Background

This project represents the third phase in a strategic partnership focusing on promoting surveying works and geospatial capabilities, and a myriad of actions and products stemming from these two areas of work. The key objective of this intervention is to maintain provision of advisory services in developing the national capacities for effective geo-spatial surveys, generating the national geo-spatial data infrastructure, generating multi-purpose knowledge from such surveys to efficiently boost national efforts in achieving the key directions provided by 2030 Saudi Vision, as well as promoting the national implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The completion of the previous phase has been instrumental in nurturing the idea of developing the foundation of financial sustainability whereby the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information (GASGI, ex GCS) will achieve a high level of efficiency in all its geospatial products. It is through this quality and efficiency that GASGI wishes to expand the availability and marketing of its products and to broaden the public awareness about its products and services. The core areas around which all aspects of this project act upon are: Geodesy, Geospatial Services, Hydrography, Map Production, Institutional Excellence, Establishment of GASGI Academy.

Advisory services are provided towards achievement of financial sustainability and contribution to the national economy. Moreover, advocacy promoted for a wider visibility of GASGI Capacity development will also focus on training in the core areas of land survey; geodetic survey; topographic survey’ and Cadastral survey.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. List the results that the IC should achieve, and the major tasks expected to be undertaken by the Contractor.
2. 1. Database implementation, optimization, scalability, and data integrity.
3. 2. Maintaining the quality and accuracy of hydrographic data, including data validation and error correction.
4. 3 Security, and access control of the hydrographic database system.
5. 4. Cartographic production: Hydrographic database administrators may be responsible for producing nautical charts and other hydrographic products using the hydrographic database.
6. 5 Possibility of providing support and training to hydrographic staff and other users of the hydrographic database system.

Competencies

1. Briefly describe the required activities (scope, location, subjects, etc.) and other information that will help prospective Offerors understand the nature of the work

• Implement the HPD suite of products for S-57 and S-101 ENCs, IENCs, AMLs, Paper Charts to IHO standards, and non-chart Nautical Publications and generic products based on user-defined characteristics.
• Modules of the database derive products from the source data in the same database.
• Product-specific features and customizations can be added without affecting source features.
• In support of the new S-100 data standard, users may now generate S-100 products in HPD.
• Using HPD users can develop acquaintance with the new complicated and multiplicity attribute types, deal with information kinds, assign S-100 representation to features, convert ENC and DNC to S-101 and work with the increasing register of S-100 product specifications.

1. If possible, it is always best to indicate in each activity the literature/data/information/policy framework already on hand that and may be made available by UNDP to the Individual Contractor as reference/input to the activity.

• General Oracle Database Documentation.
• PL/SQL, Python Programming.
• ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Framework
• CARIS HPD User Manual.

E.       Institutional Arrangement

• Identify the specific authority/ies who will directly supervise the Contractor, and to whom he/she  will be directly responsible to, reporting to, seeking approval/acceptance of output from (e.g, the Project Manager, or National Project Director, etc.)
• General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information >
• Directorate of Hydrography 
• Dept. of Marine Cartography
•  
• Indicate the frequency of progress reporting, if required (e.g., weekly, monthly, fortnightly, etc.), the recommended formats, if any.  If any of the reports must be presented, indicate the audience/body and expected location and venue.
• Not required and this function can be managed internally.
•  
• Identify institutions/organizations/individuals with whom the Contractor is expected to liaise/interact/collaborate/meet with in the course of performing the work (e.g., other agencies, project co-implementers, donors, communities, local government units, etc.)
• Manager of Dept. of Marine Cartography as mentioned above in item a.
•  
• Define roles / extent of participation of entities involved in the management/implementation of the contract (e.g., as respondents to survey, resource persons to confer with, approving authority, evaluating performance, etc.)
• Hydrographic Data QA QC Expert, 12 months.
•  
• Specify if the project will be able to provide (or not) any facilities, support personnel, support service, or logistical support, what they will be, and at what stage of the work.
• None will be provided

Duration of the Work

• State expected duration of work / total no. of days/weeks/months of the assignment including effective person-days, if applicable.  Emphasize the expected date of full completion, if time is of the essence, indicate the consequences of any delay
• 12 months.
• Indicate target date for the start of work and expected completion date, including conditions to determining both dates, if any
• 01 June 2023
• Explain special reason for urgency, if any, and serious consequence/impact of any form of delay in the completion of the work (e.g., deferment of the succeeding phase to the following year, cancellation of the budget allocation for the project, other potential losses to any party involved, etc.)
• The Hydrographic Directorate has signed a contract with a Surveying Contractor, and will soon begin receiving a significant amount of data on a regular basis in the coming months. This data will be loaded into HDM for processing and nautical chart production. As part of the project deliverables, the contractor will be given access to the data after it has been loaded into HDM to complete certain tasks. It is important to note that any delays may have negative consequences for both the Hydrographic Directorate of GEOSA and the contractor.

G.      Duty Station

• Identify the Contractor’s duty station/location for the contract duration, mentioning ALL the possible locations of field works/duty travel in pursuit of other relevant activities, specially where traveling to locations at security Phase I or above will be required.
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
•  
• State whether or not the Contractor will be required to report regularly or be present at a certain office during the work, including frequency of reporting, even if intermittent
• The Contractor will be stationed in Riyadh Office and he will be reporting as indicated above in item E a.

Required Skills and Experience

1. Clearly define and indicate the following:
2. The area of specialization, field of expertise, and other qualities of the ideal individual to perform the services/work satisfactorily;
3. Must have experience in administering Oracle HDM Database with appropriate qualifications and skills
4. The minimum level of education acceptable and the fields of studies preferred, if any
5. BSc or better in Computer Science / IT or similar
6. The minimum number of years of work experience on the preferred field of practice, if there is any preference.
7. 10 + years of experience in computer programming and marine database administration
8. Special skills / experience and other qualifications which will prove to be advantageous and vital to the success of the work implementation, especially if the assignment’s setting/situation is unique or has peculiarities (e.g., experience in working with indigenous people, familiarity with the key issues confronting a certain region, understanding of and ability to relate with a specific culture/religion, knowledge of a local dialect, etc.)
9. Competent with modern database systems, applications, procedures and processing methods as well as having excellent organisation and communication skills

I.       Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

In order to have a fair basis for comparison, requesting units must clearly state in the TOR that all proposals must be expressed in one of the following pricing options:

1. Daily Fee[1]– this option is only suited when the duration of engagement is definitive and the possibility of any extension is either very low/minimal, or manageable, if at all expected.  This approach must be re-considered if the assignment has a high likelihood of extension or prolonged engagement, as it can create serious cost implications, and may undermine value-for-money.  

When the daily fee option is used, the TOR must clearly specify that:

• The Daily fee must be “all-inclusive[2]”; and
• an IC Time Sheet must be submitted by the Contractor, duly approved by the Individual Contractor’s supervisor, which shall serve as the basis for the payment of fees. 

1. Lump Sum Amount – this is the preferred approach, because it is representative of IC payments closely linked to deliverables. It also has the added benefit of lowering transaction costs for UNDP.  When this approach is used, the Requesting Unit must provide the following:

• Clearly state that the lump sum amount must be “all-inclusive[3]”;
• Clearly state that the contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components;
• If duty travels are expected, provide the Offerors with the UN’s Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rates prevailing at the time of sourcing, for the duty station and all other cities indicated in the TOR as part of duty travel destinations.  This will give them an indication of the cost of living in a duty station/destination, to aid their determination of the appropriate fees and financial proposal amount, but it does not imply that Offerors are entitled to DSA payment[4]; and
• Include in its initial payment the actual cost of the IC’s travel to arrive at the designated Duty Station.   Such cases therefore imply that the completion of the journey can be considered as one of the deliverables payable upon arrival.

J.       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 may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services]; 
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per 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 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. 

K.      Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

This section should indicate all the criteria which shall serve as basis for evaluating offers, which may be done in either of the following manner:

1. 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%; or
2. Lowest price method – where the award will be made to the qualified/responsive individual who offered the lowest price.

Option (a) is ideal for intellectual services where the methodology or approach to the work may differ from one individual to another and directly impacts the quality of the result.  Option (b) is ideal for standard type of services where there are not many possible ways of undertaking/performing the work.

If Option (a) is chosen, the key criteria for rating the qualification and methodology must be stated together with their equivalent percentage weight, so that Offerors can craft their offer appropriately.

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 Weiwei.liu@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 UNDP | Procurement Notices - 97880 - Management of Hydrographic Produ 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.

[1] The IC policy requires that the approval of the Director of the Regional Bureau must be obtained for daily consulting fees exceeding $1,350.  This policy applies regardless of the delegated procurement authority of the Head of the Business Unit. 

[2] The term “All inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consummables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal

[3] Same as above

[4] Individuals on IC are not UN staff are therefore not entitled to DSAs.  All living allowances required to perform the demands of the TOR must be incorporated in the financial proposal, whether the fees are expressed as daily fees or lump sum amount.