Background

This project intends to provide substantive and technical assistance to the Government in mainstreaming social and economic development in the national policies in 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 (MEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the strategic objectives of MEP will be initially framed in five specific outputs as follows:

• Supporting social and economic development;

• Sustainable development concept integrated into national policy; 

• National policies formulated for robust sector-based economics; 

• National policies for regional development; 

• Capacity developed for strong computer systems

Under the framework of the Support to Umbrella Programme for Socio-Economic Development to MEP project, UNDP provides technical support to the MEP.

Within this context, UNDP is seeking to recruit a modelling and reports expert to lead the development of a general equilibrium modelling framework for capturing the influence of domestic and external developments on the economy and direct the research, compilation, analyses, interpretation, and preparation of data on economic reports on a periodic basis.

Duties and Responsibilities

The expert in modelling and reports will lead the development of a general equilibrium modelling framework for capturing the influence of domestic and external developments on the economy. This model will, over time, be both maintained and upgraded in order to produce timely updates based on the most recent available data (or projections where necessary). The expert will also direct the research, compilation, analyses, interpretation, and preparation of data on economic reports on a periodic basis. 

Specifically, the responsibilities under this assignment include the following:         

• Maintain and master the econometric data set and ensure that all data provided for modelling is accurate and consistent with previous analysis;
• Create mathematical models to predict future economic developments and Lead the migration to the new dynamic macroeconomic model on reviews;
• Test various modelling approaches and assumptions to identify the most appropriate approach; and 
• Update and refine the financial policies and programming model owned by MEP as applicable

Expected Deliverables and Outputs:

Institutional Arrangement

• The expert will be reporting to his/her supervisor at 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. 

Duration of the Work

• The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be 12 months, with the possibility of an extension.

Duty Station

• The duty station for the Modeling and reporting expert is MEP offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• This assignment will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• UNDP will cover the around ticket to/from the 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.

Working Arrangements:

• All mission travels must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor.
• United Nations Development of Safe and Security – BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to the commencement of travel.
• The Consultant is responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director.
• The consultant is also required to comply with the UN security directives.
• The consultant is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP.
• The consultant will be responsible for submitting his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies.
• The consultant is responsible for required health and life insurance related to work or travel.
• The consultant is expected to have his/her own Laptop/Computer.

Competencies

• 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. 
• 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. 
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategies.
• Ability to address global development issues. 
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.
• Excellent presentation, communication, and organizational skills 
• Strong attention to detail 
• Detail oriented, strong organization, prioritization and time-management skills. 
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. 
• 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.
• 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. 
• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education

• Master’s degree in the fields of economics, project management, business administration, political sciences or other related quantitative research fields. 

Min. years of relevant Work experience

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience with national planning/economic offices and similar entities  
• At least 10 years of relevant experience as a data modelling and/or reporting analyst.  
• a sound understanding of macroeconomic modelling techniques and their use in forecasting and policy analysis
• Relevant working and practical experience in industry or government agencies regionally (GCC) 
• Comprehensive understanding of relational databases and data architecture computer systems,  
• Demonstrate sound knowledge of economic indicators for national and local economic trends 
• Demonstrate experience in the use of computable general equilibrium modelling techniques 
• Proven technical and intellectual skills in understanding and interpreting regional, national, and local social science indices. 
• Skilled in using Microsoft tools: Word, Excel, Project, PowerPoint, Visio, and Access. 

Required Language:

• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills in the English Language.

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 and accomplishments of each deliverable.

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

The Expert will share a Certificate of Payment (CoP) where he/he needs to indicate achieved outputs. Then the certificate of payment must be verified by the UNDP Team and certified by UNDP top management. The Expert is advised to keep a detailed timesheet of the days worked and tasks performed throughout the consultancy assignment. A bi-weekly update of the timesheet will be requested, and such documentation will support the payment process as deemed needful.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

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. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided. 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 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. 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Applicants are shortlisted based on the Required Skills and Experience stated in the TOR.

The selection of the best offer from the shortlisted candidates will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70% and combined with the price offer, which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Step I: Screening and Desk Review

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:

Technical Evaluation (70 Points, 70% weight)

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. The Professional Certificates mentioned above, as applicable.

Instructions for online 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. 

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 you to upload a maximum of 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 huda.alsaud@undp.org  the Procurement Unit would endeavor 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 on the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain updates 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=97655  for more detailed information about terms of references, instructions for 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.