UNDP Jobs - 55651- Roster of National Consultant

Roster of National Consultant - Climate Change-Environment and Disaster Management (Multiple Position)

Location :

Home based and field works in Dhaka/project, BANGLADESH

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

14-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Roster will remain valid for 3 years

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 Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh through four broad programme areas: Democratic Governance, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Poverty Reduction, and Energy, Environment & Climate Change. It administrates around 30 projects of varying sizes, with a combined annual delivery of approximately USD 80 million. UNDP has been working with its development partners and the Government of Bangladesh in these areas to support in achieving the country’s development objectives.

The Climate Change, Environment and Disaster (CCED) cluster of UNDP Bangladesh supports the Government of Bangladesh to address national challenges related to sustainable economic growth ensuring resilience, environmental sustainability, environmental management, access to low carbon energy, reducing risk to disaster and climate change impacts, responding to disaster, and/or strengthening climate change governance. Many Professional Expertise are required for the stable implementation of all the required actions in order to address these challenges.

In this context, UNDP Bangladesh is going to hire multiple specialists who have professional lineage to provide dedicated technical and specific support to UNDP Bangladesh’s Climate Change & Environmental Disaster Cluster.

Under the understanding of registering for the Individual Consultant Roster, the selected candidates will be contacted to see if they are available to work when needed under supervision of the Assistant Country Director, Policy, Innovation and Communication Cluster in close collaboration with the programme clusters and projects.

General Conditions of the Recruitment to the Individual Consultant Roster are provided as Annex 1 to this Terms of Reference.

Objective:

The overall objective of this assignment, is to place qualified Individual Consultants in a Roster, for the next 3 years in order to expedite hiring processes for, high standard communication materials to reach the government, policy makers, donors, partners and general public as when needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The applicant may look into all areas of expertise indicated below and then choose their relevant field as appropriate to submit the application. Individuals may apply for more than one area if they have the required qualifications and professional skills. The applicants will be considered for the Roster based on their relevant expertise after the completion of the evaluation process. The individual if contracted under this Roster, will have to work to achieve the following as appropriate after his/her engagement:

Report writing.

Collect and study relevant documents. Depending on the project and type of report, this may include: project document (including revisions), annual work plans, annual reports, mid-term reports, donor-specific reports, and others.
Discuss with project manager, M&E specialist and CCED team to get a thorough understanding of UNDP report requirements.
Interact with project staff and partners to gain additional input.

Research

Research topics relevant to the project he/she will be supporting.
Produce comprehensive reports and advice to be used by the project to decide direction and way forward for the project.
Coordinate with other staff and consultants to share information and up-to-date findings.

Technical advice

An assessment of the current status of technical aspects within the project, and its effect on project implementation.
Advice UNDP on appropriate technical solutions to identified problems.
Develop, upon request, plans for implementation of technical solutions.

Proposal writing

Organize and conduct meetings with CCED staff in charge of potential project – and, if relevant any co-applicants – in order to define project objectives, results, and activities.
Collect data necessary for completing project application documents.
Write project proposal, including completing project application forms, completing project budget forms, and any additional forms required for project application.
Compile all necessary documentation (original and copies) to be compounded with project proposal.
Support CCED in submitting the project proposal by mail and/or e-mail.
Regularly consult with CCED at every stage of the project’s development.

Policy Analysis

Identify and analyse national and international policies and regulations relevant to a specific project of the CCED cluster, to identify specific areas for dialogue, advocacy, or cooperation.
Provide case studies on how to support the creation and implementation of national policies pertaining to the project goals.
Produce a report of findings for CCED and UNDP to utilize the results of the analysis for action in the current and future projects.
Make suggestions to enhance the quality and value of CCED the project as necessary.

Monitoring & Evaluation

Develop, implement and (as needed) maintain the M&E system for a specific CCED project.
Establish routine monitoring and evaluation procedures and systems to enable timely progress review and reporting.
Collect, enter, and analyze all data connected to the specific project.
Prepare results-based monitoring and evaluation reports on project activities
Prepare and deliver a set of outreach materials.

Communication

Prepare and deliver easily understandable media and communicating materials to a list of key journalists and other individuals as prime target groups to ensure wide and targeted distribution of information
Develop effective communication trails with project stakeholders to successfully complete lessons learnt-sharing dialogue/workshops and/or seminars.
Responding to requests for information from donors, the media, government, and general public by providing documents and/or facilitating their access to relevant information sources

Expected outputs / deliverables:

It is expected that the consultant will produce:

Report Writing

A set of up-to-date outreach materials for the specific project, containing agree-upon products such as brochures, news-letters, infographic reports, powerpoint presentations and case studies.
A set of agreed-upon dissemination activities, targeting both external actors, partners/donors, and relevant government agencies.
Distribution of relevant information about the projects to all requests for information received during the contract period.

Research

A comprehensive report on research findings relevant to the project she/he is supporting, containing:
- A study of the current situation, made with the most up-to-date statistics.
- A review of the importance of the current situation, and possible trends that could alter the current situation, or play a crucial role in advancement of the current situation.
- Recommendations for the UNDP on how to positively advance the current situation through its project.
- Possibly a first-hand study on the current situation or project.

Technical Expert

A brief report indicating accomplished tasks and recommended steps forward.
If requested, a plan for implementation of technical solutions.

Proposal Writing

At least 3 formal meetings with CCED staff in charge of potential project.
A complete project proposal, including: completed project application form, completed project budget forms, completed additional forms (when necessary).
Submitted project proposal before deadline.

Policy Analysis

A report outlining findings on the current national policy situation, following a format of:
- Introduction and background
- Current policy situation
- Relevancy of current policies to the CCED project.
- Opportunities and ways forward for CCED’s project.
An agreed number of case studies from other countries on how to support the creation and implementation of national policies pertaining to the goals of the specific project in question.

Monitoring & Evaluation

A monitoring and evaluation plan for the project.
Periodic results-based monitoring and evaluation reports on project activities.

Communication

A set of up-to-date outreach materials for the specific project, containing agree-upon products such as brochures, news-letters, infographic reports, powerpoint presentations and case studies.
A set of agreed-upon dissemination activities, targeting both external actors, partners/donors, and relevant government agencies.
Distribution of relevant information about the projects to all requests for information received during the contract period.

Supervision and Performance Evaluation

Under the day to day supervision of the Assistant Country Director, Climate Change & Environmental Disaster Cluster, when a request for services arises, the UNDP Bangladesh Climate Change & Environmental Disaster Cluster shall directly engage the consultants without the need for further selection process. A specific Terms of Reference (ToR) outlining the outputs and detailed arrangement for each assignment shall be provided and an Individual Contract (IC) or Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), whichever is applicable, will be issued to the consultant, detailing the time frame.

Copyrights

The works produced under this agreement will be copyrighted to UNDP Bangladesh and any violation of copyright law will be pursued appropriately.

Timeframe and deadlines:

The Individual Consultant Roster, is expected to be maintained for a period of 3 years and will be reviewed and updated yearly based on performance & UNDP needs.

Travel

The consultant may be required to travel for specific tasks and UNDP will arrange and cover the cost of the official travels in accordance to UN rules and procedures. This may include travel inside of Dhaka and any other project sites in Bangladesh.

The fare will always be "most direct, most economical" and any different with the preferred route will be paid for by the consultant.

Competencies

Competencies:

Excellent communication skills
Plans, prioritizes, and delivers tasks on time and produces quality results to meet established goals
Creative and innovative in producing the desired outputs
Ability to work with a multicultural environment and a multidisciplinary team
Willingness to travel to project sites
Flexible to adaptable circumstances while in the field

Language Requirements

Fluency in English is required

Corporate Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standard;
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. Functional Competencies
Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

Education

Minimum graduation degree from a recognized educational institution
Any professional degree on the relevant field will be deemed acceptable

Experience:

At least 5 years of experience in a Field Relating to Environmental Impact, Climate Change, Environmental Damages, Disaster/Environmental Assessment or any other equivalent field
Proven record of work in the fields relating to Environmental Impact, Climate Change, Environmental Damages, Disaster/Environmental Assessment
Proven record of development field related work
Extensive knowledge of respective field
Knowledge of current trends, principles and methodology of the respective field
Demonstrated experience and knowledge of any of the current or previous UNDP internal/external communication related job

Evaluation of the Candidates:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis: The candidates will be evaluated through Cumulative Analysis 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.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for Financial Evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Total 70 marks)

Years of Experience of working with UNDP Bangladesh/UN Agencies/International or National Organization in Bangladesh - 15 Marks
At least 5 years proven work experience in Environmental or Climate Change social/development area with an international organization - 30 Marks
Proven record of professional portfolio - 10 Marks
Excellent Spoken English skills - 5 Marks
Educational Qualification from a recognized university in a relevant field - 10 Marks

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula:

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

How to Apply

Interested candidates should follow UNDP Standard online application procedure and send in a single document

An updated detailed CV
A portfolio of last three works with UN or any other development organization
A Daily fee for the services provided by the candidate

Short-listed candidates may be requested to participate in an interview with a selection panel.

N.B: Interested candidates should follow UNDP standard online application procedure. Currently the system allows to upload a single document. Hence, all applicants are requested to scan and convert all relevant papers in a single document and then upload the same while applying for the Roster.

The applicant may look into all areas of expertise and then choose their relevant field as appropriate to submit the application. Individuals may apply for more than one area if they have the required qualifications and professional skills. The applicants will be considered for the Roster based on their relevant expertise after the completion of the evaluation process.

Contracts based on daily fee

Payments will be made to the Individual Consultants based on the actual number of days worked as evidenced by the time sheet.

Annex 1 - General Conditions of the Services provided by Candidates on the Individual Consultant Roster:

Being on the Individual (IC) Roster does not necessarily mean that a contract with the UNDP Bangladesh is guaranteed. This will depend on forthcoming needs as specified in this ToR. Where a request for services arises, the UNDP shall directly contact the consultant from the roster to ask for their interest and availability inputting them through an expedited selection process. A specific Terms of Reference (ToR) outlining the outputs for each assignment shall be provided and an Individual Contract (IC) or Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), whichever is applicable, will be issued to the consultant, detailing the time frame. Conditions of a particular assignment may be negotiable.
UNDP does not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of this Individual Consultant Roster.
IMPORTANT: If you are a former staff member of the United Nations recently separated, pls. add this section to your letter: I hereby confirm that I have complied with the minimum break in service required before I can be eligible for an Individual Contract. I also fully understand that, if I am engaged as an Individual Consultant, I have no expectations or entitlements whatsoever to be re-instated or re-employed as a staff member.