UNDP Jobs - 77182- Senior Advisor

Senior Advisor - Private Sector

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2018

Application Deadline :

19-Feb-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

11 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

11 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

Anchored in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and committed to the principles of universality, equality and leaving no one behind, the UNDP vision for the Strategic Plan, 2018-2021 sets out a vision for the evolution of UNDP over the next four years, responding to a changing development landscape and the evolving needs of our partners. A critical partner in the delivery of the Strategic Plan is the private sector. It is recognized that the SDG’s cannot be achieved with existing levels and forms of development assistance; The continued growth in private sector investment and its shift to developing markets indicates a potential to help close this gap; as such, leveraging private sector financing and broader engagement with the private sector is viewed as critical for helping countries to achieve the Goals, and for the achievement of the Strategic Plan.

UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector Development (IICPSD), Country Offices, and Regional and Central Bureau’s and Units have been forging a wide array of partnerships with the private sector; while the initiatives have delivered key results, arguably the scale of ambition of the SDGs and the Strategic Plan demands that UNDP re-frame its engagement with the private sector at a scale of ambition that matches the requirements of the Member States and the SDGs. Within the broader span of private sector partnerships, engagement with the private sector will help to leverage additional financing to achieve the SDGs is a critical area of work for UNDP.

To this end, UNDP will embark on an innovative undertaking to validate new forms of partnership and programming with the private sector through which significant financing can be leveraged for achievement of the Strategic Plan and the SDGs. This initiative will embrace ‘start up’ principles and focus on developing a minimum viable product or servicing offering that can be taken to scale. This initiative will be housed within the Executive Office and implemented in close collaboration with the IICPSD, Regional Bureaus, the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy, and country offices.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall purpose of this assignment is to provide advisory support to the initiative in the following areas:

Assessing and brokering partnership opportunities with key private sector actors who may support the goal of leveraging significant financing for achievement of the SDGs and UNDP’s strategic plan;
Assisting in the technical review of UNDP’s portfolio of projects related to engagement with private sector financing to discern potential opportunities for immediate partnership and/or scaling;
Providing technical inputs to the development of criteria for vetting the ongoing potential initiatives for possible expansion or scaling;
Informing the selection of the initiative (or determining that none with UNDP’s existing portfolio are viable for expansion or scaling, and thereby designing a new initiative) that will demonstrate an approach to leveraging significant financing for achievement of the SDGs and the Strategic Plan. The consultant will have significant scope to determine the scope and content of the initiative as derived from their experience and partnerships.
Development of the full business case for the initiative that will demonstrate a viable approach for UNDP to leverage financing for SDG and Strategic Plan achievement with the private sector;
Supporting advocacy efforts through technical presentations on financing for development and other related topics;
Assisting the Administrator and Executive Group in positioning UNDP’s work on the private sector within high level forums and other related multilateral and bilateral activities.

The Senior Advisor – Private Sector will leverage their experience, network, and knowledge in the subjects of impact investing, blended finance, alternative funding schemes, innovative financing models, and other areas to assist UNDP in scaling an existing initiative - or designing a new one - that will demonstrate the organization’s ability to leverage significant volumes of private sector financing to achieve the SDG’s and Strategic Plan. Broadly speaking, the primary tasks will involve provision of high level advice on the topic of finance for development, partnership analysis and brokering, and advocacy to key constituencies. The technical inputs of the Senior Advisor will both draw on and inform UNDP’s ongoing work in the areas of partnership and programming with the private sector. It is important to recognize that the Consultant will have significant scope to inform the priorities and partnerships to drive the development of the initiative. The assignment will be conducted primarily as home based, with a mission to NY once per month, and other travel as necessary.

Deliverables/Outputs	Target due dates	Review and approvals required
i). Appraisal of existing UNDP initiatives with the private sector from the perspective of which have potential for scaling up to leverage financing for development. This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 April 2018	Programme Advisor, Exedcutive Office
ii). Analysis of private sector actors who could be partner with UNDP in leveraging financing for achievement of the SDGs and UNDP. Analysis will include description of rationale for private sector actors’ engagement with UNDP (perceived value), barriers to partnership formation and maintenance, and detailed outreach plan(s) for key actors, and other factors deemed critical by the Consultant. This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 May 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
iii). Business case. Based on previous outputs, develop a business case that will outline the scope of the initiative that will be tested to provide a proof of concept for leveraging private sector financing for development. This output includes 2 missions to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 June 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
iv). Design of an investment event for the initiative. Provide technical inputs to design an event that will showcase the initiative described in the business case and attract further investment. Design should include key advocacy messages based on specific target audiences, format, possible speakers, invitees, and other pertinent information.	15 August 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
v). Facilitation of the investment event. Support the implementation of the investment event by serving as a moderator for key sessions. This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 September 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
vi). Undertake targeted outreach to key investors highlighted through the partnership analysis, business case development, and investment event through the development and delivery of at least 2 tailored presentations.	15 October 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
vii). Produce early stage analysis document. Analyze initiative’s early stages from the perspective of deriving areas of improvement, critical learnings from the initial stage of the initiative, recommendations for areas to improve in terms of it operations (policy, legal instruments etc). This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 November 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
vii). Undertake capacity development of UNDP staff through at least 2 dedicated learning sessions on impact investing and blended finance. This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 Decenber 2018	Programme Advisor, Executive Office
iv). Product initiative assessment report. Write a report (maximum 20 pages) on the initiative outlining lessons learned, pathways for scaling up, key partnerships to leverage for success, an indicative budget, and workplan. A briefing for the Administrator, UNDP Executive Group, and interested external stakeholders on the initiative are included as part of this output. This output includes 1 mission to UNDP Headquarters in New York.	15 January 2019	Programme Advisor, Executive Office

The Senior Advisor – Private Sector will be directly responsible to the Senior Advisor – Business Model and Process in the Executive Office, and will work in close collaboration with the Programme Advisor, Executive Office. Progress reporting will be made monthly in person to the Senior Advisor – Business Model and Process and Programme Advisor, Executive Office and focus on achievement of the outputs noted above, opportunities that have arisen and may be relevant for the UNDP IICPSD and other Bureau/Units to take forward, and other pertinent matters. Outputs will be certified by the Programme Advisor, Executive Office. During their work, the Senior Advisor – Private Sector will interact regularly with the Director of the IICPSD, Senior Advisors within the Executive Office, Bureau Directors and their Deputies, and staff members engaged in private sector programming and partnerships in UNDP. Presentations to donors, interested private sector, academia, civil society and other actors will also occur to advance the completion of outputs noted above.

Duration of the Work

The duration of the assignment is 11 months. The expected start date is 1 March 2018 and the end of contract will be 30 January 2019, or sooner should the outputs be completed in advance of this date. This time frame is set against the initial phase of implementation of the new Strategic Plan 2018-2021, as the assignment is deemed critical to advancing UNDP’s work in relation to the private sector. Delays to the completion of the work will hamper UNDP’s ability to innovate with private sector financing in the delivery of the Strategic Plan.

Duty Station

The assignment is predominantly home-based with eight missions (duration of five nights stay each) to UNDP headquarters in New York, and to global and regional events as necessary.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge of social impact investment instruments and current approaches within the industry;
Demonstrated knowledge of the financing for development instruments including actors and large scale ongoing initiatives;
Demonstrated ability to develop multi-stakeholder partnerships between multilateral/bilateral/IFS, public sector, and the private sector.;
Objectivity and ability to analyze investment business cases with a social impact focus, as derived from multiple data sets;
Demonstrated ability to integrate diverse contributions from multiple actors into a coherent service or product within the financing for development sector;
Demonstrated ability to develop innovative financial and investment instruments.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP, and partner organizations;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Minimum Master Degree in Business Administration, International Relations, or related field;
Fluency in English is a requirement.

Professional Experience

At least 15 years of experience in impact investing, blended finance, and development finance, of which a minimum of 10 years should be within a multilateral or bilateral setting;
Demonstrated experience managing investment funds and/or blended finance vehicles for social impact;
Demonstrated experience in designing investment funds, blended finance vehicles that have a specific social purpose

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Remuneration for this contract will be via a lump sum amount, delivered in a payment schedule corresponding to the outputs noted above in Table D. The lump sum amount will be inclusive of travel costs and daily subsistence allowances at the prevailing UN rates for the missions to New York. Any other travel will be arranged separately. The contract price will be fixed at the lump sum amount regardless of any changes within the underlying cost components.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Candidates are expected to provide the following documents in the presentation of their offer:

a) Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;

b) 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;

c) Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

d) Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs. Note: the contract envisages 8 trips to New York, 5 nights duration for each visit. The Financial proposal should specify the proposed travel costs and use the UN DSA prevailing rate of USD$410/night for New York.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Selection of the best offer will follow the combined scoring method, whereby the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%. Candidates will be evaluated based on the criteria noted below. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 700 points (70%) at the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.