UNDP Jobs - 70936- Part-time Project Manager

Part-time Project Manager - Climate Aggregation Platform (USA Nationals or Others Legally Authorized to Work in the USA)

Location :

New York, USA with mission travel

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

17-Apr-2017

Application Deadline :

23-Mar-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

130 days over 12 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 3 years with a maximum of 390 days in the period, dependent on demand for services

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’s Global Environmental Finance unit (UNDP-GEF) is based in UNDP’s Bureau of Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability into development. The principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.

The Climate Aggregation Platform (CAP) is a new UNDP-GEF project which, in partnership with the Climate Bonds Initiative, seeks to promote the scale-up of financial aggregation - asset backed securities - for small-scale, low-carbon energy assets in developing countries. The project aims to help build in-country pipelines of high-quality, standardised low-carbon energy assets and to develop new low-cost sources of financing, building awareness and trust with investors in this new asset class. In so doing, the project can contribute to improving the lives of citizens in developing countries, bringing about affordable, reliable and clean energy.

The CAP’s activities and value proposition will be formulated in terms of a global offer and an in-country offer:

Global offer: global awareness raising, knowledge management products and a working group
In-country offer: an initial three in-country initiatives (currently identified as Latin America, India and Kenya), each centered around (i) a showcase transaction, likely in partnership with a development bank and/or the private sector, and (ii) tailored market development activities from a menu of services, such as standardisation efforts and addressing tax/regulatory barriers.

The project’s central approach to achieving change - embedded throughout its design - is a barrier-removal approach. The project seeks to do this in different ways: addressing information barriers through the project’s global activities; addressing first-mover barriers through its emphasis on first-of-a-kind transactions; and then, within countries, targeting specific barriers to scaling-up via tailored market development activities.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing initial seed-funding to establish the CAP in the form of an initial USD 2 million grant. UNDP and the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), as a Responsible Party to UNDP, will implement the project with an approximate 50/50 split of the initial USD 2 million GEF grant. The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is a founding partner of the CAP and is providing co-financing for the in-country initiatives.

The part-time Project Manager will be responsible for the successful execution of the CAP project. The position has both administrative and technical components. Administratively, the Project Manager will lead the day-to-day running of the project; technically, the Project Manager will draw on her/his expertise in finance to guide the project’s direction and activities. The Project Manager will directly manage a Project Assistant providing administrative support, and will also manage additional project consultants. The Project Manager will report to the Energy Finance Specialist, UNDP-GEF, New York.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Manager will have the following responsibilities:

Administrative responsibilities:

Oversee the recruitment and manage project consultants;
Manage and coordinate the implementation of the project activities in accordance with the project document, annual and quarterly work plans and budgets;
Support the Energy Finance Specialist in managing the project’s financial resources, including financial reporting, both internally and externally;
Manage and coordinate the project’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan;
Organize Project Board meetings, including the preparation of board documents and materials;
Where appropriate, liaise on UNDP country office involvement in the CAP’s in-country initiatives.

Technical responsibilities:

Provide guidance, oversight and set high standards for the CAP’s technical planning, activities and products. This will include:
- Latest developments: Incorporating an up-to-date technical understanding of financial aggregation for small-scale, low-carbon energy, across technologies, geographies, deal structures and investors;
- Strategic direction: Ensuring a strong and relevant CAP value proposition, responsive to latest developments and opportunities;
Develop and manage relationships with the CAP’s partners, for example development banks;
Present at industry meetings and events, including delivering talks and presentations;
Pursue opportunities to augment the CAP’s initial seed funding, expanding the CAP into new areas and increasing the CAP’s impact.

Throughout the above responsibilities, it will be imperative that the Project Manager establishes a strong working partnership with the Climate Bonds Initiative. The UNDP project team will be based in New York, and the Climate Bonds Initiative project team in London. An early priority will be to put in place mechanisms, both formal and informal, to foster a collaborative team spirit, and to ensure open and efficient communications with the Climate Bonds Initiative. The Project Manager can also draw upon the support of the UNDP-GEF team in New York and globally, including UNDP-GEF senior management.

Information on working arrangements

Estimated level of effort including travel days: 130 days;
The Project Manager will work from UNDP’s offices in New York;
The consultant will be expected to work two and a half days per week (part-time position);
The initial contract will be for one year, with the possibility of renewal in two subsequent years dependent on demand for services, availability of financial resources and good performance;
Depending on the demand for services, for example from new funding or due to new in-country initiatives, there is the possibility that more days per week may be added, subject to the agreement of the Project Manager and UNDP;
The Project Manager will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
The Consultant will be responsible for providing his/her own laptop;
Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered.

Mission Travel:

International mission travel might be required at least to Washington, DC, London and various developing countries;
Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel to join the duty station or first mission travel, which ever takes place first;
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
The Consultant is required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
The Consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with the UNDP travel policies;
All travel expenses related to mission travels will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for mission airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Technical:

Expertise in finance and financial structuring;
Knowledge of innovative business and financial models in low-carbon energy to disrupt existing markets and to bring energy and development benefits to developing countries.

Communication:

Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, in a simple, concise and persuasive manner.

Professionalism:

Ability to work and build partnerships with multiple stakeholders and partners across a wide range of disciplines;
Demonstrated ability in strategic thinking;
Strong organizational, reporting and writing abilities;
Able to work independently and remotely with minimal supervision;
Remains calm, in control and good humored, even under pressure;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback.

Teamwork:

Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a collaborative team and process.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s or equivalent degree in finance, international affairs, or other closely related field (max. 5 points);

Experience:

At least 7 years or more professional experience in the area of finance (e.g. banking, asset management, fund management, development finance) (max. 25 points);
Experience in finance for low-carbon energy. Candidates with experience in financial aggregation for low-carbon energy will be at an advantage. (max. 20 points);
Experience working with multilateral organizations, development banks and/or the UN system preferred (max. 15 points);
Experience working in developing country contexts preferred (max. 10 points).

Language:

Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English (max. 5 points).

Evaluation Method

Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
Applicants will be evaluated according to a 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. 80 points] and interview [max. 20 points]) will be based on a maximum 100 points;
Only the top 3 candidates obtaining 56 points or more of the review of education, experience, languages will be considered for the interview;
Candidates obtaining 14 points or higher in the interview will deemed technically qualified and considered for 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 an all-inclusive daily fee. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this daily fee (including all foreseeable expenses to carry out this assignment);
The applicant receiving the highest combined score and who has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation to be submitted

Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) to be downloaded from the below link;
Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application;
Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment to be downloaded from the UNDP procurement site.

Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach).

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=36004