UNDP Jobs - 52640- Local Consultant – Project Proposals Assessor

Local Consultant – Project Proposals Assessor - Promoting Local Economic Development in Jordan – Support to Small-Scale Food Processing

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jan-2015

Application Deadline :

03-Jan-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

20 working days over a period of 10 months

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

20 working days over a period of 10 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

Promoting Local Economic Development in Jordan – Support to small-scale food processing - is an EU-funded action tha is being implemented by UNDP with the Ministry of Interior. This action aims to contribute to the implementation of the local economic development for the governorates of Ajloun and Tafileh, particularly by supporting the development of food processing support services. This action is expected to contribute to poverty alleviation and employment generation through supporting low-value grants in food processing related services. This action is expected to strengthen the capacities of the target group by providing guidance and mentoring them on implementing the planned activities with sound administrative and financial management of the grant. Capacity developments in this context includes information sessions for eligible target groups and follow up activities that include field visits, on the job training, and monitoring of implementation on the ground.

The proposed action will also assist the development of small-scale food processing in the following sub-sectors (i) olive oil and table olives (ii) dry fruit and molasses (iii) vinegars and pickles (iv) jams and syrups (v) herbal and medicinal plants (vi) traditional food through financial support to support community-based organisations and individual / family private initiatives (10-20 entities in each governorate) (v) dairy industries.

The Ministry of Interior through its presence on the groud through the governorates specialised Local Development Units is strongly contributing to the development efforts. The Ministry represents a major stakeholder, and driver of development initiatives at the local level. UNDP will use the fast track implementation modality[1] to accelerate the implementation of the action.

Duties and Responsibilities

The project will launch call/(s) for proposals (depending on the number of proposals received, and the number selected) seeking applications from local CBOs, private sectors and individuals over the next 10 months. The assessor will participate in the evaluation committee, and he/she will provide technical input to the committee from technical point view in relation to food processing sectors, for a second or a third reading.

The assessor is expected to perform the following tasks:

Evaluate the eligibility of the applicant.
Evaluate the relevance of the action, and its expected contribution to the impact.
Evaluate national context of food processing into action’s activities;
Assess the technical content of the proposal, and the proposed activities;
Evaluate the proposed budget and timeline of the action, in relation to the proposed activities;
Write a one page summary (in English) of each proposal evaluated;
Provide a report with the total number of proposals evaluated in each area, list of accepted proposals, list of rejected proposals, and a brief on the proposal idea, and an evaluation explaining why each project was accepted/rejected (in English);
Proposals evaluation should be undertaken according to UNDP provided scoring and evaluation.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functinal competencies:

Strong interpersonal skills;
Communication and diplomatic skills;
Ability to work with stakeholders including governments;
Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities.

Required Skills and Experience

The assessor should have the following qualifications and skills:

Education:

University Degree in agriculture or equivalent in development, local economic development, economics, sustainable development, community development or related field.

Experience:

At least 15 years of working experience in project management, Monitoring and Evaluation, or project design and formulation.
Experience in M&E and/or evaluation of grant proposals;
Demonstrated experience in providing management advisory services;
Demonstrated track record in the design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects and establishing/facilitating relationships between international organizations and national/local NGOs/CBOs;
Must have adequate administrative and organizational experience and knowledge to function and operate effectively with political, economic and legal realities in Jordan;
Knowledge of, and experience with UNDP’s rules and regulations;
Familiarity with the United Nations system, MDGs and other relevant UN global/regional processes;
Sound knowledge of results-based management (especially results-oriented monitoring and evaluation);
Ability to undertake project budget analysis.

Language:

Fluency in Arabic and English.

Application procedure:

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

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

Proposal:

Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work.

Financial proposal

Personal CV

Including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.