1. BACKGROUND

Launched in September 2020, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR, is a finance instrument that blends private and public funding to support businesses and finance mechanisms that improve the health and sustainability of coral reefs and associated ecosystems while empowering local communities and enterprises. The GFCR is administratively hosted by the UN Multi Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO).

The Global Team is an independent structure under the Global Fund for Coral Reef Executive Board and manages the day-to-day activities and operation of the Fund. While hosted within the MPTFO, the Global Team works closely with relevant focal points of the Participating UN Organizations (UNDP, UNEP, UNCDF) and the Investment asset management team.

The Global Team has management, technical, and operational expertise, and one of its primary roles is to develop the Fund investment plans and manage approval of project or programme proposals in accordance with financial decisions made by the GFCR Executive Board and in open collaboration with the Investment Window partners. The Global Team guarantees that successful innovative blended solutions are developed in accordance with agreed-upon objectives and criteria specified in the Terms of Reference and criteria specified in the Standard Operations Manual.

2. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK 

Working on a daily basis under the Strategic Engagement & Partnership Specialist and with overall reporting to the Deputy Head of the GFCR Grant Fund, the Media Engagement Consultant will perform the following tasks:  

Media Engagement 

• Supports relationships with global press, including establishing contact with reporters and editors from news organizations worldwide; 
• Enhances media/press coverage of GFCR by active media outreach and engagement, pitches, and stories; 
• Maintains and updates internal database of relevant media/press contacts; 
• Pitch stories to journalists and organize targeted briefings and media events; 
• Secures and coordinates recorded and print media interviews, op-eds and broader coverage;  
• Develops media content, interview briefings and speaking points;  
• Works on drafting and securing publication of op-eds/articles for senior GFCR coalition representatives;
• Develops text for selected GFCR key opinion leaders to post on their platforms; and 
• Supports the strengthening of programme-level media engagement capacity. 

3. EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES 

4. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS/REPORTING LINES

Maximum number of working days: The consultancy will be for a period of up to 200 days spread over a period of 78 weeks.

The target start date is the week commencing 10th of April 2023.

Duty Station: Home-based with travel as required.

Travel: If any travel is requested by the program, all the subsequent travel costs associated to the assignment will be paid on reimbursable basis and following the UNDP/UNCDF rules and regulations which states that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be quoted by the official UN travel agency. Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant and the daily living allowance will be paid as per UN Rate.

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Control 

• The Media Engagement Consultant will work on a daily basis under the Strategic Engagement & Partnership Specialist and with overall reporting to the Deputy Head of the GFCR Grant Fund, the Media Engagement Consultant. 
• The Strategic Engagement & Partnership Specialist will provide feedback on the work of the consultant to ensure the quality of deliverables as per the expectations of UNCDF and that the work is aligned with the broader project objective
• The consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during his/her engagement with UNCDF. 

Payments

Price proposal should be made in a Lump Sum Amount, covering all cost elements to complete the work and deliver the outputs. The contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components and timelines to complete the deliverables. 

• Payment is linked with deliverables and will be made within 30 days upon full and successful completion of the requested outputs and as per certification and evaluation by the Head of GFCR Fund Secretariat of the satisfactory delivery of the above referenced deliverables.
• Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

The following supporting documents will serve as conditions for disbursement: 

• submission of an Invoice and Certificate of Payment (COP). 
• submission of each deliverables / workplan / progress report with relevant supporting documentation; and 

review, approval and written acceptance of each deliverable by the Deputy Head of GFCR Fund Secretariat and/or his designate. 

Competencies:

Leadership: Plans and acts transparently, actively works to removes barriers

• Creates awareness of substantive opportunities and risks among others
• Navigates complex circumstances thoughtfully and is solution-minded

Communication and Relationship Management: Gains trust of peers, partners, clients by presenting complex concepts in practical terms to others

• Persuades others to embrace new ideas, even when controversial
• Empathizes with client perspectives and needs and communicates messages with the clients’ experiences in mind
• Creates opportunities for developing new client relationships

Innovation: Creates new and relevant ideas and leads others to implement them

• Integrates diverse contributions to formulate coherent approaches
• Aligns innovation to service delivery components
• Manages prototype / pilot efforts and seeks feedback

Delivery: Critically assesses value and relevance of existing policy / practice and contributes to enhanced delivery of products, services, and innovative solutions

• Anticipates constraints and identifies solutions
• Ensures high quality of work in terms of both substantive depth and adaptive relevance to client needs
• Accepts responsibility for implementation / team deliverables / client satisfaction consistent with organizational standards
• Exhibits thorough organizational awareness of UNDP’s approach to client
• service delivery and integrity and accountability

UN System

Knowledge and understanding of the UN system and the mandates of constituent agencies, including with UN corporate standards and language requirements.

5. REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Academic Qualifications:

Masters’ degree (or equivalent/higher) in public relations, media relations, journalism, communications, marketing, political science, biodiversity, and/or other relevant field.

Experience:

- A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in media relations, journalism, or closely related field is required. 

- A minimum of (2) years of experience in communications related to biodiversity conservation, environment or climate change. 

- Experience with innovative finance, blue economy, impact investment or sustainable conservation finance communications is an asset. 

- Experience working in coral reef countries is an asset.

- Prior work experience at or familiarity with the work of UN agencies is an asset.

Language:

Fluent in written and spoken English. Working knowledge of another UN language (French, Arabic, and/or Spanish) is considered an asset.

6. APPLICATION PROCESS AND EVALUATION 

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document: 

- Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
- 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 the names of at least three (3) professional references (e-mail addresses, telephone numbers);
- A brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
- Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. Available at http://procurement- notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

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. 

Failure to submit all the below mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application. 
 

Evaluation Criteria 

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100%, where weight distribution shall be 70% technical (desk review (30%) + interview (40%)) and 30% financial. 

The Technical Evaluation will entail three key steps, as follows: 
 

Step I: Screening 

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the mandatory criteria (listed under education and experience) will progress to the pool for shortlisting. 

- Masters’ degree (or equivalent/higher) in public relations, media relations, journalism, communications, marketing, political science, biodiversity, and/or other relevant field.

- A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in media relations, journalism, or closely related field is required. 

- A minimum of (2) years of experience in communications related to biodiversity conservation, environment or climate change. 

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review (Maximum 100 points x 30%) 

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate the candidates. Only candidates that obtained 70% of the points at this stage shall be invited for the next step. 

Shortlisting scoring: 

Education (30 points): 

-  Masters’ degree (or equivalent/higher) in public relations, media relations, journalism, communications, marketing, political science, biodiversity, and/or other relevant field. – 30 points 

Experience (70 points): 

- A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in media relations, journalism, or closely related field is required. – 20 points

- A minimum of (2) years of experience in communications related to biodiversity conservation, environment or climate change. – 20 points

- Experience with innovative finance, blue economy, impact investment or sustainable conservation finance communications is an asset. – 20 points

- Experience working in coral nations is an asset. – 5 points

- Prior work experience at or familiarity with the work of UN agencies is an asset. – 5 points

Step III: Interviews (Maximum 100 points x 40%) 

UNCDF will conduct an interview of shortlisted candidates and technically evaluate the candidates. Only candidates that obtained 70% of the points at this stage shall be invited for the next step. 

Step IV: Financial Evaluation 

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30. 
 

Step V: Award Criteria 

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose profile has been evaluated and determined as: 

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
b) Having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%). 

Both individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply. 

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). 

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply. 

UNCDF 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.

References 

UNDP’s Individual Consultant’s General Terms and Conditions are provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20- %20General%20Conditions.pdf