UNDP Jobs - 51511- Strategic Planning Advisor

Strategic Planning Advisor

Location :

Bangkok with possibility of travel to other provinces, THAILAND

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Dec-2014

Application Deadline :

25-Nov-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 December 2014 - 31 March 2015

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

2.5 months

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

It is widely acknowledged that Thailand, with a population of 66 million, has joined that ranks of middle-income countries due to the country’s progress in social and economic development, high rates of economic growth, and a falling poverty level since the late 1980s.

Despite this economic success, Thailand’s reality is tainted by the fact that economic wealth has not been shared equally across the country, with some regions featuring much higher poverty levels (e.g., the North and Northeast). Persistent inequalities in terms of income and opportunities still define the Thai society in 2014. In addition, Thailand continues to encounter periods of political instability and frequent disruptions of the democratic governance system that continue to challenge Thailand’s continued development.

To better align to the realities of the country as well as UNDP’s new Strategic Plan the Country Office has merged two of its programme pillars to form the new Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy Unit as part of a structural re-alignment process The Unit will play a strategic role within the UNDP Country Office in supporting the Government of Thailand, civil society, academic and other national development partners to address current and emerging development opportunities and challenges in the areas of governance and social justice.

To consolidate this new Unit, the CO seeks to hire an Expert on Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy who can support the office in defining the road ahead, help put together the Unit’s substantive strategy as well as identify new programmatic entry points.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the overall supervision of the DRR, and directly with the Team Leader, Governance & Social Advocacy, the Advisor will design a new draft strategy for the Democratic Governance & Social Advocacy work of the Country Office (CO) Thailand to better tailor UNDP’s work to current and emerging democratic governance challenges given the country’s present political context. As part of this, the Advisor will:

Explore and identify strategic and innovative areas of cooperation with Government agencies, UN Country Team and national and international development partners in line with national reform processes, development policies and priorities;
Define regional priority areas the Country Office’s work can be connected to and opportunities for a closer linkage of the Office’s work with the Governance agenda of the UNDP’s Regional Hub Asia Pacific (BRH);
Identify and propose new strategic partnerships with donors (e.g. regional funds, bi and multi-lateral donors, private sector), academia or CSO’s based on strategic goals of UNDP and the country needs;
Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned for Democratic Governance & Social Advocacy work in the region or elsewhere and offices operating in a similar contexts;
Outline possible new programme initiatives with key partners in areas such as justice & rule of law, anti-corruption, decentralization and local governance.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

A concise draft strategy for UNDP’s work on Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy in Thailand for the next 2-4 years forecasting UNDP’s substantive focus and niche including the

Identification of possible new programmatic entry points and operational approaches;
Resource mobilization possibilities;
Opportunities for closer regional linkages in particular through a synchronization with the Governance agenda of UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub for Asia and the Pacific (BRH).
One or two short concept notes outlining possible Governance and Social Advocacy programme initiatives for UNDP Thailand.

Institutional Arrangement

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative the Democratic Governance & Social Advocacy Advisor will work directly with the Team Leader, Governance & Social Advocacy.

Duration of the Work

The assignment duration will be Mid-December 2014-March 2015.

Duty Station

Bangkok, Thailand with possible travel to selected provinces.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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.

Governance and Social Advocacy competencies (technical):

Proven knowledge of development, and programme design in the areas of democratic governance and social advocacy,
Demonstrates the capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations;
Evaluates information accurately and identifies key programming entry points.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

The ability to

Lead strategic planning and reporting processes;
Work with minimal supervision;
Lead formulation and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills;
Build strong relationships with clients and external actors.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational:

Postgraduate degree in Political Sciences, Law, International Relations or related fields (e.g. international development, sociology, economics, or other related disciplines of social sciences).

Experience:

A minimum of 15 years of advisory work in areas of Democratic Governance & Social Advocacy, including relevant field experience, especially in the areas of public policy, strategic leadership, political economy analysis, human rights and sustainable development;
In-depth knowledge of Thailand and its political challenges as well as a track record of having worked directly on Governance issues in Thailand with bi- or multilateral donors and organizations;
In-depth experience with Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy issues at the national or international level;
Experience in the design, planning and implementation of Governance and Social Advocacy projects in developing and middle income countries;
Work experience with UNDP project management and execution;
A track record of Governance work experiences in the Asia-Pacific region.

Language:

Fluency (both written and spoken) in English;
Knowledge of Thai an asset.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1 (30% of total contract amount): A concise draft strategy for UNDP’s work on Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy in Thailand for the next 2-4 years forecasting UNDP’s substantive focus and niche including the

Identification of possible new programmatic entry points;
Resource mobilization possibilities;
Opportunities for closer regional linkages in particular through a synchronization with the Governance agenda of UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub for Asia and the Pacific (BRH).

Deliverable 2 (70% of total contract amount): One or two short concept notes outlining possible Governance and Social Advocacy programme initiatives for UNDP Thailand.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

The award of the contract will 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 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation - 70% (Maximum 100 points):

Experience related to services - Max 50 points;
Expertise & Availability – Max 50 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
Financial proposal, the proposals should indicate all-inclusive daily professional fee.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annex - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to rcb.procurement.th@undp.org.