UNDP Jobs - 76151- Individual consultant

Individual consultant – Assets Certifications

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

02-Jan-2018

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months on full time basis, with the possibility of 6 additional months extension

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months on full time basis, with the possibility of 6 additional months extension

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

In the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Premises, Facilities and Assets Unit (PFA) within Headquarters (HQ) in New York is entrusted with the oversight of all UNDP building fixed assets therein.

The Country Offices (CO) and HQ units are required to carry out a bi-annual physical verification exercise of existing fixed assets and reconcile the results with the asset-management module records within PeopleSoft (ATLAS).

PFA is seeking the services of a consultant to assist with the verification, reconciliation and certification of CO’s and HQ Units submissions for the 2017 Year-End Property Plant and Equipment verification exercise. In addition, the consultant will also work on reviewing the accuracy of data in the asset registers to ensure that the property plant and equipment are in line with required IPSAS standards. The consultant will also work on reconciling and analyzing the data and compiling the results for inclusion on the Certification Report. The consultant will report to the Asset Specialist within PFA and be part of a wider team of staff involved in the bi-annual fixed-asset certification exercise review.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will perform the following duties:

Responsibilities and duties:

Ensure that each CO unit submit the required supporting documents for the property plant and equipment verification exercise, and that the results are reconciled to the records and the report is duly signed by the head of the office.
Co-ordinate with CO asset focal points on the corrective action required in atlas when discrepancies are identified within the certification documents.
Coach and train CO asset focal points through the process of resolution of identified errors.
Support the CO Units assets review back to the original procurement documents through the usage of the procurement module and analysis of contracts and expenses, where required.
Ensure all appropriate documents in certification letters are uploaded in PFA SharePoint site.
Run reports from ATLAS to confirm the final physical verification certification.
Prepare and analyze data for management reporting.
Review consolidated files from Mid-Year Certification and complete charts for the bi-annual PP&E Certification report.
Prepare weekly status updates on the progress of Add ons and Exclusions cleanup.
Review the asset registers for data quality and accuracy issues and work with business units to take corrective action.
Perform other supporting tasks as requested by Asset Specialist on behalf of Manager, PFA.

Expected output(s)

Timely delivery against certification deadlines
Weekly status reports
Certification exercise report

Competencies

Organization

Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
Team Player
Displays open, co-operative behavior with other team members

Self-Management

Remains calm and in control, and good humored even under pressure.
Demonstrates respect and a clear interest in people by what he/she says and does
Drive to Achieve Results
Focuses on achieving results for external and internal clients
Communication
Speaks and writes clearly and effectively

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least Bachelor degree in Accounting, Business Management, Economics, Finance or any related area, or High School diploma plus 2 years of relevant experience.

Experience:

At least 2 years relevant work experience 4 years for High school diploma candidates
Experienced in analytical and reconciliation duties
Strong Excel is a requirement
Asset management or accounting experience preferred
Experience in working with ERP systems

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.
Working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

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% (700 points):

Experienced in analytical and reconciliation duties (Maximum Points: 10%)
Asset management or accounting experience preferred (Maximum Points: 10%)
Experience in working with ERP systems (Maximum Points: 10%)
Excel written test (Maximum Points: 20)
Interview (Maximum Points: 20%)

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three/four shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 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 consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of Assets Management Specialist of PFA and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

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.