Background

The overall objective of the project is to provide high level policy advice to the Republic of Moldova in the overall implementation of the Government Programme “European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare” 2009-2013, with particular focus on the EU integration agenda, economic recovery and reforms. The support is already in place to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministries of Justice, Economy, Interior, Agriculture, Finance, the Tax Inspectorate and the Public Procurement Agency, in their efforts of designing, implementing and monitoring relevant policies and measures. Additional six areas will be covered by the Mission from January 2011, namely the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure, Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova, Prosecutor General’s Office, Department for Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and The Moldovan Wine Authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.
 
General scope of work
 
The adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry will act within the Mission’s overall framework with specific focus on providing support on Moldovan wine promotion, quality aspects and strategic positioning. He/she will report directly to the Director of the Department with a reporting line to UNDP, and will be the lead sector expert and coordinate short term and local experts’ work within the Mission on this particular component. Adviser will cooperate closely with other Advisers, especially the Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry. All activities performed in the scope of this assignment will be closely coordinated with all other EU-funded activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Provide policy advice to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry’s leadership with reference to the implementation of the Government Programme, its Stabilization and Economic Recovery Plan and particularly on wine and other strategic agri-food products;
  • Provide strategic advice on wine production potential, market mechanisms, oenological practices and designation practices;
  • Provide advisory service and support in establishing and monitoring wine quality;
  • Provide strategic advice, including on the job training for beneficiary authority’s specialists, on expanding and diversifying the export market for Moldovan wine, especially in EU;
  • Development of reports for assessing the particular capacity needs, elaboration of recommendations for capacity development responses, advise on the design of monitoring and evaluation tools;
  • Provide inputs and advice on institutional building;
  • Provide policy and legal approximation advice in view of negotiations on the EU-Republic of Moldova Association Agreement and a possible future Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

Competencies

  • Knowledge of EU programs and policies;
  • Experience in national negotiations on EU integration is an asset;
  • Previous knowledge of the EU-Moldova relations and of Moldova state institutions is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

  • Minimum 12 years working experience in the relevant area;
  • Minimum 8 years experience in similar positions of advisory for and/or implementation of reforms with particular focus of agricultural and wine sector, or in capacity building in EU or ENP and candidate countries;
  • Master Degree (Agriculture, Public Administration, Economics or similar) or equivalent working experience;
  • Fluency in English. Good working knowledge of Romanian or Russian is an asset;
  • PC literacy, excellent writing and communication skills;
  • Full time commitment is an advantage.
Important Information
 
Presence in the Duty Station
 
For the purposes of this assignment, a physical presence in the country of at least 15 working days per month is envisaged; other arrangements, however, may be possible with agreement of the beneficiary institution.
 
Benefits
 
The type of contract offered does not include benefits such as annual leave, sick leave, pension or social contribution or medical insurance.
 
Communication with Applicants
 
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
 
Evaluation Criteria
 
UNDP will utilize a two-stage procedure for evaluating proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Technical evaluation will be represented through a desk review of applications and further interview of short-listed candidates. 
 
A) The technical part is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR). Namely:
  • Educational background (10 – Master’s degree; 5-University degree; 5 - in case of lower academic background, it shall be complemented with minimum 8 years of relevant working experience.) – 10 points max;
  • Relevant experience on similar assignments – 10 points max
  • Relevant technical expertise – 10 points max
  • Language Skills (10 - both English and Romanian/or Russian; 8 – only English; 4 – only Romanian or Russian) – 10 points max
  • Interview (30 - technical knowledge and experience; 20 - communication/interpersonal skills; 10 - creativity) - 60 points max
  • Total Maximum Score: 100 points
UNDP will consider the price proposals only from the candidates that passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the evaluation of the technical proposals. Technical evaluation will be represented though a review of applications and further interview of short-listed candidates. The offer with highest scores obtained will receive a technically weighted score, which will equal to 70. All other submissions that passed the 70% threshold will be evaluated as per below formula:
 
A = T/Thigh*(0.7), where:
T     = The total technical score awarded to the bid
Thigh = The Technical Score achieved by the bid that was scored highest among all responsive bids
 
B) Financial evaluation:
 
UNDP will contact the successful candidates (those, who obtained 70% out of the 100 points during the technical evaluation) subject of providing the financial offer for proposed specific vacancy. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:
B = Clow /C*(0.3), where: C   = Evaluated bid price and Clow= The lowest of all evaluated bid prices among responsive bids
The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal (A+B) will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.