UNDP Jobs - 16380- Consultant: Adviser to the Ministry of Finance

Consultant: Adviser to the Ministry of Finance

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

31-May-2010

Application Deadline :

11-May-10 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

May 2010 – January 15, 2011, with possibility of extension

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 overall objective of the project is to provide high level policy advice to the Republic of Moldova in the overall implementation of the Government Programme “European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare” 2009-2013, with particular focus on the EU integration agenda, economic recovery and reforms. The support will be given through to the main institutions including the Prime Minister’s Office (focusing on Public Administration Reform & Decentralization and Communications), the Ministries of Justice, Economy, Interior, Agriculture, Finance, the Tax Inspectorate and the Public Procurement Agency, and support them in their efforts of designing, implementing and monitoring relevant policies and measures. For this purpose the mission will deploy 9 advisers in order to realize the project’s main objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities

General scope of work

The Adviser to the Ministry of Finance will act within the Mission’s overall framework to support the Ministry’s leadership to develop the public budget management system according to the EU standards. The adviser will advice and guide the leadership of the Ministry in the negotiation of Moldova’s Association Agreement with EU, modernization of the budget processes and management based on EU standards and principles.

The Adviser will review relevant strategic policy documents, conduct needs assessments and produce recommendations at the initial stage. Guidance, policy papers, and recommendations will be provided to the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of designing, implementing and monitoring proper policies for the implementation of the Government Program, its Stabilization and Economic Recovery Plan, negotiation of Moldova’ Association Agreement with EU. The Adviser will report primarily to the Minister of Finance, with reporting line to UNDP, and will coordinate plans and activities with the Chief Technical Adviser (CTA). The Adviser will be the lead sector expert and coordinate short term and local experts’ work with the CTA and the Team in each particular component. The Adviser will also provide strategic recommendations on ad-hoc basis, participate in policy debates, keep abreast of developments and inform Chief Technical Adviser on trends, problems and needs, as well as response strategies.

Key responsibilities may be summarized as follows:

Provision of policy advice to the leadership of the Ministry of Finance with reference to the implementation of the Government Programme, its Stabilization and Economic Recovery Plan;
Provision of policy advice to the Ministry of Finance on negotiation of Moldova’s Association Agreement with EU and other key sector strategies and plans;
Provision of policy advice and practical expertise on institutional reorganization and harmonization of the legal framework with the EU standards and principles;
Provision of policy advice and expertise on improving Ministry of Finance institutional capacity and performance of the public budget management system according to the EU standards;
Development of reports for assessing the particular capacity needs, elaboration of recommendations for capacity development responses, advise on the design of monitoring and evaluation tools;
Maintaining regular communications with the sector officials, partner organizations, other institutions involved into implementation of the Project under each relevant component;
Provision of relevant advice to the Chief Technical Adviser, UNDP and to the European Union Delegation, in terms of implementation of Mission’s mandate and other relevant EU-Moldova agreements in the area of expert’s responsibility.

Competencies

Experience in national negotiations on EU integration is an asset;
Previous knowledge of the EU-Moldova relations and of Moldovan state institutions is an advantage;
Knowledge of EU programs and policies;
PC literacy, excellent writing and communication skills;
Full time commitment is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Master Degree (Finance, Economics, Public Policy and Management, or similar) or equivalent working experience in the sector;
Minimum 12 years working experience in the area of expertise;
Minimum 5 years experience in similar positions of advisory for and/or implementation of reforms (public finances and economic), in providing advice to policy makers on related reforms issues, or in capacity building in EU or ENP and candidate countries;
Fluency in English. Knowledge of other EU languages is an asset;
Good working knowledge of Romanian or Russian is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria

UNDP will utilize a two-stage procedure for evaluating proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Technical evaluation will be represented through a desk review of applications and further interview of short-listed candidates.

A) The technical part is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR). Namely:

Educational background (10 – Master’s degree; 5-University degree; 5 - in case of lower academic background, it shall be complemented with minimum 8 years of relevant working experience.) – 10 points max;
Relevant experience on similar assignments or EU accession process– 10 points max;
Relevantce technical expertise – 10 points max;
Language Skills (10 - both English and Romanian/or Russian; 8 – only English; 4 – only Romanian or Russian) – 10 points max;
Interview (30 - technical knowledge and experience; 10 - communication/interpersonal skills; 10- motivation; 10 - creativity) - 60 points max;
Total Score: 100 points.

UNDP will consider the price proposals only from the candidates that passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the evaluation of the technical proposals. Technical evaluation will be represented though a review of applications and further interview of short-listed candidates. The offer with highest scores obtained will receive a technically weighted score, which will equal to 70. All other submissions that passed the 70% threshold will be evaluated as per below formula:

A = T/Thigh*(0.7), where:
T = The total technical score awarded to the bid
Thigh = The Technical Score achieved by the bid that was scored highest among all responsive bids

B) Financial evaluation:

UNDP will contact the successful candidates (those, who obtained 70% out of the 100 points during the technical evaluation) subject of providing the financial offer for proposed specific vacancy. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

B = Clow /C*(0.3), where: C = Evaluated bid price and Clow = The lowest of all evaluated bid prices among responsive bids.

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal (A+B) will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.