UNDP Jobs - 67644- Climate Information and Early Warning Systems Cons

Climate Information and Early Warning Systems Consultant

Location :

Home-based with possible mission travels, THAILAND

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

05-Sep-2016

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

5 September 2016- 4 September 2017

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 190 working days

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

The UNDP Environment and Energy Group (EEG) is based in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to deliver the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of the UNDP Strategic Plan. Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability into development at local, national, regional and global levels. Principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.

The Low Emission Climate Resilient Development Strategies (LECRDS) group, within UNDP-GEF, supports low emission and adaptation projects across the globe which utilizes funds obtained through the Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund and other sources. Many of these projects have components which focus on the use of climate information and the development of early warning systems in order to promote climate resilient development and long-term low emission strategies and adaptation to climate change. This involves effectively utilizing climate information and associated technologies, to promote appropriate risk management activities across a range of timescales.

Building observation networks (including automatic weather stations, hydrological monitoring gauges, satellite imagery and low-cost alternatives) is often a key requirement as these limit the ability to monitor and forecast the weather, as well as track slow onset and long-term climate change related impacts. Additional requirements include the interpretation, presentation and communication of climate information to enable better climate-related risk management e.g. creating sector and location specific advisories, as well as communication through different media (e.g. TV, radio, internet) and institutions (e.g. disaster management agencies and NGOs). In nearly all cases climate information is only one of several factors/sources of information that influence decisions, and placing it in an appropriate context, acknowledging limitations and uncertainties in skill and accuracy, is a key requirement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective:

To undertake and deliver services as indicated below to support policy and project development in the area of climate information and early warning systems (CI/EWS). The consultant will also work with the UNDP-GEF team (including the NAP team) delivering on the National Communications, Biennial Update Reports, Small Grants Programme, Upgraded Country programmes, Cross Cutting Capacity Development Programme, and the Low Emission Capacity Building Programme, on initiatives involving the formulation of climate change scenarios for different types of decision-making processes.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will work in close partnership with relevant NAP global staff, RTAs, UNDP HQ, UNDP COs and regional bureau staff to undertake the following tasks, providing technical leadership where indicated:

Provision of advice and technical guidance to the NAP members and other UNDP-GEF team on the use of CI/EWS in the development of new projects, within existing projects, and for media and communications materials;
Provide support to RTAs for preparation of UNDP-GEF compliant, full-sized Project Documents where the scope of work involves climate information systems;
Guide UNDP-GEF and project staff on the use of publically available weather and climate information, websites and knowledge portals;
Provide sound technical advice to the NAP portfolio, PTAs, STAs, RTAs and COs on the advantages and disadvantages of using different technologies, scientific approaches and communications for Climate Information and EWS for short and long term development planning;
Provide support to relevant global NAP staff, RTAs and COs for assessing existing country and government capabilities to use CI/EWS, and help identify suitable tools and scientific approaches to cover existing gaps;
Develop and finalize knowledge management products, including a) Guidebook on the use of climate information within development projects, b) Documents explaining the in/outs and barriers to using publically available weather and climate information (observations and future projections) and c) Workshop materials (including powerpoint presentations) to support training activities;
Provide support to relevant NAP global staff, RTAs and COs for assessing existing country and government capabilities to generate climate scenarios for decision-making at local, sub-national and national levels.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Deliverable 1 : Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2-3 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component (September - November 2016, 15 days);
Deliverable 2 : Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component; ( November 2016 - January 2017, 10 days);
Deliverable 3 : Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2-3 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component; (February - April 2017, 15 days);
Deliverable 4: Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component; (May - August 2017, 10 days);
Deliverable 5: NAP training on using climate information for decision making in at least 4 countries – 21% of total contract amount; (October - November 2016, 40 days);
Deliverable 6: Proposal formulation for capacity building on Climate Information and EWS (2) – 16 % of total contract amount; (December 2016 - January 2017, 30 days);
Deliverable 7 : Map entry points for institutional collaboration on gathering and managing climate relevant data (at least 3 countries) – 21% of total contract amount; (February - April 2017, 40 days);
Deliverable 8: Stock take of opportunities for climate relevant data gathering and partnerships (at least 3 countries) – 16 % of total contract amount. (May - August 2017, 30 days);

Review and Approvals from Head of CCA are required for deliverable 1- 4. For deliverable 5-8, Review and Approvals from NAP Project Manager are required.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will be supervised by the Head of Climate Change Adaptation and an RTA, Project manager of NAP-GSP throughout the consultancy.

Duration of the Work: 5 September 2016- 4 September 2017 (up to 190 working days)

Duty Station: Home-based. The incumbent may be required to travel for assignments upon approval of supervisor. Destinations shall be determined based on supervisor’s consideration.

Travel:

Project site visits may be required subject to discussion with and clearance by UNDP-GEF staff members. The purpose of site visits will include: a) Design and detailing outcomes, outputs, risks and indicators, for submission of project applications for funding from the GEF and other sources, b) Identification, verification and finalization of project activities (including communication strategies and validating the use of early warnings) and c) Supporting current projects using climate information and early warning systems, undertaking risk and vulnerability assessments etc.
The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives;
The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies.

Competencies

Excellent English written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize scientific concepts and relevant findings for the preparation of quality reports, project materials, advice and knowledge management products;
Ability to speak, read and write technical and conversational English;
Ability to understand new terminology and concepts easily and to synthesize information from different sources into a coherent project document;
Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations;
Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others;
Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise;
Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of international, regional and national institutions;
Displays sensitivity and adaptability to different cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and age groups;
Good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
Good team player, self-starter, has ability to work under minimum supervision and maintain good relationships.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

An advanced post-graduate degree (Master’s or PhD level) in environmental, engineering or physical sciences, or other closely related field.

Experience:

Minimum of 8 years’ experience as technical advisor at senior programme management level;
Minimum of 10 years’ experience in the use of climate modeling tools and techniques to guide decision making in one or more of the following: weather and seasonal forecasting, climate change modeling and downscaling, agricultural and water resource related impacts and decision making, urban/territorial planning, vulnerability reduction, environmental monitoring;
Experience in providing technical support to developing countries in the area of climate information, modeling, early warning systems and related fields in any or at least 2 of the following regions: Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific, including isolated and vulnerable regions is an asset;
Experience developing operationally viable adaptation projects with financing from the Adaptation Fund, Least Developed Country Fund and/or Special Climate Change Fund;
Experience designing projects that focus on the strengthening of functional and operational capacities of Early Warning Systems;
Experience and knowledge of UN system is desirable.

Language Skills:

Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum amount.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1: Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2-3 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component- 8% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 2 : Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component - 5% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 3 : Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2-3 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component - 8% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 4: Support the development and provide reviews and written comments of 2 CCA project proposals on CI/EWS component- 5% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 5: NAP training on using climate information for decision making in at least 4 countries – 21% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 6: Proposal formulation for capacity building on Climate Information and EWS (2) – 16 % of total contract amount;
Deliverable 7 : Map entry points for institutional collaboration on gathering and managing climate relevant data (at least 3 countries) – 21% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 8: Stock take of opportunities for climate relevant data gathering and partnerships (at least 3 countries) – 16 % of total contract amount.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis;
Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
The technical criteria (education, experience, languages [max 100 points]). Only the top 3 candidates obtaining at least 70% or more of the total technical points (education, experience, and languages) will be considered for the interview and financial evaluation;
Financial score (max 100 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, including breakdown per deliverable. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this lump sum (including number of anticipated working days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment; costs for mission travel should not be included in the financial proposal);
Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)

Criteria 1 : Education – max 15 points;
Criteria 2 : Experience as technical advisor at senior programme management level.- max 15 Points;
Criteria 3 : Experience in the use of climate modeling tools and techniques to guide decision making in one or more of the following: weather and seasonal forecasting, climate change modeling and downscaling, agricultural and water resource related impacts and decision making, urban/territorial planning, vulnerability reduction, environmental monitoring– max 20 points;
Criteria 4 : Experience in providing technical support to developing countries in the area of climate information, modeling, early warning systems and related fields in any or at least 2 of the following regions: Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific, including isolated and vulnerable regions is an asset – max 15 points;
Criteria 5: Experience developing operationally viable adaptation projects with financing from the Adaptation Fund, Least Developed Country Fund and/or Special Climate Change Fund– max 10 points;
Criteria 6: Experience designing projects that focus on the strengthening of functional and operational capacities of Early Warning Systems– max 15 points;
Criteria 6: Experience and knowledge of UN system is desirable - max 5 points;
Criteria 7: Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language- max 5 points.

Shortlisted candidates may be called for an interview which will be used to confirm and/or adjust the technical scores awarded based on documentation submitted.

Documentation required:

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:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
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;
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, 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. Kindly indicate the costs related to the 4 aforementioned missions under a separate heading.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Please click on the link below to download all required documents.

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=31539

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to brh.gef.procurement@undp.org