UNDP Jobs - 61908- Consultant for Stocktaking and Mapping of Risk Man

Consultant for Stocktaking and Mapping of Risk Management Initiatives

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

17-Dec-2015

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 working days

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

There is a growing emphasis placed on understanding and managing risks – whether they pertain to conflict, natural hazards, health or economic shocks, making sure that development is risk informed. If it isn't risk informed, it isn't sustainable development. Investing in risk-informed development means integrating risk management into the whole of the development planning and financing process.

An appreciation of how multiple risks co-exist and interact is also essential to advancing resilience. Building resilience for the future is about risk management–understanding and investing in capacities to more effectively address risks when they materialize; strengthening communities and their engagement in decisions which impact on their lives; responsive governance; and matching funding with these priorities.

The very nature of UNDP as a large organization with a presence in more than 170 countries, working on global and national development challenges, exposes the organization to institutional, programmatic and contextual risks. Risk management is an integral part of UNDP development programme management and interventions.

The objective is to systematically take stock, map, frame and clarify what risk management means for UNDP (including concepts and norms, methodologies, tools, practices, approaches, and policies at the country, regional and global level), taking into account institutional, programmatic and contextual risks, and across various thematic areas under the guidance of the risk management working group.

The outcome of the consultancy will serve to define, guide and support the coordination of UNDP’s work on risk management by presenting a conceptual and institutional understanding of risk management accompanied by practical approaches and tools for applying effective risk management practices. The consultancy will also help to bridge corporate strategies and action on the ground.

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Results and Payments

Scope of Work

The mapping and stocktaking will cover three types of UNDP’s practice in risk management: contextual, programmatic, and institutional risk management, and will be undertaken through desk review, individual interview, and focus group discussions at the technical level, liaising with the technical teams within UNDP at HQ level, regional hubs and selected country offices. Case studies of selected risk management initiatives will also be carried out. The consultant will perform the following activities:

Deliverable 1:

Desk-review and catalogue UNDP concepts and norms, methodologies, tools, practices, initiatives, approaches, and policies and other knowledge products related to risk management, as well as looking into the broader global external debate about risk management in the development community. This will also encompass analysis and identification of gaps and best practices. Duration: 15 days Delivery Date: 8 January 2016

Deliverable 2:

Develop and conduct a small survey and interviews with 5 Country Offices and Regional Hubs where experiences have been successful, draw lessons learned and recommendations in terms of institutional, programmatic and contextual risk management practices, based on analysis/review of above information, and in consultation with the risk management working group. Duration: 10 days Delivery Date: 22 January 2016

Deliverable 3:

Develop an inception paper based on key findings and recommendations, and circulate to country offices, regional centers and HQ for initial comments. Duration: 3 days Delivery Date: 27 January 2016

Deliverable 4: Organize and facilitate a workshop based on the collation of comments to discuss the inception paper. Duration: 3 days Delivery Date: 1 February 2016.

Deliverable 5:

Based on the desk review, country studies’ findings and workshop outcomes, develop a draft report with a proposal for an overall definition of risk and risk management, catalogue main methodologies, tools, policies and approaches, identify obstacles to effective risk management, and with recommendations, in no more than 20 pages, with the following elements (subject to changes pending risk working group and senior management validation). Duration: 9 days Delivery Date: 12 February 2016

Executive Summary

Background and Situation Analysis

Defining what UNDP overall means by risk and risk management;
UNDP’s experience in risk management at contextual, programmatic and institutional levels, including catalogue of main policies, methodologies, tools, and approaches;
Role of UNDP in current development landscape, opportunities and barriers for UNDP’s work in risk management;
Different types of engagement opportunities, proposed actions/activities including milestones, clearly referencing the theory of change.

Elaborate specific recommendations for UNDP’s engagement in risk management, including a quick mapping of internal capacity/capacity needs, management structures and roles of different bureaus/units.

Deliverable 6:

Revise draft reflecting risk management working group’s comments/feedback, and internal and external peer reviews and develop final report with recommendations. Duration: 5 days Delivery Date: 19 February 2016

Responsibility:

Reports directly to the Partnerships Specialist of the Strategic Policy Unit (UNDP/ Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, New York).

Duration of Assignment:

The consultancy will take place over the course of 45 working days. The Deliverables will be completed between December 2015 and February 2016.

Duty Station, Travel and Administrative Arrangements:

The consultancy is Home Based with 1 travel to New York, USA to conduct a Workshop on the Key Findings. The workshop is tentatively scheduled on 1 February 2016 and the consultant should arrive at the location of the workshop at least 1 day prior to the scheduled workshop for final preparations. The duration of the preparations and workshop is a total of 3 days.

All mission travels and the payment of the payment of travel costs for economy class airfare tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be covered and paid by UNDP. As a standard, the airfare for economy class will always be the “most direct, most economical, and changeable” at no additional cost to UNDP and any price difference due to a personal deviation or preferred route will be paid for by the consultant. The cost of the above mission must be reflected in the applicants’ financial proposal. For procedures on preparation financial application, please refer below under “Application Procedure”.

The Consultant will be given access to relevant information and data necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment. The Consultant should have her/his own laptop and software to be used, including access to communication facilities (emails, telephone, access to internet, etc.).

The work on and acceptance of deliverables will be preceded by agreement with the Partnership Specialist and Team Leader on the outline of each deliverable, methodology, and the sources of information (relevant documents and list of key informants). Payment to the consultant will be based on the accepted deliverables by the Partnerships Specialist of the Strategic Policy Unit (UNDP/ Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, New York).

Competencies

Corporate:

Promotes the mission and values of the UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, nationality and age sensitivity;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional:

Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
Effective interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, research, reporting and writing abilities;
Strong organizational and process management competencies;
Team working competencies and ability to effectively work in teams;
Ability to assess complex situations in order to screen succinctly and clearly critical issues and draw forward-looking conclusions.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in risk management and other fields related to the scope of the assignment.

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years work experience of relevant policy, programming experience in international development, risk management or related field;
Excellent analytical, writing and editorial skills, as evidenced by a Writing Sample. Applicants are required to submit a 2 page Writing Sample related to this consultancy;
Proven expertise and track-record of writing reports relating to activities at the national or international level;
Familiarity with the working environment and professional standards of UNDP, UN system and/or other international organizations.

Language:

Excellent English report writing and communication skills;
Knowledge of other languages, e.g. Arabic, French or Spanish, is an asset.

Application Procedure:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Submission of Technical Proposals

Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP Jobsite. Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded; therefore, please include all documents in 1 (one) file.

2 Page Writing Sample related to this consultancy;
CV or Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposals

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal for stocktaking and mapping of risk management initiatives” by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a detailed breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, assignment- and mission- related travel expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal. The cost of the assignment shall be linked to the deliverables specified above and reflected in the Section B. of the Financial Proposal template.

Criteria for selection:

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Combined scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.
Method: Cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose 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 specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores)
Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores)
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria and scores for Technical Evaluation – 70 points

Criteria 1: Proposed methodological approach as stated in the Mandatory Question below – 40 points;
Criteria 2: Extent of relevant previous experience in similar analysis – 20 points;
Criteria 3: Familiarity with the strategies and business model of UNDP and/or other UN agencies – 5 points;
Criteria 4: Relevance of academic qualifications – 5 points.

The following formula will be used to evaluate Financial Proposal:
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

The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant who receives the highest combined score out of the weighted technical and financial criteria as specified above.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT (IC) http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.