Terms of Reference (TOR) for Individual Contractor

Office/Unit/Project Description 

Saudi Arabia has realised and sustained, for the last four decades, remarkable progress along the socio-economic development path. As a result of this, the Kingdom has been able to move to a high-income country.

The ongoing transformation of Saudi Arabia beneath the Vision 2030 plan is unlocking new possibilities at an extraordinary pace.

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) is the statistical reference for Saudi Arabia's socio-economic development. GASTAT provide comprehensive, reliable, up-to-date statistics and value-added services in line with international standards and take the lead in developing a modern statistical sector in order to support decision making.

Business statistics department is currently working on building the Statistical Business Register, and that’s through using multiple sources of administrative data and statistical products which are conducted by GASTAT. The SBR aims to provide the frame of most of the business statistics surveys and it is the source of business demography statistics and other statistics which directly derived their indicators from the SBR. In addition to the SBR business statistics department is also working on developing and enhancing business statistics surveys.

Scope of Work

The Registers Development Specialist will provide technical assistance related to building the three registers. The Registers Development Specialist will also implement capacity strengthening activities, including training and mentoring, He/ She will work under the supervision of the Manager for Register. Specifically, the responsibilities under this assignment include the following The business statistics expert will provide technical assistance on SBR and the entire value chain of business statistics surveys including reviewing the surveys, surveys’ methodology, and indicators. In addition to evaluating validating and analyzing the collected data.

The Expert will also implement capacity strengthening activities, including training and mentoring the staff. Specifically, the responsibilities under this assignment include the following:

Technical  support

• Evaluating the Quality and coverage of current frame (Business frame).
• Building the structure of SBR.
• Identifying the data sources to build the Statistical Business Register (SBR).
• Studying and reviewing a sample of the priority data sources to come up with the basic data requirements to build the SBR.
• Reviewing and developing surveys methodologies, questionnaires, and data collection methods.
• Reviewing and strengthening the coverage of the surveys.
• Reviewing and validating the collected data.
• Counselling and assisting in treating and analysing the data.
• Counselling and assisting in visualizing survey data.
• Reviewing the indicators prior to dissemination.
• Identifying the targeted data fields for calculating the indicators of each survey.
• Specifying the sources for each data field.
• Assisting in the preparation of charts, graphs and other outputs for reporting and presentations.
• Advise in conducting new surveys, providing a guidance & check list.
• Support and provide guidance on data prossecing, treatment, prepration (data analysis).
• Support and provide guidance on the statistical process.
• Performing any other relevant tasks requested by the supervisor.

Capacity Development

• In addition to delivering the above-mentioned technical support, the expert will advise the team on the best practices in relation to methodologies and frameworks.
• Delivering training to the staff in treating, analysing and visualizing survey data.
• Providing coaching and on-the-job-training for the staff as needed.

Institutional Arrangement

1. The duty station for the Registers Development Specialist is Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2. Reporting and follow-up Mechanism:

The Registers Development Specialist will be supervised by the Director of the Register department in GSTAT and the UNDP’s Chief Technical Advisor. The Registers Development Specialist will submit monthly reports to his/her supervisor including activities, outputs, performance indicators, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations.

Expected Deliverables and Output

1. The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.
2. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
3. Completed financial proposal form,  the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall consider various expenses incurred by the consultant while fulfilling its mission (e.g. transportation cost…).
4. The Professional Certificates mentioned above.

1. EVALUATION

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 stage of evaluation, i.e. financial evaluation.

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

• Advanced degree, preferably a master’s level in statistics, economics, or other related fields.
• Minimum of 7 years relevant professional experience. 
• Ability to provide statistical technical advice on different sectors/theme.
•  Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to establish strong cooperative relationships with senior government officials.
• Ability to work on any of the statistical packages to analyze data.
• Good understanding and practice of capacity development.
• Knowledge and experience in localizing and mainstreaming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

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

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  and Nora Alzahid 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.

In view of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.

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=95297