Jobs - 56035- Transcription Coordinator

Transcription Coordinator - Pulse Lab Kampala

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

21-May-2015

Application Deadline :

13-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 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

Global Pulse is an innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, established to harness today’s new world of digital data and real-time analytics to gain a better understanding of changes in human well-being. Global Pulse aims to contribute a future in which access to better information sooner makes it possible to keep international development on track, protect the world's most vulnerable populations, and strengthen resilience to global shocks. Global Pulse is being implemented as a global network of Pulse Labs, bringing together expertise from UN agencies, governments, academia, and the private sector to research, develop, test and share tools and approaches for harnessing real-time data for more effective and efficient policy action. For more information on Global Pulse go to http://www.unglobalpulse.org.

Pulse Lab Kampala

United Nations Pulse Lab Kampala (PLK) (http://www.unglobalpulse.org/kampala) is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations under the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Uganda that fully commenced operations in December 2013. The first of its kind in East Africa, PLK supports the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) by bringing together partners from academia and the private sector to collaboratively develop new approaches on data innovation for sustainable development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

The Transcription Coordinator will support Pulse Lab Kampala to develop the technology for analyzing radio broadcasts in Uganda, in order to gain insights useful for development and humanitarian early warning. More details about the project are available here:
http://pulselabkampala.ug/radiomining

He/she will support the team in preparing language data for training a speech recognition system.

Deliverables:

Workplan, methodology and timeframes to deliver agreed products endorsed by Pulse Lab Kampala team;
Set up a web based system for the transcription process, with guidance from Stellenbosch University and Pulse Lab Kampala on the required functionality;
Report on quality control measures for accurate transcription procedures;
Sample text transcripts of the audio recordings provided by Pulse Lab Kampala;
25 % full text transcripts of the audio recordings provided by Pulse Lab Kampala;
50 % full text transcripts of the audio recordings provided by Pulse Lab Kampala;
75 % Full text transcripts of the audio recordings provided by Pulse Lab Kampala;
100 % Full text transcripts of the audio recordings provided by Pulse Lab Kampala;
Report documenting process and outputs.

Methodology:

He/she will receive large sets of radio recordings from Pulse Lab Kampala and will provide text transcripts of these recordings to Pulse Lab Kampala.

Guidance on the required format of these transcriptions, as well as example transcriptions, will be provided by technical partners in Stellenbosch University.

He/she will be responsible for developing an appropriate technical setup for transcribers to work with (e.g. a web app or cloud data storage arrangement) and assessing data quality.

Working Arrangement:

With overall reporting to the Pulse Lab Kampala manager, he/she will work on day-to-day basis with the basis with the Data Scientist.

The consultant will report to the on a regular basis on progress in line with the set deliverables of the assignment:

The consultant will liaise, interact, collaborate/meet staff and partners as needed;
UNDP (Pulse Lab Kampala) will support the consultant in the following; Access to all past reports and data relevant to the assignment. These will include donor reports and project documents; Access to Pulse Lab Kampala and its infrastructure; Support and assistance to gain access to relevant stakeholders for consultations to the extent possible.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrate intergrity and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Core skills:

Ability to conceptualize, plan and execute innovative ideas;
Displays open, co-operative behaviour with other team members;
Remains calm and in control, and good humoured even under pressure;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;
Sets priorities, produces quality outputs;
Meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
Excellent oral and written skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

MSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems or related field;
A combination of a first degree and relevant experience may be accepted.

Experience:

Working knowledge of various programming languages and experience with software development;
Experience with Python is an advantage;
Experience of web application development, preferably having worked on examples of interactive data visualisation;
Experience of coordinating student activities.

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of English;
Knowledge of Luganda and/or Acholi is an advantage.

Price Proposal and Schedule of payments:

Payment to the individual consultant will be made upon receiving the agreed deliverables:

10% of the lump sum upon completion and approval of deliverables 1, 2, 3, and 4;
30 % of the lump sum upon completion and approval of deliverable 5;
30 % of the lump sum upon completion and approval of deliverables 6 and 7;
30 % of the lump sum upon completion and approval of deliverables 8 and 9.

Evaluation method and criteria:

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
Highest Combined Score (based on the 70% technical offer and 30% price weight distribution) where the minimum passing scores of technical proposal is 70%.

Technical Proposal (Maximum 70 points):

Relevance of education – 5 points;
Language skills – 5 points;
Interpretation of the assignment and methodology- 30 points;
Relevance of experience (professional/work experience)- 30 points;
Oral Interviews may also be conducted (in which case, No. 4 above will be out of 20 and Oral Interviews out of 10)

Financial Proposal (Maximum 30 points)

To be computed as a ratio of the Proposal’s offer to the lowest price among the proposals received by UNDP.

Application Procedure:

The consultant is required to submit an electronic application to email justine.naiga-bagonza@undp.org with copy to fredah.zawedde@undp..org; diana.nabbanja@undp.org not later than 13th May, 2015.

The application should include the following documents/information:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (see Annex II);
Updated Personal CV highlighting past experience in similar assignments and with 3 professional references with contact details (email and telephone);
Financial proposal (in template provided in Annex II) stating an all-inclusive fixed lump sum fee for this assignment in Ugandan Shillings, supported by a breakdown of costs. Such total lump sum price must include professional fee, and costs necessary to conduct the assignment such as communication costs, etc. The consultant will be paid against the completion of specific, measurable deliverables as identified in this TOR.

Only those short listed will receive an acknowledgement.

Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered.