UNDP Jobs - 46153- Project Coordinator and National Biodiversity Stra

Project Coordinator and National Biodiversity Strategies & Action Plans Forum Website Moderator

Location :

Home Based with mission travel

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

09-Jun-2014

Application Deadline :

21-May-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

By end-2013, some 140+ countries have accessed the GEF’s Biodiversity Enabling Activities (BD EA) with the aim of updating their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and fulfilling other related obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). The new generation of NBSAPs being now produced will be aligned with the Aichi Targets that were agreed upon by CBD Parties during the COP10 in Nagoya, as part of the CBD’s Strategic Plan.

This project relates to Aichi Target 17, which predicates the development, adoption and initial implementation of NBSAPs as effective policy instruments for biodiversity mainstreaming. Target 17 relates to all other Aichi Targets with respect to biodiversity policy development.

UNDP and UNEP are the two main GEF agencies for BD EA. They noted that countries that accessed GEF funds for preparing their Post-Nagoya NBSAPs count on uneven levels of technical support for the task, in spite of current and growing demand for support services within the framework of their BD EA. Most countries receive only basic technical and operational support, while others, in particular those that accessed GEF funding directly, receive no support at all. Yet, experience shows that support is vital for a successful outcome of policy-oriented projects.

Through close collaboration, UNDP and UNEP obtained GEF funding for a new and joint global initiative that will address the technical support issue and make thereby a key contribution to the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Target 17 at the global level. Refer to the approved UNPD-UNEP Medium Size Project (in the GEF’s page and to the complete MSP file).

The project, will cement the ‘NBSAP global partnership’', together with the CBD Secretariat, a key partner in the equation. It will also provide quality and focused technical support to all countries that have accessed—or will access—GEF resources for BD EA. An important mechanism for support provision in the context of this partnership is the NBSAP Forum.

In addition, UNDP obtained funding from the Government of Flanders, Belgium, for availing guidance on climate resilience within the process of NBSAP preparation and development. Both the GEF and the Flanders financed initiatives are managed under a consolidated operational project within UNDP, titled “UNDP Global Support to NBSAPs”.

Given its global nature, the project will be is implemented directly by UNDP, more specifically by the functional cluster ‘Ecosystem & Biodiversity’ (EBD) within UNDP-GEF. Project implementation will be carried out in close collaboration with UNEP, in particular with UNEP’s centre of excellence, World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), plus UNEP-GEF other relevant UNEP divisions.

UNDP would like to engage a qualified consultant to carry out a number of tasks under the project, as described within this TOR.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Coordinator & Website Moderator will support the UNDP-GEF EBD Senior technical advisors responsible for the NBSAP / BD EA portfolio in leading the direct technical implementation of the project within UNDP.

The incumbent will report to the UNDP-GEF EBD senior technical advisors responsible for the NBSAP / BD EA portfolio on all technical and strategic project matters and will be supported by a project associate with respect to operational and administrative issues.

With respect to the technical aspects of the project, there are two main groups of tasks: (1) project coordination (planning, implementation, monitoring, partner liaison and reporting); and (2) website moderation (which pertains to maintaining the NBSAP lively, dynamic, innovative and up-to-date, including by ensuring the usefulness, functionality and technical stringency of various features in the site). The latter group of tasks also includes the match-making facility that the NBSAP Forum’s ‘Peer Review’ options will provide. These groups of tasks are thus described:

Project Coordination:

Coordination, Reporting and M&E:

Frequent liaison with the UNEP counterpart project coordinator to establish a working relationship with the person, for ensuring synergies and collaboration for all UNDP-UNEP joint activities;
Prepare the annual, quarterly and 3-year work-plans for the project and establish monitoring milestones for its implementation;
Together with the project associate, ensure the smooth implementation of all operational processes pertaining to procurement, recruitment and contractual engagement of service providers;
Ensure the timely adherence to work-plans and the cost effective use of project funds;
Monitor implementation of all project activities and budgets, including progress towards project indicators;
Report on implementation and progress towards results through appropriate means. As a minimum, these include the following: Inception Report, the UNDP-GEF Annual Project Report / Project Implementation Report (APR/PIR), progress reports and any reports needed for bilateral funders;
Support the organization of project steering committee meetings.

Partnerships:

Co-supports the identification and development of Partnerships;
Create and strengthen key partnerships, primarily with activity coordinator counterpart in UNEP (in particular with members of the UNDP-GEF EBD team), and with the CBD Secretariat to ensure cohesion in the joint UNDP-UNEP implementation, but also with other partners with whom the project is expected to collaborate and create synergies with;
When relevant, attend selected CBD organized NBSAP workshops or other events;
Maintain senior management in UNDP-GEF informed of key issues to be addressed at the appropriate level.

Technical inputs in knowledge management:

Under the purview of the Senior Knowledge Management Adviser, maintain lines of communications with in-house experts within UNDP, UNEP, CBD Secretariat and partners agencies (including UN Agencies, civil society and bilateral and multilateral agencies) for supporting the knowledge management and production process pertaining to NBSAP Support;
Complement and organize (e.g. through coordination, deadline-management and liaison) the provision of key technical and knowledge support to activities under the following project outputs: Output 1.3 (NBSAP Forum), Output 1.4 (Partnerships & adaptive management), Output 1.5 (Climate change resilience guidance) and Output 2.2 (Workshops).

Key Deliverables under Project Coordination:

Project inception report, including relevant workplans;
APR/PIR, plus other M&E reports;
Briefing notes to UNDP as needed;
Technical and knowledge management products, as per agreed workplans.

Time Frames:

Briefing meeting and UNEP coordination meeting: June/July 2014;
Inception report and 2014/2015 workplan: June/July 2014;
Preparations for reporting to GEF through APR-PIR: May 2015.

Website Moderation & Knowledge Management:

Communications Management:

Contribute to the achievement of key goals set for the development and improvement of the NBSAP Forum, in particular with respect to its usefulness, content, traffic, usage, appearance, user-friendliness and membership adherence by constantly monitoring these aspects and taking action towards correcting, improving and further development of the website;
Provide essential support to Webinars to guide the NBSAP processes, using the NBSAP Forum and its membership base to attract target audience to Webinar events;
Serve as the key focal point for correspondence addressed to UNDP though the NBSAP Forum site, responding and directing it as needed to maintain active and robust participation among members;
Source resources and materials for distribution through the Forum and make referrals (in particular under the Peer & Expert Review facility); as time allows, directly provide peer review to draft NBSAPs using the peer review framework;
Communicate widely with all members, in groups (e.g. by topic, by country) and individually, to better serve the Forum’s members and audience (e.g. by initiating new threads, discussions and making announcements);
Create and populate content for the NBSAP Forum site, but also for other related sites (e.g. wiki pages, the UNDP’s own website for what NBSAPs and EA are concerned, among others);
Create and/or maintain the NBSAP Forum’s accounts in different social network sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, etc.);
Create linkages to other existing expert discussion groups for key NBSAP topics;
Report to UNDP-GEF’s senior management on any unusual issues pertaining to the NBSAP Forum website (e.g. negative or inappropriate comments, malfunctions, needed improvements, etc.), as well as, on positive issues that are worth highlighting (prominent membership, increases in membership, increased traffic under specific topic and country pages, newsworthy events, etc.);
Publicize the NBSAP Forum widely, recruiting new Forum members to join the online NBSAP stakeholder community;
Design and carry out periodic user satisfaction surveys on the NBSAP Forum; and
Maintain statistics and user satisfaction information on the NBSAP Forum.

Match-making for NBSAP Review:

Lead the operationalization of Peer & Expert Review, by liaising with web developers, experts and client countries;
Review the TOR for the Peer and Expert review platform, making improvements to it as needed and planning the implementation in close consultation with supervisors;
Organize the Peer and Expert review platform through match-making (identifying needs, sourcing an expert or peer, creating linkages, supporting the actual match-making), working closely with the technical adviser in UNDP or UNEP responsible for the project (or directly with governments for direct GEF access countries).

Key Deliverables under Website Moderation & Knowledge Management:

A well designed and up-to-date NBSAP Forum site;
Statistics on traffic, membership growth and usage of the NBSAP Forum site;
The Peer and Expert Review mechanism is operational;
E-learning modules are launched, including in French and Spanish.

Time Frames:

Peer and Expert Review platforms maintained up to date and useful: rolling
All other tasks: as per work plans developed

Key Performance Indicators:

User-friendly, customizable tools and assessment methodologies, e-learning, voluntary templates and other guidance material, including for benchmarking the technical quality of NBSAP products before submission, are developed and widely applied in GEF-financed NBSAP development processes. They are primarily disseminated through the NBSAP Forum;
The NBSAP Forum Website is functional and well maintained: (i) fully operational by end 2014; (ii) further developed to fulfill evolving clients’ needs throughout the project’s duration; (iii) hosting and maintenance are taken over by CBD for sustainability;
A partnership framework for collaboration among all agencies and entities involved in NBSAP process emerges with a view to supporting client countries and developing best practices;
Capacity to Incorporate Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Planning into NBSAPs is strengthened through the NBSAP Forum;
Peer and expert review technical support is provided to countries on a ‘demand-driven’ and ‘match-making’ basis for each phase of NBSAP development process;
Online webinars and both virtual and in person workshops are facilitated guiding NBSAP processes through critical steps and to the benefit of client countries;
A framework for monitoring client satisfaction and for creating a feedback loop for technical support delivery is effective by July 2014.

Information on Working Arrangements:

The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;
The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Project Manager on days worked and outputs delivered.

Travel:

International travel may be required to attend relevant meetings, which will likely not exceed 30 days;
Any necessary missions must be approved in advance and in writing by the NBSAPs / BD EA Senior Technical Adviser;
The Advance and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
The incumbent is responsible for ensuring that s/he has the necessary vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
The incumbent is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives;
The incumbent will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
All related travel expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations upon submission of an F-10 claim form and supporting documents.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

Has a passion for technology, good sense of aesthetics and a natural ease of the use with computers and web-based platforms, sites and applications;
Demonstrates sufficient technical knowledge to perform effectively in own specialty.

Professionalism:

Focuses on achieving results;
Sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
Works toward creative solutions by analyzing problems carefully and logically;
Has a dynamic, positive and adaptive attitude towards work-related challenges, bringing innovative and effective solutions to them;
Leads and supports team decisions;
Facilitates meetings effectively and efficiently;
Resolves conflicts as they arise.

Communication:

Writes and presents clearly and convincingly.

Knowledge Management:

Shares knowledge and is willing to provide support to others who request advice or help.

Client Orientation:

Maintains strong relationships with partners and clients.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in communications, environmental management/sciences, social/political sciences, international relations, development studies, administration & management and/or other relevant field for biodiversity planning (10pts).

Experience:

At least 5 years of working experience in project and knowledge management at the national and/or international levels in issues of environmental management (preferably with respect to biodiversity management) and preferably with a focus on policies, capacity development and global processes (10 points);
Demonstrated experience with project implementation, planning, monitoring, reporting (direct project management experience is preferable) (10 points);
Demonstrated communications experience, in particular in preparing and reviewing publications, articles, communication pieces and other knowledge management products, but also in training others, organising events and presenting content (20 points);
Demonstrated website moderating and content development experience, including through the use of social networking tools (20 points);
Experience on liaising with international institutions, civil societies and/or governmental authorities (5 points).

Language Requirements:

Fluent in English with excellent oral and written communication skills (10pts);
Proficiency in at least one of the other UN languages, in the following order of priority is a plus, but not a requirement: Spanish, Russian, French (5pts).

Evaluation method:

Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11);
Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application. Incomplete applications will not be considered;
Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and interview (max 30pts) will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30% (out of Max 100pts.);
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points will be considered for the interview and financial evaluation;
Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.