Background

UNDP aims at developing and implementing approaches and strategies to create a positive employee experience and maintaining a safe, respectful, and enabling working environment that empowers personnel engagement, productivity, and performance.Strengthening an open, respectful, non-discriminatory, and inclusive work environment across the entire organization is a key strategic area of the People for 2030 Strategy. UNDP-wide

UNDP is committed to creating an enabling environment that is welcoming to all, where everyone feels valued and can perform at their best regardless of age, gender, gender identity, disability, race, caste, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or any other status. UNDP also recognizes that the safety, health, and wellbeing of its personnel directly underpins organizational ability to deliver its mission and achieve its goals.

People Performance Unit - a part of the Office of Human Resources (OHR) in the Bureau for Management Services (BMS) is searching for an IC Staff Counselor for a period of six months to provide short term critical incidents priority counselling support and to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that support implementation of the Field Manual on Psychosocial Support in Crisis Situations for UNDP Staff and Stress Counsellors.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Working under the guidance of the Staff Counsellor-Team Lead, BMS/OHR/People Performance Unit, the consultant will be required to deliver the following outputs:

A. Crisis management and Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs)

• Map existing mechanisms, establish cooperation and gather feedback of key internal stakeholders (HR, Crisis Bureau, Chief of Staff Security teams, Staff Counsellors), present current situation and risks, resources and challenges (based on the official Field Manual guideline).
• Design SOPs for internal counselling services, including more coordinated efforts during emergencies.
• Design psychosocial preparedness plan, elaborate a curriculum for key professionals (senior management, Security and HR teams) involved in crisis management in collaboration with UNDP Wellbeing Team.
• Debrief with Counsellors involved in crisis management and liaise with Critical Incident Stress Management Section (CISMS).
• Create organizational awareness of the developed SOPs with security and HR teams through webinars and development of a set of communication materials.

B. Crisis counselling

• Provide critical incidents psychological support through tele-counselling to individual personnel working in countries with ongoing crises, such as Ukraine, Moldova, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Niger, Mali, China, Myanmar, Panama, Colombia, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
• Deliver group trainings/webinars aimed at building resilience and other relevant psychosocial topics as per needs assessment.
• Review feedback from participants and prepare reports on psychosocial risks and issues identified in the areas/countries covered

Expected outputs and deliverables:

Competencies

Core values:

• Adherence to UN values (respect for diversity, integrity and professionalism) and ethical standards
• Cultural, gender, religion, race, age sensitivity

Required skills and competencies

Achieve Results

• Demonstrates focus on achieving quality results and impact.
• Efficiently establishes appropriate plans and resources for self and others to accomplish goals.
• Holds self and others accountable for results.

Think Innovatively

• Seeks patterns and clarity outside, across and beyond boxes and categories, resists false certainty and simplistic binary choices.
• Looks beyond conventional approaches and established methods.
• Proposes new ideas, approaches and solutions to problems.

Engage and Partner

• Demonstrates and encourages teamwork and co-creation, internally and externally, to achieve joint objectives and results.

Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Strategic Thinking

• Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.

Enable Diversity and Inclusion

• Understands and appreciates issues from the perspective of others.
• Treats all individuals with respect, considers ethical implications and responds sensitively to all differences among people.
• Demonstrates honesty and transparency.

Desired additional skills and competencies

• Additional certification in trauma intervention, substance abuse counselling, cross-cultural communication is an advantage. Experience in counselling victims of gender-based violence is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• An Advanced University Degree (Masters or equivalent) in clinical psychology, counselling, social work, psychiatry, or another relevant area.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of working experience and expertise in counselling is required; experience in crisis or emergency psychosocial support is required.
• Professional Certificates: Registration/License as a mental health professional in the country of origin is required
• Previous experience working within the United Nations System is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Full proficiency in English, including excellent writing skills, and at least one other UN language.
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills
• Working knowledge of a third UN language is an asset
• Excellent communication skills, especially ability to effectively communicate with various stakeholders

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;
• At least one example/sample of the most recent similar work aligned with either of the expected deliverables  (Required). Applicants without this sample will not be considered.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager. 
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel. 

• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
• If the 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 a 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.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

• Knowledge as provided in the sample work . Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20
• relevance of atleast 7 Years of experience in the field of Counseling, with an emphasis on managing critical incident stress. Weight = 20 %; Maximum Points: 20
• Professional certification in filed of Counseling .Weight = 10%; Maximum Points: 10

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

• Interview: Weight = 20 %; Maximum Points: 20

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate 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

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of Staff Counselor, Team Lead, UNDP  and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

Payment modality

• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager. 

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

• Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs
• Annex 2 - IC Contract Template
• Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.