UNDP Jobs - 71891- Consultancy – Knowledge Management Specialist (Rev

Consultancy – Knowledge Management Specialist (Revision of Knowledge Products QA Process) DIG, BPPS

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2017

Application Deadline :

04-May-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

85 working days during 1 June-13 October 2017

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

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) provides the foundation for UNDP’s global thematic work. BPPS provides the tools, analysis and capacities that country offices need to make a real difference in UNDP’s practice areas. Accordingly, BPPS is the corporate sponsor of Knowledge Management for UNDP and is responsible for ensuring that knowledge created at any level of the organisation will be made available to all staff to enhance organisational effectiveness. It does this through the Development Impact Group (DIG) which provides a corporate service delivering a core set of knowledge sharing solutions to the entire organization. All activities of the DIG will support the goals and outcomes established in UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017.

Various outputs under UNDP’s Knowledge Strategy 2014-2017 relate to the production and dissemination of knowledge products, including a revision of UNDP’s policy and process for knowledge products development and dissemination, as well as knowledge mobilization (“Deep Dives”) around priority areas of work. The objective is to put UNDP in a position where business units working on development and dissemination of knowledge products and publications adhere consistently to corporate quality standards, and to provide staff with better overview over what knowledge and resources are available on key areas of UNDP’s work.

As UNDP embarks on a re-write of its Project Management policies and procedures, the Development Impact Group wants to use the opportunity to overhaul the Quality Assurance Process for Knowledge Products currently in place and develop a new approach as part of UNDP’s revised programme and project management guidelines.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Policy Specialist, Knowledge Services, the consultant is sought to:

Reach out to BPPS stakeholders and achieve consensus within the organization on a new Quality Assurance Process for the development and dissemination of knowledge products and publications;
Develop new Quality Assurance Process for the development and dissemination of knowledge products and publications;
Facilitate the official approval of the new official guidelines and templates for the revised QAP process;
Conduct outreach and training with focal points and key stakeholders on the application of the new Quality Assurance Process for the development and dissemination of knowledge products and publications.

New quality assurance process (QAP) and policy for knowledge products and publications:

Review strengths, weaknesses and lessons from QAP currently in place by conducting interviews, focus group discussions and a survey;
Conduct user-centered design exercise on QAP to identify possible solutions and approaches;
Develop draft for new QAP and gather feedback on it via online discussions and bilateral consultations;
Develop guidance and templates for new QAP and test them with users;
Lead the process of achieving consensus across business units on new QAP, policy and templates;
Adapt and improve mechanisms and processes for monitoring compliance with QAP through UNDP’s pipeline of knowledge products;
Devise a communication/dissemination strategy and training package to promote uptake of the revised QAP among all staff;
Conduct training and outreach with BPPS business units and knowledge product focal points on the application of the new QAP;
Provide monitoring and reporting on compliance with QAP;
Provide advice to business units and teams on development, dissemination and monitoring of knowledge products and publications, including on compliance with QAP;
Conduct other KM related tasks as required.

Expected outputs and deliverables:

Conduct design thinking exercise with BPPS stakeholders on QAP (30 June 2017)
First draft of new QAP on knowledge products development and dissemination (14 July 2017)
Final draft of new QAP on knowledge products development and dissemination (31 Aug 2017)
Development of guidance note and templates for new QAP (31 Aug 2017)
QAP on knowledge products development and dissemination officially endorsed and introduced (22 Sep 2017)
Trainings conducted on new QAP (13 Oct 2017)

Competencies

Knowledge Management

Excellent understanding of Knowledge Management concepts, principles, tools and Methodologies
Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share
Ability to analyze usage data and present results in an easy to understand manner

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work
Ability to communicate within and at large, participate in peer communities and engage substantively

Communication and advocacy

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform
Proven experience in organization-internal communication and advocacy tasks within an international organization;
Ability to facilitate consensus among group of stakeholders with varying interests;
Excellent English communication skills in face-to-face settings and in writing;
Ability to explain complex and abstract concepts in simple terms and adapt language and content to different target audiences.
Client-service attitude and sensitivity in communicating with clients;
Excellent interpersonal skills with a proven ability to work with cross-functional teams.

Operational Effectiveness

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

Master’s degree in International Development, Knowledge Management, Social Science, Communication, or related area, is required. Three years equivalent relevant experience combined with a first degree will also be considered.

Years of experience:

Five years of professional work experience providing programme and/or policy support and advisory services on knowledge management, of which at least two years of experience working in a large-scale international organization, is required;
Strong experience in developing and disseminating knowledge products and publications in the development / international relations sector is required;
Experience in developing corporate policies, guidelines and templates for knowledge management is required;
Experience in user-centered design is a strong asset;
Broad knowledge of the UN system in general is highly desirable.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

Online application with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager.
The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
No official mission travel is expected for this assignment. In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. 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:

Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

Experience providing knowledge management advice and support to teams in large organizations. Maximum: 10 points;
Experience in developing, collecting and disseminating knowledge products and publications. Maximum: 10 points;
Experience in coordinating the development of corporate processes or policies that require consensus, including creation of guidelines and templates. Maximum: 10 points; and
Interview. Maximum: 40 points.

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three/four shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 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

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Policy Specialist, Knowledge Services and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.
The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 – UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 – IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification or questions must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.