Background

A.        Project Title

Umbrella Programme for Socio-Economic Development SAU10- 00137889

B.        Project Description 

This project intends to provide substantive and technical assistance to the Government in mainstreaming social and economic development in the national policies at all sectors. The ultimate objective of this intervention is to create a strong foundation for efficient, evidence-based decision-making relevant to socio-economic development in line with the Saudi Vision 2030. The conceptual framework on which this intervention is conceived is that the Government will embrace a role to deal with socio-economic development in a holistic manner away from the conventional development paradigm of disconnected policies for sectors.

Through this umbrella cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MOEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the strategic objectives of MOEP will be initially framed in five specific outputs as follows:

• Supporting the social and economic development;
• Sustainable development concept integrated into national policy;
• National policies formulated for robust sector-based economic;
• National policies for regional development;
• Capacity developed for strong computer systems

Duties and Responsibilities

A.        Scope of Work

• Recognized subject matter social expert who knows how to apply theory and put it into practice with in-depth understanding of the professional field with limited supervision.
• Extensive experiences is required in policy dialogue & analysis, research, policy formation and advocacy.
• Suitable candidates must have an advanced background and excellent working knowledge of the middle east and KSA context

B.        Duties and responsibilities:

• Full revision and analysis of policy recommendations proposed by working groups.
• Propose additional technical recommendations and advance the background research of them.
• Facilitate both in-person and webinar discussions on related policy topics.
• Assist in developing a range of high-quality written materials, including policy reports and notes.
• Scan and analysis publicly available sources of information and any additional materials provided to identify and understand regulatory and policy trends, as well as gauge the prospects for new legislation and regulations. 
• Articulate findings and recommendations in a structured and well-written, clear and concise briefings and notes.
• Knowledge sharing and information sharing
• Prepare technical policy related reports, including presentations, policy briefs and semi-annual reports.

Expected deliverables:

• Updated 5 policy notes based on the SDG policy framework (SDG 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10) after feedback and validation of work group members
• Presentations prepared to animate bimonthly working group sessions, including and not limited to latest updates, pending questions and validations, next steps, action items, identified risks and mitigation actions
• Quarterly progress update

C.        Institutional Arrangement

The expert will be reporting to the Ministry of Economy and Planning and UNDP. A detailed work plan for the expert’s duties and responsibilities will be formulated by the Ministry.

D.        Duration of the Work

The expected duration of the assignment is to be up to 6 months with a possibility of extension subject to the availability of funding and performance.

Competencies

1. Competencies:

• Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

• Functional competencies:

•  Proven technical and intellectual skills in understanding and interpreting regional, national, and local social science indices.
• Ability to understand and analyze political dynamics in the region. Demonstrated ability for facilitation and coordination skills.
• Demonstrated entrepreneurial abilities and demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner.
• Background knowledge about the SDGs, United Nations and UNDP.
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills.
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure. 
• Excellent drafting and formulation skills.
• Excellent computer skills, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. 

• Leadership:

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership.
• Demonstrated intellectual leadership and ability to integrate green finance with a broader strategic overview and corporate vision.
• 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 strategies.

• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

H.      Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor:

Education:

Master’s degree of higher in public policy, economy, business, engineering or related area such as environment or Social.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of experience.
• The best candidate would have a strong experience in public policies in the GCC:
• Topics related to environment such as cheap energy, CO2 emissions, protected areas
• Topics related to social issues such as health, food supply, inequalities, gender,…
• Generalist in areas such as innovation, urban planning, international cooperation, Justice procedures, economic development
• Candidates with a background in management consulting are privileged.

Technical Skills:

The qualified candidate should be fully autonomous in preparing policy papers and presentations, mastering office tools and strong project management skills.

Language: 

• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Arabic is an asset.

 Duty Station

This assignment will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Travel 

• This assignment will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• UNDP will cover the around ticket to/from duty station 
• If unforeseen travel outside the consultant’s duty station 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).

• Note: A written approval from UNDP and relevant authorities will be required to facilitate the consultant's travel to any locations than stated on this TOR on official missions where necessary.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

All proposals must be expressed in a lump sum amount. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

Payments shall be made to the individual contractor upon successful completion and certification by UNDP that services have been satisfactorily performed, based upon the actual number of working days.

Payment shall be made as a deliverables-based lump upon the receipt of the deliverables and certification of satisfactory performance by CTA.

  Recommended Presentation of Offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation.  The following documents may be requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. 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;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but maybe omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services]; 
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, 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 the 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. 

 Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

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.

Technical Criteria (CV review and Desk Review/Interview optional) – maximum 70 points. Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV desk review (who will score at least 49 points) will be considered for the next evaluation stage, i.e., financial evaluation.

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

• Minimum 10 years of experience.
• The best candidate would have a strong experience in public policies in the GCC:
  • Topics related to environment such as cheap energy, CO2 emissions, protected areas
  • Topics related to social issues such as health, food supply, inequalities, gender,…
  • Generalist in areas such as innovation, urban planning, international cooperation, Justice procedures, economic development
• Candidates with a background in management consulting are privileged.
  1. Technical Skills:

The qualified candidate should be fully autonomous in preparing policy papers and presentations, mastering office tools and strong project management skills

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate the 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

1. Instructions for on-line submissions

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically;

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs links

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

Given the volume of applications that UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.

UNDP reserves the right to reject any incomplete applications.

Please be informed that we don’t accept applications submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit an application via UNDP Jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP Jobsite system. Please note that UNDP Jobsite system allows only one uploading of application documents, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your online application submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload a maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email mohammed.abbas@undp.org with a copy to nora.alzahid@undp.org  While the Procurement Unit would endeavour to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 3 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice

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.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

The interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=92750 for more detailed information about terms of references, instructions to the offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer online.

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.