovery policies and implement adequate internal control;
Identify experts for conducting studies, trainings, and other capacity development activities in the required fields. Assist NPM in preparing reports, TORs, and MEDEP knowledge products; in coordination with other partners.
Perform any other duties assigned by the NPM;
Apply principles of gender and social inclusion as crosscutting issues in every aspect of Programme implementation and management;
Maintain close contact with UNDP and AusAID to ensure coordination on programme strategies as well other matters of concern.

Interested candidates can download the Procurement Notice, detailed Terms of Reference (Annex I), General Condition of Contract for the services of Individual Contractors (Annex II) and P11 Form (Annex III) from the UNDP website:
http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=13251

Note:

Please submit your application at the following email address if you face problem applying online:
procurement.np@undp.org

Competencies

Functional Competency:

Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
Creating synergies through self-control;
Managing conflict;
Learning and sharing knowledge and encouraging the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Informed and transparent decision making;
Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Corporate competencies:

Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;
Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's Degree, or higher qualification, in Economics, Institutional Economics or Business Management.

Experience:

Good understanding of markets and at least 10 years experiences in Making Markets Work for the Poor M4P approach and Micro-Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation model with international level exposure;
Have a sound knowledge of institutional capacity development as well as gender and social inclusion analysis; Possess a clear understanding of the basic concepts of micro enterprise development, market-driven development strategies, and of enhancing sustainable livelihoods.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in both spoken and written English is required.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposal:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:
To be included as part of the proposal:

A cover letter explaining your suitability for the work;
A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work.

Financial Proposal:

Financial proposal indicating monthly lumpsum (travel costs will be borne by UNDP/MEDEP for each mission to Nepal and for field visits in districts).

UN Personal History Form (P11) (annexed as Annex III)

Note:

Applicants of 62 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy;
The candidate has to be an independent consultant (If the candidate is engaged with any organization, the organization employing the candidate will be issued with a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) to release the employee for the consultancy with UNDP);
Due to sheer number of applicants, the procurement unit will contact only competitively selected consultant by 25 November 2013;
This application system allows uploading only one file per application; we therefore, recommend to upload the completed P11 form. If the applicant wishes to include additional information, they may be attached to the P11 form.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight; 70%
Financial Criteria weight; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70%

Criterion A: Master's Degree, or higher qualification in Economics, Institutional Economics or Business Management (10%);
Criterion B: At least 10 years of experience in the Making Markets Work for the Poor M4P approach and Micro-Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation model with international level exposure (20%);
Criterion C: Sound knowledge of institutional capacity development as well as gender and social inclusion analysis (20%);
Criterion D: Clear understanding of the basic concepts of micro enterprise development, market-driven development strategies, and of enhancing sustainable livelihoods (20%).

Financial: Lowest financial proposal: 30%

Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical). The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

(Lowest Bid Offered*)/(Bid of the Consultant) x 30
Lowest Bid Offered" refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in technical evaluation.