UNDP Jobs - 67580- Climate Change and Energy Consultant, UNDP

Climate Change and Energy Consultant, UNDP

Location :

UNDP Panama City, PANAMA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Sep-2016

Application Deadline :

07-Aug-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

11 Months

Languages Required :

English Spanish

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 September 2016 to 15 August 2017

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.

Background

Project Title

Climate Change and Energy Consultant, UNDP.

Project Description

Through various projects and activities UNDP is providing support to countries globally to access, manage, deploy and monitor scaled-up climate finance; identify opportunities for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs); design and implement scaled-up climate change mitigation actions and NAMAs; design Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS); design of systems for measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of mitigation actions and means to reduce GHG emissions; develop greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory management systems; as well as promote and design climate change adaptation solutions. Specifically, UNDP’s Low Emission Capacity Building Programme (LECB) based in New York is providing technical services to 35 countries in the above areas as well as on the implementation of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

The Latin American and Caribbean Region is one of the priority regions supported by the LECB Programme. In addition, in coordination with the Regional Service Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDP RSC-LAC), this support also contributes to UNDP assistance to countries in the LAC region to achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4ALL), which seeks to catalyze major new investments to facilitate the transformation of the world’s energy systems, pursue the elimination of energy poverty, and enhance prosperity and take concrete action toward three critical results to be achieved by 2030: (1) ensuring universal access to modern energy services; (2) doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and (3) doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to:

Contribute to technical backstopping of the ongoing UNDP’s LECB Programme at the global level, including the LAC Regional Climate Change Programme, and the global Green Climate Finance (GCF) Readiness project, by ensuring the timely and accurate provision of technical advice.
Provide inputs for the preparation of new climate change and energy proposals, including identification of financing sources.
Provide substantive expertise and ensure the technical quality, accuracy, and relevance of global and country-level climate change and energy activities to support the implementation of global LECB Programme, including the LAC Climate Change Programme and UNDP country offices.

The consultant is expected to carry out the following activities in two broad areas of work:

Technical backstopping and support for the development and delivery of the global LECB Programme and country-level climate change in the LAC region:

Provide technical inputs to LECB Programme Global Manager and to the Coordinator and country teams to support the implementation of activities related to the design and implementation of mitigation actions (including NAMAs), low emission development strategies, INDCs, and other related activities, as requested.
Support countries in the LAC region in the development of strategic partnerships with organizations interested in developing NAMAs, scaled-up mitigation actions and sustainable energy programmes proposals, as well as accessing climate finance through technical assessment and advice.
Provide inputs in the process of the preparation and revision of LECB country workplans projects focusing on four countries: Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Paraguay. This will include country visits, if needed, to provide technical guidance and support consultation processes, upon approval of the LECB Programme Manager.
Provide inputs to support the CPEIR implementation through (i) Follow up on CPEIR activities and the functioning of the LAC community of practice; (ii) Support the mobilization of resources for new CPEIR initiatives; (iii) Ensure coordination with relevant partners and other UNDP Programmes, such as IDB, ECLAC, WB, UNEP, BIOFIN in the area of public finance and budgeting; (iv) follow-up on methodological development of CPEIR.
Support the development of a sectoral study on climate change impacts on hydro production in Panama and document the methodological agreement among stakeholders.
Represent LECB Programme in global/regional events and deliver technical presentations on subject related to the Programme.
Provide technical input into the contracting of consultants through the design and structuring of terms of reference, and technical evaluation of deliverables.
Organize and participate in quarterly calls with LECB project coordinators to monitor advancement toward the project objectives.
Provide technical expertise during the monitoring of project activities and corresponding quarterly reports.

Provide support to the production of knowledge products at the global and regional level

Provide technical backstopping and troubleshooting on LECB activities and products.
Provide review and comments on technical documents produced by LECB and LAC LECB outputs.
Support the visibility and dissemination of the LECB Programme’s activities.
Conduct peer reviews, comment on, and seek to improve the technical quality of project outputs.
Review consultants/centers of excellence products following quality standards and political sensibility.
Assist in building bridges between the LECB Project and UNDP-GEF programming to seek opportunities for resources mobilization to implement NAMAs identified and structured through LECB. Assist in the identification of other sources of climate finance for the implementation of NAMAs.
Monitor and gather intelligence on activities related to the development of NDCs, NAMAs carbon markets, scaled up climate change mitigation, climate finance architecture, and sustainable energy, and facilitate knowledge transfer to stakeholders.
Advice on dissemination of findings of study on energy efficiency and climate resilience of water utilities companies.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will report primarily to the Manager of the LECB Programme (based in New York). Limited reporting (up to 30% of the consultant’s time) will be done as well to the Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator (based in Panama) in coordination with the LECB Programme Manager.
The consultant will report to the supervisors based on the deliverables and timelines, as indicated in table 1 below.
The Contractor is expected to liaise/interact/collaborate/meet with in the course of performing the work with CO’s, Project Managers, UNDP GEF and MPU Regional Technical Advisors (RTAs), Companies, Governments, other consultants, other agencies, donors, communities, local government units, etc.
If consultant is required to travel, the project will provide administrative support and airplane tickets (economy) and per diem to countries where this initiative is implemented. Reimbursements will be made as per UNDPs guidelines and based on the presentation of an F10- Travel form.
The consultant will be based in the UNDP Regional Service Hub located in Panama in order to facilitate interaction with the respective UNDP country offices and respective national teams that the consultant is tasked to support.

Duration of the Work

A Maximum of 231 days starting 15 September 2016 with a completion date of the 15 August 2017.
Estimated lead time for UNDP or Project Implementing Partners to review outputs, give comments, and certify approval/acceptance of outputs: 15 days max after submission of outputs.

Duty Station

Contractor’s duty station/location for the contract duration: UNDP RSC-LAC office, Panama City, Republic of Panama.

Competencies

Corporate:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’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;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional:

Ability to read and analyze related data and meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
Demonstrable analytical and writing skills;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications of the Successful Contractor

Education

Master's Degree or equivalent in Environment, Economics, or International Relations

Relevant working experience

Minimum of five years of experience working in the field of climate change and climate finance;
Detailed knowledge of the climate finance architecture and mechanisms;
Substantive experience in working with national governments and agencies on climate change in the Latin American and Caribbean Region;
Experience in working in sustainable energy project and programmes (energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency);
Familiarity with private sector participation in climate change and sustainable energy related activities;
Substantive experience designing and implementing NAMAs, low emission development strategies, and scaled up mitigation actions;
Work experience in UNDP and knowledge of UNDP policies and procedures is desirable;
Relationship and network building;

Language requirements

Fluency in English and Spanish

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Submit CV/P11

Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP online job application (click apply) (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

Personal History Form (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 (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc).
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment. Indicate available start date.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their daily rate financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to cpu.bids@undp.org using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal: Climate Change and Energy Consultant 207” by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals received after the deadline may be rejected.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown.

The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Scope of Bid Price and Schedule of Payments

The contractor will be paid accordingly to the submission of the deliverables as per the table detailing the expected outcomes and based on the total number of days worked and reported at the agreed upon rate and as per the target due date.

IC payments are directly linked to deliverables.
Contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components
The contract signed as IC does not involve any fees in advance at the beginning of the consultancy.
If travels are required, costs will be covered by the project.

Schedule of Payments is as follows:

Q3 Regional Programme Report and note on dissemination of findings of study on energy efficiency and climate resilience of water utilities companies. Q3 2016 report of LECB activities and follow-up debrief of 4 LECB countries. Project documents of 3 NDC implementation
Follow-up debrief of 4 LECB countries. Technical assistance to countries on LECB activities. Brief report on initiation of INDC activities
Inputs for the 2016 annual report of the Climate Change Regional Programme to AECID. Follow-up debrief of 3 LECB countries. Final reports on 2 NAMAs
Technical assistance to countries on LECB activities. Q4 2016 report of LECB activities. Brief report on NDC implementation.
Technical report on INDC activities and CPEIRs. Report on methodological strengthening of CPEIR methodology.
Follow-up debrief of 3 LECB countries. Technical assistance to countries on LECB activities.
Report on advances with ongoing INDC implementation ac activities and CPEIRs. Q1 2017 report of LECB activities
Technical report with INDC implementation. Follow-up debrief of 3 LECB countries. Technical assistance to countries on LECB activities
Documentation of the methodological approach followed on the study on vulnerability of hydro production to climate change in Panama. Follow-up report and technical assistance on NDC implementation.
Q2 2017report of LECB LAC activities. Report on advances with ongoing NDC implementation. Follow-up debrief of 4 LECB countries. Technical assistance to countries on LECB activities.
Technical assistance to LECB countries and report on completed activities under the second Phase of the Programme
Lessons learned and knowledge product from the LECB Programme and from implementation of activities related to the NDCs.
Final report on the LECB Programme for Chile, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Final report on support to the Regional Climate Change Programme

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

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%.

Method: Cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

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:

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.

Technical Criteria weight: 70%. Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for technical evaluation (70 points maximum):

Master's Degree or equivalent in Environment, Economics, or International Relations (5 points)
Over five years of experience working in the field of climate change and climate finance (10 points)
Detailed knowledge of the climate finance architecture and mechanisms (10 points);
Substantive experience in working with national governments and agencies on climate change in the Latin American and Caribbean Region (15 points)
Experience in working in sustainable energy project and programmes (energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency) (10 points)
Familiarity with private sector participation in climate change and sustainable energy related activities (10 points)
Substantive experience designing and implementing NAMAs, low emission development strategies, and scaled up mitigation actions(10 points)