UNDP Jobs - 50397- Consultant - Vetted Experts Roster (Regional Burea

Consultant - Vetted Experts Roster (Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States) Programme/Project Evaluation and Monitoring

Location :

Home-based with possible travels in Eastern Europe and CIS region

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

31-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

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

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) since 1992, and serves over 30 countries and territories in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives.

The UNDP Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS – based in Istanbul, Turkey - provides advisory support and knowledge management services to UNDP Country Offices and its partners in the ECIS region in the areas of Sustainable Development (including Poverty and Inequality; Green Economy and Employment; Extractive Industries), Governance and Peacebuilding (including HIV, Health and Development; Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development; Anti-Corruption and E-Governance; Local Governance and Decentralization; Human Rights and Rule of Law), Gender Equality, Knowledge and Innovation, and Energy, Climate Change and Disaster Resilience . In addition, the Centre supports the programme development of these offices at the national level.

The UN programming instrument for UN cooperation and partnership on development issues at the country level is guided by the UN Common Country Programming Process, resulting in the key documents such as the Country Analysis and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). Based on these UN-level documents, UNDP’s programming document (contributing to the UNDAF) is the Country Programme Document and subsequently programmes and projects contributing to the achievement of the Country Programme outcomes. The Monitoring and Evaluation Expert will assist upon request the UNDP Country Offices/UNCTs in the country with the timely evaluation of the programme/project or certain outcomes or outputs of the programme as required in the Evaluation Plan for the UNDP country programme. The Expert must be able to support and contribute with guidance on the evaluation function, in line with corporate UNDP evaluation standards, and hence contribute to key evaluation underpinnings i.e. accountability, organizational learning and management for results.

UNDP is soliciting the submission of CVs (individuals, not firms) to be considered for registration in the Programme Monitoring and Evaluation expert roster of UNDP. The expert roster will consist of highly-qualified and experienced consultants. Only the applicants who pass all screening procedures will be registered for the roster.

Interested consultants are advised to carefully study selection procedures of this ToR and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications. Only applicants who pass all screening procedures will be included into the roster and recommended to Country Offices in the region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Consultants will provide advisory support to clients (UNDP offices, national project teams, and national stakeholders including governments, civil society organizations and affected communities in the region). Specific reporting and working relationships will be specified at the time of contracting for a specific assignment.

When demand arises, pre-selected consultants are called upon to provide demand-driven monitoring and evaluation, access to knowledge and technical expertise to UNDP Country Offices. The range of tasks for the consultant may include applied research, diagnostic missions, provision of strategic and operational advice or forward-looking assessments, capacity assessments and capacity development activities, monitoring and evaluation, engagement with public/private partners and stakeholders, community engagement and outreach including through social media, training, report drafting, peer review, and others. Consultants will perform their duties from home through e-mail, telephone and/or fax combined with the in-country missions and/or project site visits (per request of the UNDP Country Office). Consultants are expected to attend relevant meetings and workshops at the country level, including stakeholder consultations, inception and validation meetings.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Expert’s primary tasks may include:

Assess and validate the results of the development programmes/projects (national or regional) in terms of achievements/gaps in delivering outputs, contributing to programme outcomes and Strategic Plan outcomes, reaching target beneficiaries, the factors that affected the results, and the potential for sustainability;
Analyze the effectiveness and sustainability of the overall strategy and approaches of the programmes/projects, in particular the three-pronged strategy, the multi-sectoral approach, the regional-national linkages, capacity building, partnerships, and knowledge generation and dissemination;
Analyze lessons learned on both substantive and programme management issues;
Assist the UNCT in developing results matrices, M&E frameworks and evaluation plans for the UNDAF and/or One UN programmes or similar planning instruments;
Support the UNCT in the implementation and monitoring of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and/or the One UN Programme or similar programming instruments;
Support capacity development of national M&E systems and assess possible ways of facilitating a transition towards the integration of national systems by UNCT;
Assist the Offices as appropriate, to conceptualize and consolidate progress reports, and to support compilation and dissemination of the Annual Reports;
Assist in commissioning independent evaluations;
Provide training as required to UN agencies on Results-based management (RBM) and monitoring & evaluation techniques.

Competencies

Strategic vision, strong technical and analytical capabilities and demonstrated ability to gain the assistance and cooperation of others in a team endeavour through technical leadership in a broad range of operational areas;
Strong knowledge and understanding of UNDP corporate monitoring and evaluation policies and procedures;
Strong interpersonal skills and communication skills, resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and negotiating skills, and the ability to cope with situations which may pose conflict;
Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Proven ability to work in a team, develop synergies and establish effective working relations within the RCO, with persons of different UN Agencies, government counterparts, donors and NGOs;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships;
Strong analytical aptitude and effective interpersonal, communication and presentation skills;
Ability to solve complex problems with minimal supervision;
Ability to lead formulation and evaluation of development programs and projects;
Ability to work with small multi-disciplinary, multi-national teams to deliver quality products in high stress, short deadline situations;
Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to screen succinctly and clearly critical issues and draw forward-looking conclusions;
Ability and demonstrated capacity to work in rural and remote localities;
Facilitation and training skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree in a relevant field in relevant development studies or related social science fields with solid experience in Result Based Management and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Experience:

At least 7 years of proven experience in conducting monitoring and evaluations and/or results-based management, including conducting independent project evaluations, trainings, developing M&E frameworks, result based frameworks, log frames etc.
Proven experience in the ECIS (Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States) Region;
Experience in the evaluation of technical assistance projects, if possible with UNDP or other UN development agencies, major donors as well as government;
Good knowledge of UN system, procedures and operational activities for development, previous experience in UNDAF development is considered as plus.

Language:

Excellent English writing (Russian is a strong asset) and communication skills.

Evaluation of Applicants

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above. Those selected for the next stage of the selection process will participate in an assessment.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The inclusion into the Vetted Roster of Experts will be offered to those individual consultants whose offers have been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews, written essay and interviews) and financial criteria.

Only those individual consultants who will obtain at least 70% of points in each of the steps of the process will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

P11 Desk Review - max 35 points:

M&E and RBM experience in Europe and CIS region – max points - 5;
Experience in RBM incl. conducting independent project evaluations, trainings, development of M&E frameworks, RRFs, log frames etc.– max points - 10;
Experience in the evaluation of technical assistance projects, with UNDP or other UN development agencies, major donors and governments – max points -10;
Knowledge of UN system, procedures and operational activities for development. Experience in UNDAF development.- max points - 5;
Language skills - max points - 5.

Written Essay - max 20 points

Interview - max15 points

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Contracting Arrangements:

The successful candidates will be included in UNDP’s technical expert roster for a period of three (3) years. Entry into the expert roster system does not necessarily mean that contract with UNDP is guaranteed. This will depend on forthcoming needs.

Where a request for services arises, the UN/UNDP unit/office in need of the service shall directly contract the consultant from the roster without the need for further selection process. A specific Term of Reference (ToR) outlining the outputs for each assignment shall be provided and a Individual Contract (IC) will be issued to the consultant, detailing the time frame directly by the contracting unit/office. Conditions of a particular assignment may be negotiable.

Payments:

Payments will be made as specified in the actual contract upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website.

The application should contain:

Cover letter, including applicant's qualifications for the advertised position. The letter should be pasted into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal – all-inclusive maximum daily fee in USD valid for three years (Daily fee includes health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services such as communication, office costs etc.);
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Consultants who are part of the RBEC Vetted Roster in the 3 year validity period have to re-apply during this call.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.