UNDP Jobs - 70105- Consultancy – Junior Consultant: Effective Develop

Consultancy – Junior Consultant: Effective Development Co-operation, BPPS/DIG

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Feb-2017

Application Deadline :

19-Jan-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months

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

UNDP, the global development network for the United Nations system, is present in 166 countries and territories and is uniquely equipped to help developing countries build sustainable capacity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In support of this, UNDP offers a wide range of solutions to global, regional and national development challenges through a comprehensive knowledge network, expert practitioners and focused, strategic areas of support.

The Effective Development Co-operation (EDC) Team, under the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is the institutional anchor of UNDP’s work on effective development co-operation, focusing on the comparative advantages of UNDP in strengthening country capacities to manage and co-ordinate development co-operation and to strengthen peer-learning, South-South Co-operation and knowledge sharing as tools for capacity development. It also assists countries in shaping and participating in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), as part of the UNDP-OECD Joint Support Team. This includes supporting global policy dialogue and mutual learning on effective development co-operation as well as leading country support in implementation and monitoring of the effective development co-operation principles. In this context, the EDC Team seeks to recruit a Junior Consultant to work full-time based in NY HQ.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision and guidance of Global Policy Adviser, the Consultant will focus on the following:

Policy Research and Analysis on Effective Development Co-operation (20%):

Under the direct supervision of senior team members, research trends in development effectiveness / co-operation and identify linkages / key areas of support for UNDP's work in advancing the global development effectiveness agenda, including, but not limited to: effectiveness and impacts of blended finance, non-sovereign capital flows for sustainable development, social impact investment, South-South and Triangular Co-operation, and philanthropic contributions to development; and
Under the direct supervision of senior team members, contribute to policy research and development of policy / practice products such as UNDP issue briefs, discussions papers and practice notes on effective development co-operation.

Knowledge Management (50%):

Support the Global Partnership’s UNDP-OECD monitoring team with (i) preparation of thematic and regional-level knowledge products around the outcomes of the second round of Global Partnership monitoring (2015-2016) and (ii) production of background documents on the refinement of the GPEDC Monitoring Framework, indicators, and measurement methodology;
Produce articles for the Global Partnership website according to the confirmation of key events;
Support the general maintenance and updating of the Global Partnership website (via WordPress);
Draft short articles for the monthly Global Partnership newsletter; and
Support the establishment and maintenance of an online community of practice for UNDP development effectiveness focal points in national country offices.

Logistical / Operational Support (30%):

Contribute to logistical preparations for biannual GPEDC Steering Committee Meetings; high-level side events; and other regional / thematic technical workshops, including drafting of background documents and agendas, sending of invitations, liaising with conference services and travel facilitation support;
Contribute to procurement activities; and
Contribute to narrative and financial donor reporting under the Global Partnership umbrella.

Deliverables (spread over 6-month contract):

Contribute to the development of at least 2 policy / practice products such as UNDP issue briefs, discussion papers, and practice notes on effective development co-operation;
Contribute to the production of at least 2 research background documents for refinement of monitoring framework, including effectiveness and impacts of blended finance and non-sovereign capital flows for sustainable development;
Contribute to production of 2 thematic or regional-level knowledge products around the outcomes of the second round of Global Partnership monitoring;
Draft a monthly article for the GPEDC newsletter and 10-12 articles for the GPEDC external website;
Contribute to logistical preparations for one GPEDC Steering Committee Meeting; at least 2 high-level side events; and 2-3 regional / thematic technical workshops, including drafting of background documents and agendas, sending of invitations, liaising with conference services and travel facilitation support; and
Support donor reporting through the preparation of 3-4 donor-specific reporting packages, including narrative and financial reporting.

Competencies

Technical Competencies:

Excellent client orientation and interpersonal skills and able to communicate effectively at all levels of the organisation;
Capable of working in a highly-pressured environment with extreme deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
Ability to manage complexity and is able to handle confidential and sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
Impeccable analytical skills and able to research, analyze, and draft well and able to present convincingly;
Exercises the highest level of responsibility; and
An excellent team player, projecting a positive image and ready to take on a wide range of tasks to create an enabling environment for the supervisor, focusing on results for the client, and responds positively to feedback.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN / UNDP's values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN/UNDP; and
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Economics, and the broad social sciences or other related disciplines is required.

Experience:

Demonstrated knowledge of effective development co-operation and multi-stakeholder partnerships for development;
Strong analytical and research skills in the areas of development partnerships, development co-operation, and / or supporting country efforts in the area of development effectiveness;
Past experience supporting logistics for high-level side events or meetings required;
Familiarity with the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation is highly preferred;
Past experience with donor reporting for UNDP Global Projects or other similar international organisations is highly preferred; and
Working / academic knowledge of blended finance, non-sovereign capital flows and other vehicles for engaging the private sector in the development co-operation agenda is highly preferred.

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken English; and
Good working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Working arrangements

UNDP will provide office space, access to internet and a printer during the assignment (the cost of these facilities should not be included in the financial proposals). The Consultant will be responsible for providing their own laptop.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

Online application with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
If the 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.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. 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:

Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education, language and experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation.

The technical evaluation will be conducted through desk review and interview. The technical proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Demonstrated knowledge of effective development co-operation and multi-stakeholder partnerships for development (10 points);
Strong analytical and research skills in the areas of development partnerships, development co-operation, and / or supporting country efforts in the area of development effectiveness (15 points);
Past experience supporting logistics for high-level side events or meetings (15 points);
Familiarity with the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (15 points);
Familiarity and working knowledge with Word Press (10 points);
Working / academic knowledge of blended finance, non-sovereign capital flows and other vehicles for engaging the private sector in the development co-operation agenda (5 points).

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional Arrangement

The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for UNDP’s external relations, advocacy and communications functions. The Bureau leads and supports the organization in cultivating, building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances that are essential for advancing and achieving the mission of UNDP. This requires new ways of working, partnering, financing with public and private actors at global, regional and national levels.

The current assignment will be under the supervision of the Director of the Strategy and Innovation Unit (SIU), housed in BERA. The Contractor will engage with BERA/SIU staff on a regular basis and meet with BERA’s senior management and key line staff, as required. The SIU Director to whom the Contractor is accountable will hold inception, mid-term and conclusion meetings to assess the quality of the deliverables.

Duration of the Work

UNDP/BERA/SIU will host the Contractor, monitor daily progress and assess progress against deliverables. The Contractor will engage with BERA/SIU staff on a regular basis, and meet with senior managers and key line staff, as required. The SIU Director (or delegated staff member) to whom the Contractor is accountable will hold inception, mid-term and conclusion meetings to assess the quality of the deliverables.

Duty Station

The Contractor’s location for the contract duration is home-based. The Contractor will be required to engage with BERA staff remotely. If the contractor is based in New York, face-to-face meetings can be scheduled.

Payment modality

Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.