Background

UNDP’s presence in the Bangkok Regional Hub delivers a full range of policy, programme, and operations support to 24 Country Offices (COs) in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the Country Office Support and Quality Assurance (COSQA) function within UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP), strategic management oversight and advisory support to the COs is provided through the Management Advisory Services Team (MAST).

Under the direct supervision of Procurement Specialist and overall guidance from the Management Advisor, the Procurement QA Consultant will provide targeted quality assurance, internal assessments and control reviews for selected UNDP offices and Projects. S/he is expected to have a broad operational knowledge on procurement aspects including associated risk management as well as analytical skills.  S/he should have strong teambuilding, inter-personal and communication skills, be client-oriented, and can look at issues from different angles and find creative solutions. S/he should consistently approach work with a positive, constructive attitude, and be highly culturally sensitive.

The consultant will support oversight, risk management and quality assurance work of the RBAP Offices including, QA reviews, spot-checking, and advising on measures to be taken to ensure effective implementation of and compliance with the UNDP rules and regulations. The consultant will work closely with the Management Advisory Services Team (MAST) in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, selected staff in the Country Offices and Bureau of Management, as required.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Expected tasks:

Targeted quality assurance, internal assessments, control reviews and/or other short-term assignments for selected UNDP Offices and projects

• Conduct reviews/assessments, identify non-compliance, bottlenecks, risk mitigation measures and solutions focusing on:
  1. Procurement planning
  2. Sourcing strategies and procurement methods
  3. Tender management and evaluation
  4. Contract administration
  5. Contract management
  6. Vendor management
  7. Procurement capacity
  8. Procurement tools and systems

• Conduct spot-checks (remote or on-site) on procurement transactions and recommend follow-up actions for improvement plans, including for vertical funds projects.
• Identify issues on which compliance or support may be needed in the Country Offices.
• Undertake quality assurance missions to defined country locations.
• Review office business processes mapping and advise on key Standard Operating Procedures.
• Assist in developing procurement guidance/training materials, when required.
• Make recommendations for enhancing procurement management performance of Country Offices and advise on required remedial actions to address the identified gaps.
• Support RBAP efforts in enhancing procurement functions and efficiency in the COs through data analyses and implementation of assigned actions.

1. Information on Working Arrangements:

• The consultant will work home-based with travel to country locations, as required by the assignment.
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment including a UNDP email address.
• Consultant is expected to use own computer and internet connection.
• UNDP will provide an enterprise email address including Office 365 suite of software and access to UNDP intranet.
• Given the fixed deadlines and due dates set by the RBAP, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such assignments taking into consideration of different time zones; and
• Payments will be made upon submission certification of payment, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked on assigned deliverable for each call-off assignment. If the quality does not meet standards or requirements, the consultant will be asked to rewrite or revise (as necessary) the document before proceeding to payment.

1. Travel:

• Missions to country(s) in Asia and the Pacific as required.
• Such travel shall be at UNDP’s expense and the Individual Contractor shall receive a per diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance. The mission travel cost will be excluded at this time from the price proposal.
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and writing by the Supervisor.

• The BSAFE course must be completed before the commencement of travel.
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director and the cost of these will be reimbursed, if these are required to undertake travel on UNDP directions.
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/.
• The consultant will be responsible for making his/her mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies; and
• Costs for mission airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances shall not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

1. Requirements for Experience and Qualifications:

Educational Qualifications:

• Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree in Public Procurement, Supply Chain, Logistics, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Professional certifications in procurement, supply chain, logistics, or internal audit are added advantages.

Experience Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in UN/UNDP procurement management, of which at least 3 years at managerial and/or advisory level.   
• Working experience in UN/UNDP country offices or HQ/Regional Hubs is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of UN/UNDP procurement policies and procedures.
• Knowledge of compliance audit would be an added advantage.
• Prior experience in business process review and improvement would be an asset.
• Proven ability to deliver under pressure and in short timeframes.
• Strong analytical, interpersonal and communication skills.

Language requirements

• Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Required Skills and Experience

Expected Deliverables/Outputs:

Deliverables/outputs may vary by assignment and will be advised prior to each assignment. Below are some of the potential deliverables:

1. Report and presentation of findings and recommendations from quality assurance mission.
2. Report on findings from spot check or reviews of procurement transactions and recommendations for improvement.
3. Analysis of procurement trends/data and recommendations for improvement.
4. Procurement SOPs, checklists, guidance/training materials, etc.
5. Analysis of capacity assessments and trends in line with the adopted methodology?                                                                       

 Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment:                   

The Individual Contractor (IC) shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. Travel shall be determined when it is permissible after the COVID-19 situation is relieved. Mission travel shall be approved in written in advance by the supervisor of this contract.

UNDP shall communicate the expected deliverables/outputs, timeframe and estimated number of working days for each specific assignment. When an agreement is reached between UNDP and the IC, a written communication of the agreement shall form the basis for a lump sum payment based on the number of days worked against the deliverables/outputs produced.

Payments shall be made upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor.

Criteria for Award

Technical Evaluation Criteria (based on information provided in the CV and the relevant documents must be submitted as evidence to support possession of below required criteria):

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method where the technical criteria as listed in above table will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%.
• Only offers that have achieved a minimum of 70 points (70% of 100 points) at the technical evaluation stage will be deemed as responsive and considered for financial evaluation.
• Financial offers will be rated as per below formula:
• Financial offer rating = (Lowest priced offer / Price of the offer being reviewed) x 30%
• Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

      Documentation Required:                                                                                                                                                             

• Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• 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.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II.
• For the successful candidate, a copy of Medical Insurance may be requested before contract issuance.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Annexes
• Annex I - General Terms and Conditions 
• Annex II- Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal 

• Note: Please note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents that should be included in the application in one single PDF file and upload it).

  The Annexes and Terms of Reference are also available in the following link:                                                   https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=85975