UNDP Jobs - 52469- National Consultant - Donor Liaison Coordinator

National Consultant - Donor Liaison Coordinator

Location :

Tirana, ALBANIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

05-Jan-2015

Application Deadline :

23-Dec-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

7wd/month, for six months with possibility for extension

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

STAR project was designed as an immediate door support to the efforts of the Albanian Government to initiate, develop, and implement the administrative and territorial reform with the necessary expertise and transparency and through extensive public consultations.

With the approval of the Law on Territorial and Administrative Reform, the process now has entered the implementation phase and the Government is committed to undertake the necessary preparation steps ahead of the local elections scheduled for mid-2015. In this respect, there are ongoing assessments for a correct implementation of the new administrative model, aiming at a review and consolidation approach of LGUs’ functional responsibilities for the LGUs to fulfil their new role as well as seeking to find solutions to minimize the negative effects of the reform.

The reform implementation process pays special importance to transition and preparatory measures for the amalgamation and empowerment and capacity building of the new LGUs complemented by decentralisation and fiscal reforms and the necessary legal amendments to the relevant legislation. Complex issues and demands accompany these processes which include inter alia:

Assessment and situational analyses of the financial, legal human resources and assets of 373 actual LGUs;
Development of a manual of procedures for the sequence and modalities of amalgamation
Assessment of human resources’ capacity and job re-insertion of public servants made redundant by the reform

The above mentioned processes affect and involve directly a series of actors and stakeholders at national and local level, the existing staff of LGUs, and the public at large. On the other hand, many donors contributing for the reform are interested to be informed effectively about the progress and new cooperation opportunities, not only for a successful implementation of the reform, but also for an effective and not overlapping use of funds. The Council of Europe, implementing a project focussing on LGUs’ Human Resource Management, the Swiss Cooperation Office, funding its Decentralisation Local Development Programme and USAID’s Local Governance Programme are some of the ongoing initiatives that operate and contribute in this field. In this context, a good coordination of all the actors and donors and a professional communication are necessary to ensure integrated feedback, timely sharing of information and a strengthened networking and partnership of all those interested and contributing to the territorial reform outcomes.

To cope with the aforementioned, UNDP is soliciting the submission of individual applications to fill in the position of the Donor Liaison Coordinator, who will be tasked to ensure a coordination of and synergies among donor inputs to the administrative and territorial reform and the overall local governance system on behalf of the MSLI.

Duties and Responsibilities

STAR project seeks to support the Government/MSLI to enhance coordination and make effective use of development partners’ support to the territorial and administrative reform and the strengthening of the local governance. In this respect, the objectives of the coordination - within STAR implementation framework - of donor activities and initiatives relevant to / contributing to or affecting the implementation of the territorial and administrative reform are to ensure synergies between STAR’s and other stakeholders’ activities to the benefit of the MSLI.

Key duties of the Donor Liaison Coordinator include:

Establish and enhance information sharing among various relevant ongoing donor projects that have an impact or commonality with the TAR and STAR
Help building an enabling environment for coherence of actions and synergies / collaboration and complementarities
Contribute to reducing burdens on the local public administrations through harmonizing approaches targeting those administrations
Enhance the quality and accessibility of information for decision makers and stakeholders
Establish relations, assess and design approach and mode of information, dissemination, consultation, and stakeholder participation in information-sharing settings
Determine/propose ways in which lessons and practices coming out of such information-sharing and consultation settings are to be adopted, integrated or scaled up in the implementation of related ongoing/future projects.
Help in the definition of appropriate tasks/execution responsibilities for respective parties and the level/quality of their actual participation.
Help identify, propose and design institutional/coordination arrangement among related stakeholders.
Call meetings and circulate required agendas and records, maintain and update relevant information on stakeholders and their relevant activities, maintain a full record of relevant correspondence.
Facilitate other activities as required.

Expected results:

Stakeholders are mutually kept informed of significant developments relative to the territorial and administrative reform;
Necessary adjustment are made to stakeholders programming and implementation of specific initiatives and approaches, taking into consideration the larger picture and the complementarities developed as a result of aggregated support provided
Effectiveness and efficiency of actions are improved
Deliverables
Monthly progress reports on his/her own activities to be submitted to STAR project management

Competencies

Core competencies and values:

Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Display disability, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional competencies:

Good organizational and analytical skills
Ability to work on tight deadlines
Familiarity with and extensive ability to network with key stakeholders
Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills
Willingness to take initiative and work without close supervision
Be very good in report writing.

Required Skills and Experience

Education/Academic Qualifications:

Master’s degree in social sciences, public relations, development studies or any other related field

Work experience:

At least 3 years-experience of work in areas related to local governance and decentralization, local government finance, local economic development or similar
And/or at least 5 years of demonstrated professional experience in development project management and/or institutional development
Experience in project and team management

Language skills:

Excellent verbal and written English skills

Evaluation of applicants:

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above. UNDP applies the ‘Best value for money’ approach - the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) Responsive, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

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

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

Criteria A: Compliant educational background– max points: 20

Criteria B: Knowledge and proven record of communication strategy development and implemented: 20 pts

Criteria C: Professional experience in the required area - max points: 30

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

Payments:

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

Application procedures:

Qualified and interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23 December 2014.

Please submit the following to demonstrate your interest and qualifications by explaining why you are the most suitable for the work:

Cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs); form (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/jobs/); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Financial Proposal - specifying a total fee per day for the tasks specified in this announcement.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested documents. Interested applicants are advised to carefully study all sections of this ToRs and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications described.

Qualified women and members of social minorities are encouraged to apply.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);
Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.