UNDP Jobs - 61791- Consultant - Policy Support and Knowledge Manageme

Consultant - Policy Support and Knowledge Management for Effective Development Cooperation

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jan-2016

Application Deadline :

15-Dec-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

11 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

UNDP, the global development network for the United Nations system, is present in 166 countries and territories and is uniquely equipped to help developing countries build sustainable capacity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In support of this, UNDP offers a wide range of solutions to global, regional and national development challenges through a comprehensive knowledge network, expert practitioners and focused strategic areas of support.

The Effective Development Cooperation (EDC) Team, under the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is the institutional anchor of UNDP’s work on effective development cooperation, focusing on the comparative advantages of UNDP in strengthening country capacities to manage and coordinate development cooperation and to strengthen peer-learning, South-South Cooperation and knowledge sharing as a tool for capacity development. It also assists countries in shaping and participating in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), as part of the UNDP-OECD Joint Support Team. This includes supporting global policy dialogue and mutual learning on effective development cooperation as well as leading country support in implementation and monitoring of the effective development cooperation principles. It also leads the coordination of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, including Secretariat services to the Chair, Vice Chair and member states and organizations, drawing on UNDP’s track record to date in supporting cross-UNDP initiatives and global processes on transparency, mutual accountability, and national ownership of development cooperation.

The transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires require not only a significant increase in resources, but also a fundamental paradigm shift – from North-South to multilateral and de-centralised cooperation, where multiple actors, including non-state stakeholders within and across the border of countries, should be adequately incentivized and enabled to implement the SDGs in coherent manner and as equal partners. This demands the transformation in the ways the development finance and cooperation are mapped, mobilized, allocated and managed as well as the development actors operate and work together. In this context, the EDC Team seeks to recruit a Policy Support consultant to work full-time based in NY HQ.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision and guidance of Global Policy Adviser, the Consultant will focus on the following:

Policy Research and Analysis on Effective Development Cooperation

Analyze trends in development effectiveness / cooperation and identify priority policy areas for UNDP's work in advancing the global development effectiveness agenda;
Contribute to policy research and development of policy / practice products such as UNDP issue briefs, discussions papers, and practice notes on effective development cooperation; and
Identify and support new research areas for policy development.

Country Policy Analysis and Knowledge Management:

Provide analytical and technical coordination support in knowledge analysis, codification of results / lessons learned in effective development cooperation and production of country analysis, country studies, including the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation country policy briefs;
Identify good practices, gather country evidence ,and document and prepare country stories / case studies;
Prepare testimonies, stories / relevant awareness materials on effective development cooperation, including under the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), and relevant UN ECOSOC processes relating to development cooperation, such as the UN Development Cooperation Forum; and support the country outreach efforts of the Global Partnership and IATI; and
Identify opportunities for innovative approaches in managing development cooperation globally.

Support to the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC):

Contribute to the preparation of GPEDC Steering Committee Meetings;
Provide on-demand analytical support to the Co-Chairs and GPEDC members, focusing on substantive development cooperation issues with a particular focus on country implementation;
Support the Working Group on Country Implementation established under the GPEDC Steering Committee; and
Contribute to substantive preparation for the Second High-Level Meeting of the GPEDC, with a particular focus on country implementation and monitoring efforts.

Project Management:

Contribute to the preparation of the annual progress report for the UNDP Global Project on Managing Development Cooperation Effectively / GPEDC Activity Report; and
Support management of the global project, including monitoring and documentation of the global support in effective development cooperation.

Deliverables (spread over 11 month contract):

Prepare at least 11 country briefs on country implementation status of EDC principles / efforts for managing development cooperation effectively;
Manage production of 2-3 in-depth country analyses in the area of financing for results, managing cooperation, and / or resources for achieving national development results;
Produce at least 1 UNDP issue brief / discussion note in the area of inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue on effective development cooperation;
Contribute to preparation of UNDP’s best practice note on institutional and policy frameworks for development cooperation;
Contribute to preparation of UNDP’s revised tool for Development Finance Information Management Systems;
Produce 1 publicity material on UNDP support for the GPEDC;
Support effective functioning of the Country Implementation Working Group of the GPEDC, including preparation of strategic updates;
Contribute to UNDP’s Annual Status Progress Report for GPEDC Joint Support Team – country codification;
Contribute to at least 2 e-discussions / global webinars organized to support the substantive preparations for the GPEDC's second High-Level Meeting; and
Contribute to UNDP’s brief for the GPEDC's second High-Level Meeting.

Competencies

Technical Competencies:

Excellent client orientation and interpersonal skills and able to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization;
Capable of working in a highly-pressured environment with extreme deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
Ability to manage complexity and is able to handle confidential and sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
Impeccable analytical skills and able to research, analyze, and draft well and able to present convincingly;
Exercises the highest level of responsibility;
An excellent team player, projecting a positive image and ready to take on a wide range of tasks to create an enabling environment for the supervisor, focusing on results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Willingly shares knowledge and experience and makes contributions to UNDP practice areas (e.g., documented knowledge, community of practice building initiatives); and
Understanding of the United Nations system, operations and structures - this includes demonstrating keen political awareness, particularly in relation to the principles of development effectiveness and transparency.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN / UNDP's values and ethical standards; and
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Economics, and the broad social sciences or other related disciplines is required.

Experience:

At least 7 years of work experience, with increasing independence, in an international organization;
Knowledge in the areas of effective development cooperation, development planning, mutual accountability frameworks, transparency and results frameworks;
Prior experience providing analytical, technical and coordination support in the areas of development partnerships, development cooperation, and / or supporting country efforts in the area of development effectiveness;
Experience in policy research; and
Familiarity with the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation and International Aid Transparency Initiative is desirable.

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken English; and
Good working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Working arrangements

UNDP will provide office space, access to internet, and a printer during the assignment (the cost of these facilities should not be included in the financial proposals). The Consultant will be responsible for providing their own laptop.

Selection Process

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive / compliant / acceptable, and b) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation as highlighted below.
All applicants will be initially screened against the minimum requirements as specified in the Terms of Reference.

These long-listed candidates will then be invited for an interview and further evaluated against the following criteria:

General knowledge / experience with effective development cooperation, development planning, mutual accountability frameworks, transparency and results frameworks, preferably at the country level (10 points);
Prior experience providing analytical, technical and coordination support in the areas of development partnerships / development cooperation and / or supporting country efforts in the area of development effectiveness (20 points);
Experience researching and writing policy products (20 points); and
Experience with and knowledge of the GPEDC and IATI (10 points).

Those candidates who score more than 70% of possible points (49+ points) in the interview process will be asked to submit a financial proposal using the form available at: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780.
In order for the hiring unit to compare financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Consultant are already factored into the financial proposal.

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposals:
p = y (µ/z), where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, with a 70-30 technical / financial ranking.
General terms and conditions_ individual consultant (IC)
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf