Background

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND

The UN Secretary-General launched on 1 January 2019 a bold and new global reform which repositioned the UN Development System to deliver more effectively and efficiently with the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. As part of this reform, UN Resident Coordinator Offices (UN RCO), under the leadership of an empowered and independent UN Resident Coordinator - the highest-ranking official of the UN Development System and Representative of the UN Secretary-General at country level - support countries in the achievement of their development priorities and the attainment of the SDGs.

In the UAE, a major component of this work is strategic communications through SDG Advocacy and the United Nations Country Team’s engagement in Expo 2020 in Dubai where the UN RCO in the UAE is managing a convening space within the Opportunity Pavilion.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK

Under the direct supervision of the Communications and Advocacy Officer for the UN RCO in the UAE, the Communications Specialist is required to perform the below functions in close coordination with the UN RCO team to support the UNCT’s strategic communications objectives:

• Draft human-interest stories in English and Arabic on UNCT activities and engagements at Expo 2020, UN priorities and campaigns. This entails coordinating with the Communications and Advocacy Officer in the UN RCO UAE, for activities and campaigns; researching various information sources for relevant material and crosschecking information with UN agencies; gathering photos and quotes to be published on the UNCT website and other channels;
• Prepare creative content in English and Arabic to be adapted for each social media platform and tailored to UAE;
• Support in maintaining a database of media coverage, reports, interviews, published articles. Keep track and collect material after the completion of every event or initiative;
• Maintain a schedule of upcoming international days and global campaigns that should be promoted and identify appropriate visuals to be included with social media posts, editing them to the correct format when necessary;
• Draft captions in English and Arabic for social media posts and prepare a periodic calendar for communication aligned with the calendar of events and priorities of the UN office;
• Support in translation when needed and creative copywriting for written communication material (including reports, press releases, captions, website stories);
• Prepare visuals, including infographics on UN priorities and other advocacy campaigns;
• Provide assistance to the team and support in the implementation of effective communication strategies;
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Head of Office or the Communications Officer.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Competencies

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional 

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Strong research and data gathering skills;

• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point

Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership;
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

Managing Relationships

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic partnerships;
• Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management skills;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in academia, technical organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

Managing Complexity

• Ability to address global development issues;
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

 Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Judgment/Decision-Making

• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process;
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues and challenges, uses diplomacy and tact to achieve result.

Required Skills and Experience

 Education

Bachelor's degree in media, communication, journalism, public relations, graphic design or any other relevant field is required.

Work experience

• Minimum of two to three years of experience in communication, especially in drafting, copywriting, proofreading and editing is required.
• Experience in organization of events and social media is desirable.
• Substantive knowledge of and work experience in the Middle East
• Experience working with the United Nations and/or any other international organization

Language Requermeints 

• Language proficiency in both written and oral English and Arabic is required

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• S/He shall perform tasks under the general guidance and the direct supervision of the UNRCO Communications Officer or delegated staff member, working closely with the Communications IAWG;
• The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section;
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with the UNRCO Communications Officer on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly;
• Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

DURATION OF THE WORK

140 work days over a period of 7 months, 25 December 2021 to 25 July 2022

DUTY STATION

Dubai, UAE

TRAVEL PLAN (OPTIONAL)

If any unforeseen travel outside the consultant home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Interested candidates should provide lump sum fees for requested services with detailed breakdown. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, , communications, consumables, ….etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. Also, please note that the contract price will be Deliverables/Outputs based - not fixed - subject to change in the cost components.

The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified or an invoice and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder:

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

Interested individual consultants must submit documents under point 1, 2 to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit these documents, the application will not be considered.

1. Personal CV or 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;
2. Brief Description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for this assignment; 
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. If an 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 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.

Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive.

Interested candidates can find Procurement Notice, Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and P11 templates on the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/ ,Procurement Notice Reference Number - 85968

Interested candidates shall submit required documents to Job Advertisement Website 

(https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) as one document not later than 28 November, 2021.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFERS

This selection criteria will follow the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%; using the following evaluation criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum requirements will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

Criteria A: Bachelor's degree in media, communication, journalism, public relations, graphic design or any other relevant field is required.

Criteria B: Minimum of two to three years of experience in communication, especially in drafting, copywriting, proofreading and editing is required.

Criteria C: Language proficiency in both written and oral English and Arabic is required.

Step II: Technical Review 

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Bachelor's degree in media, communication, journalism, public relations, graphic design or any other relevant field. (20 points)
• Minimum of two to three years of experience in communication, especially in drafting, copywriting, proofreading and editing. (30 points).
• Experience in organization of events and social media is desirable. (20 points)
• Substantive knowledge of and work experience in the Middle East (10 points)
• Experience working with the United Nations and/or any other international organization. (10 points)
• Language proficiency in both written and oral English and Arabic is required.(10 points)

Shortlisted candidates will be assessed and scored against the following evaluation criteria:

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step III: Final evaluation

The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where 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 technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.