UNDP Jobs - 60615- International Consultant- Management and Monitorin

International Consultant- Management and Monitoring Specialist for National Assembly Strategic Support Project

Location :

Vientiane Capital, LAO PDR

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

25-Oct-2015

Application Deadline :

16-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 Months (first 3 months part-time from October to December 2015 and full-time for 2016)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 Months (first 3 months part-time from October to December 2015 and full-time for 2016)

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 unicameral National Assembly of Lao PDR was established in 1991 and has 6 portfolio committees in addition to the Standing Committee: Committees on Law, Economics/Planning/Finance, Social and Cultural Affairs, Ethnic Affairs, National Defense and Security, and Foreign Affairs. At the last NA election in April 2011, the new 7th Legislature was established with 68% of the parliamentarians newly elected.

The NA has an ambitious legislation programme for 2011-2015 and is facing challenges in realizing its legislative duties as the overall majority of draft laws originate from the executive. Similarly, the NA is facing insufficient data and background information for relevant issues, a shortage of specialized staff as well as lack of effective systems for assessing and monitoring the results of budget allocations and spending, which calls for further improvement of the NA’s institutional capacity. The NA also need to strengthen and implement its critical mandate to represent the people, advocate for improvement in the quality of life, and articulate the needs of the people.

Project Context

Given the past support by UNDP to the National Assembly in Lao PDR, the National Assembly Strategic Support Project or NASSP was launched in June 2014 with the objective to improve the capacity of the NA to be able to effectively review and deliberate draft laws, conduct oversight, and represent constituents as an important aspect of the parliaments’ contribution to democracy and development in Lao PDR. To address the challenges and needs highlighted above, the Project will assist the NA in creating a conducive environment for more inclusive, accountable and participatory political processes.

The Project has just concluded its mid-term evaluation. Based on the positive findings of the exercise, the Project has now been extended until December 2016. It prepared comprehensive capacity baseline assessments of the NA and its support service system, with appropriate recommendations as set forth in its five-year capacity development plan. Finally, consolidated assessments were also done regarding the NA’s public engagement tools, thereby making it necessary to implement some of its recommendations with the end view of strengthening these public engagements tools of the NA towards a stronger people’s participation in the decision-making process.

Duties and Responsibilities

While the Project is already on its mid-term, there is a need to continue the project to institute various areas of project management and implementation support until the end of its project duration. The consultant is thus expected to work closely with the management team established at the National Assembly, NA members and staff, relevant ministries including the Ministry of Justice, UNDP, and other development partners during the assignment.

As a Management and Monitoring Specialist (MMS), the consultant will be mainly based at the National Assembly and report under the Head of the International Cooperation and Project Management Secretariat (ICPMS) and NASSP National Project Director (NPD) as well as the UNDP Governance Unit Chief and will be responsible for providing the following core functions and tasks to the NASSP:

Provide management advice and support to the project team in the implementation of the project activities ranging from developing of work plans and reports, ensuring proper procurement management and compliance as well as effective coordination and organization of evaluations, audits, and spot checks;
Technical support in the areas of the M&E framework and results-based management (RBM) including indicators setting and monitoring, collecting data, results-based reporting, and work planning amongst others;
Provide technical support and exercise quality control over the development of project ideas and concepts, and closely monitor the project implementation progress and results;
Keep abreast of the developments in the governance sector in Lao PDR as well as the socioeconomic conditions and trends as they relate to the NASSP, in close collaboration with the Senior Technical Specialist (STS), NASSP Project Manager (PM) and UNDP Governance Team.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the overall supervision of the Head of ICPMS & National Project Director and UNDP Governance Unit Chief, the Management and Monitoring Specialist will:

Provide management advice and support to the NASSP NPD and PM on substantive management and implementation issues;
Establish and maintain a robust system to monitor project delivery (the implementation of activities and disbursement of funds) and project results (progress towards outcomes) against the indicators;
Provide technical and management support in the strengthening of the ICPMS by developing rules of procedures, guidelines, workplans, and relevant tools;
Provide technical advice and support to the ICPMS and NA Committees/Departments on the development of project concepts and briefing papers, and implementation of work plan activities;
Draft and finalize the annual and quarterly work plans, budgets and all other relevant reports;
Strengthen the management and administrative capacity of project team, ICPMS staff and NA project focal-points through coaching, mentoring and provision of training (including the follow-up on spot checks and audit recommendations);
Develop and uphold effective financial, administrative and managerial procedures in accordance with guidelines agreed between the UN and the Government of Lao PDR relating to NIM Projects.
Assist the PM to maintain management logs (risk, issues, lessons learnt and monitoring) as well as in the application of other results-based management tools and principles;
Draft and finalize the ToRs for project staff, consultants and sub-contractors including the monitoring and review of consultants’ outputs and reports;
Coordinate and organize management meetings, including monthly meetings of project staff, quarterly meetings of the Programme Assurance Group, six-monthly meetings of the Project Steering Board and annual planning and review meetings including preparation and finalization of relevant presentations and documents;
Serve as a focal-point for audits, spot checks, the mid-term review, final evaluation, etc. and take responsibility for following up on the recommendations;
Regularly coordinate with the UNDP Programme Officer and UNDP Programme Support Unit to update UNDP on the progress made in the Project;
Collect baseline and endline data necessary to measure project results; and
Perform any other task as instructed by the National Project Director and UNDP Governance Unit Chief.

Expected Results and Deliverables:

All technical and financial proposals should bear in mind that this consultancy will be output-based. But these deliverables are structured on a monthly basis to ensure that the consultant achieves such milestones at a steady pace. Key expected deliverables from the consultant include but are not limited to:

Month 1: mid October 2015

Development of the 15-month work plan (including the budget and results-based indicators and targets) together with the International Consultant for the NASSP;
Development of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Development of the quarter work plan (including budget);
Establishment of the data collection mechanism
Facilitation and assistance to the NASSP project team in the conduct of spot check exercise by UNDP; and
Preparation and organization of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting including presentations, talking points, reports and other relevant documents.

Month 2: November 2015

Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar or training for ICPMS and NASSP project team including NA focal points on UNDP NIM guidelines and policies;
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar for ICPMS and NASSP project team on the M&E framework (results reporting, data collection against indicators, work planning, etc.);
Monitoring and follow-up on the recommendations of the spot check exercise by UNDP;
Development of the ICPMS guidelines and rules of procedure for project management and implementation;

Development of standard presentation and information materials on NASSP and ICPMS to be used during orientation seminars for NA secretariat staff and NA-Development Partners’ meeting;

Month 3: December 2015

Compilation of the baseline data
Development and finalization of the 12-month procurement plan;
Development of the minutes of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting;
Development a NASSP quarterly newsletter and project briefer to give updates on the project implementation;
Preparation and organization of the NASSP Project Board and Annual Review Meeting including the presentations, talking points, reports and other relevant documents; and
Development of the minutes of the NASSP Project Board and Annual Review Meeting.

Month 4: January 2016

Development and finalization of a quarterly work plan (by 10th of Month 4);
Development and finalization of the annual progress report and logs;
Review of the previous quarter’s financial settlement;
Development of an ICPMS workplan in coordination with ICPMS and NA focal points;
Draft ToRs of international and national consultants as required in the annual work plan;
Review and updating of the NASSP progress matrix to keep track of the project’s delivery status (including the financial parts) and data collection tool;
Design an information and coordination flow or mechanism for the NASSP, ICPMS and NA; and
Inputs to the NA staff development training strategy and program to be developed by the International Consultant.

Month 5: February 2016

Inputs to the NA strategy paper on how to implement the recommendations from the NA assessment on public engagement;
Inputs to the modules or guidelines on legislative research on results based monitoring and evaluation to be developed by the International Consultant;
Design a visibility, communications and monitoring guidelines for the NASSP, ICPMS and NA;
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar or training for ICPMS and NASSP project team including NA focal points on UNDP NIM guidelines and policies;
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar for ICPMS and NASSP project team on the M&E framework (results reporting, data collection against indicators, work planning, etc.);

Month 6: March 2016

Development of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Development of the quarter work plan (including budget);
Development of a NASSP quarterly newsletter and project briefer to give updates on the project implementation; and
Facilitation and assistance to the NASSP project team in the audit exercise.

Month 7: April 2016

Inputs to the citizen's handbook on NA public engagement tools (guidelines on how to engage with the NA) to be developed by the International Consultant;
Inputs to the citizen's reporting guidelines to be developed by the International Consultant;
Finalization of a quarterly work plan;

Finalization of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Review of the previous quarter’s financial settlement;
Review and updating of the NASSP progress matrix to keep track of the project’s delivery status (including the financial parts) and data collection tool;
Monitoring and follow-up on the recommendations of the audit exercise; and
Preparation and organization of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting including presentations, talking points, reports and other relevant documents.

Month 8: May 2016

Update the standard presentation and information materials on NASSP and ICPMS to be used during orientation seminars for NA secretariat staff and NA-Development Partners’ meeting;
Inputs to the NA strategy paper on NA-CSO engagement guidelines or roadmap to be developed by the International Consultant;
Facilitation and assistance to the South-South cooperation activities on the role of NA in people's participation and NA- CSO engagement; and
Development of a NASSP quarterly newsletter and project briefer to give updates on the project implementation.

Month 9: June 2016

Development of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Development of the quarter work plan (including budget);
Development of the minutes of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting;

Month 10: July 2016

Finalization of the quarterly work plan;
Finalization of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Review of the previous quarter’s financial settlement;
Monitoring and follow-up on the recommendations of the audit exercise;
Monitoring and follow-up on the recommendations of the spot check exercise by UNDP;
Preparation and organization of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting including presentations, talking points, reports and other relevant documents; and
Review and updating of the NASSP progress matrix to keep track of the project’s delivery status (including the financial parts) and data collection tool.

Month 11: August 2016

Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar or training for ICPMS and NASSP project team including NA focal points on UNDP NIM guidelines and policies;
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar for ICPMS and NASSP project team on the M&E framework (results reporting, data collection against indicators, work planning, etc.);
Development of a NASSP quarterly newsletter and project briefer to give updates on the project implementation;
Preparation for the final project evaluation as focal point.

Month 12: September 2016

Development of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Development of the quarter work plan (including budget);
Development of the minutes of the NASSP Quarterly Progress Meeting;

Month 13: October 2016

Finalization of the previous quarter’s progress report and logs;
Finalization of the quarter work plan;
Preparation for the Annual Review Meeting;
Preparation for the Project Board Meeting.

Month 14: November 2016

Compilation of endline data
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar or training for ICPMS and NASSP project team including NA focal points on UNDP NIM guidelines and policies;
Facilitation and organization of a refresher seminar for ICPMS and NASSP project team on the M&E framework (results reporting, data collection against indicators, work planning, etc.);

Month 15: December 2016

Development and finalization of the annual progress report and logs;
Organization of the annual review meeting;
Development and finalization of the terminal report;
Organization of the final review meeting;
Submission of all relevant documents for the project’s operational and financial closure.

Payment Terms/Schedule:

As this consultancy will be output-based, payments will be made upon completion of the list of deliverables for each month described above. So this factor should be reflected in the financial proposal.

Competencies

Functional competencies:

Shares knowledge and experience;
Plan and prioritizes work activities to meet organizational goals;
Builds and sustains relationships with key constituents (international/external/bilateral/ multilateral/public/private/civil society);
Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
Demonstrates excellent and effective written and oral communication skills;
Demonstrate respect to knowledge and culture and religion in a multidisciplinary working environment;
Applies the required depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise to meet job demands;
Uses information technology effectively as a tools and resource;
Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in taking on this type of consultancy.

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;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Master Degree in Management, Public Administration, Development Studies, Political Science or any field related to this consultancy;

Years of experience:

At least 7 years of experience in management and monitoring of development projects/programmes;
Of which at least 7 years of experience working in capacity building projects/programmes with an international organization;
Experience in South East Asia preferably in Lao PDR is an advantage.

Languages:

Excellent command of written and spoken English, including excellent drafting and presentation skills

Requirements for submission of proposals:

All interested and qualified candidates should apply on-line using the following links:

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/

Or UNDP Jobs at http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm

In order to make submission please read the attached relevant documents:

TOR (Annex I)
Individual Contract & General Terms and Conditions (Annex II);
Offeror's Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability (Annex III)

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

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

Technical and Financial Proposal as per Annex III “Offeror's letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability”

Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;
Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable;
CV including past experience in similar project and contact reference of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;

Note:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount (including the monthly breakdown), and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon monthly outputs, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. UNDP accept travel costs not exceeding of an economy class air ticket.

Please kindly refer to the Terms of Reference Annex I for detailed information on:

Project’s background;
Scope of work and Responsibilities;
Deliverables;
Requirements for Experience and Qualifications.

Evaluation of Proposals:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis and in line with the following evaluation criteria:

Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract will be made to a consultant who 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:

Technical Criteria weight; [0.7].

*Financial Criteria weight; [0.3].

Only a consultant obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical rating would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Note:

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to the following e-mail: kazuo.fukuda@undp.org and CC phadthakone.sophavilay@undp.org

UNDP Lao PDR will respond in writing by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

The copies of the response will be also placed on our web-site at: http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/ and linked to the current Procurement Notice.

All interested candidates are encouraged to visit the above web-site for updates.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more detailed information about UNDP Lao PDR please visit our website at http://www.la.undp.org/lao_pdr/en/home.html.