UNDP Jobs - 79346- National Partnership Consultant with Sub-Saharan A

National Partnership Consultant with Sub-Saharan Africa (English speaking) for improving the UNDP-Italy cooperation (Open to Italian Nationals Only)

Location :

Rome, ITALY

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jul-2018

Application Deadline :

17-Jun-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

261 working days (1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019)

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 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are global objectives that succeeded the Millennium Development Goals on 1 January 2016. The SDGs will shape national development plans over the next 15 years. From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change and sustaining our natural resources.

Low capacity levels and resources to successfully respond to sustainable development goals are commonly found across most nations on the African Continent. Therefore, although the SDGs are global objectives, it is the countries on the African Continent that are prioritized when providing support in reaching these goals.

Despite the fact that multiple interventions and initiatives (activities) to support Climate Action and Sustainable Development for the African Continent exist, there does not appear to be an overview of who is doing what, where, when and for how long. As a result, key beneficiary stakeholders (African Governments and Private Sector implementors) are only partially aware of all these activities. In addition, there is room for improvement in coordinating these activities, thereby increasing effectiveness and efficiency of (donor) resources spent.

The Bologna, Italy, June 2017 meeting of G7 Environment Ministers – led by the Italian Minister of Environment, Land and Sea – has acknowledged and committed to address the above through the establishment of the ‘Africa Centre for Sustainable Development (ACSD)’. The ACSD intends to focus initially on Climate Action and related SDGs on food security; clean water and energy. This focus could be extended in future based on clearly defined needs in combination with additional resources being made available. Areas that could be considered for a next phase are Natural Resource Management; Forestry; and Biodiversity.

The Italian Ministry for Environment have signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements with various countries to support their efforts in achieving the SDGs and implementing the Paris Agreement which are managed through Joint Committees of the two parties.

In September and December 2017, UNDP and the Italian Government have entered into a strategic Agreement to set up and support the operations of the ACSD as well as to strengthen the UNDP-Italian bilateral cooperation.

The ACSD and UNDP are being entrusted with the implementation of a number of projects at the country level in Africa and therefore there is the need of hiring a consultant to provide the necessary expertise and quality check in project formulation and implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

The National Consultant will provide expertise and analysis needed to improve the delivery of the ACSD programme of work and in particular the UNDP-Italian bilateral cooperation especially focusing on English speaking Sub-Saharan region.

More specifically the National Consultant is expected to undertake the following scope of work:

1. Support on partnership development and portfolio management

Track implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements between Italy and Sub-Saharan Countries (English speaking ones), setting priorities, goals, and key performance indicators for each partnership.
Coordinate with Communication and other UNDP Groups as well as Italian counterparts on outreach and marketing activities relevant to the Partnership Portfolio Management team’s work.
Prepare as needed country briefs, background documents and other supporting material for meetings of the ACSD coordinator within Joint committee set up in the framework of the bilateral cooperation Italy has with English speaking Sub-Saharan countries
Review the existing agreements signed between UNDP and the Italian Government and between the Italian Ministry of Environment and the relevant countries in Africa.
Prepare a brief, to-the-point plan of action to prepare the required project documents for the support to the bilateral cooperation between Italy and the interested countries. This will ensure that expectations about the deliverables are clearly understood between all relevant parties involved.

2. Support on delivering projects

Research donor specific data and provide analyses to inform prioritization of RM initiatives and decision-making by senior management.
Support presentation of signature products and initiatives to maximize resource mobilization opportunities.
Provide advice based on research and data for sharing with the network of country level partnership/resource mobilization officers.
Integrate any feedback from the UNDP Country Offices, beneficiary counterparts, and donor into final versions of the Prodoc’s and submit to the ACSD coordinator for presentation to the joint committe.

3. Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing in ACSD

Contribute to ACSD knowledge repository including partner database, resource mobilization toolkit, and all other tools for Country Office outreach for partner engagement.
Research, compile and share lessons learned from partner engagement across teams and regions in support of corporate priorities.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The consultant shall produce the following deliverables that will be approved and certified by the ACSD Coordinator:

Support on Partnership development and portfolio management.
Support on delivering of projects.
Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing in ACSD

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the mission, vision and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly and with impartiality.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge of sustainable development, climate change, development cooperation;
Knowledge of various programme information and ability to provide recommendation and guidance to management;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Self-reliant and able to work as a part of a multi-cultural team in a stressful situation.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

Master’s degree in international development, economics, social science, environment, architecture or spatial planning or related fields.
Strong track record of successfully completing similar assignments.
Good organizational, planning and analytical skills.
Experience working collaboratively in small teams with tight deadlines.

Experience:

At least 7 years of relevant experience in the sustainable development sector, focusing on climate, clean energy or environment issues, including in Africa.
Strong track record of successfully completing similar assignments especially in the English speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.
Good knowledge of various programme information and ability to provide recommendation and guidance to management.
Proven familiarity with international organizations (UN, UNDP, EU, etc.) and the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Environment with African countries.
Good organizational, planning and analytical skills.
Experience working collaboratively in small teams with tight deadlines.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken Italian is required;
Working knowledge of English is required

Application Procedure

The application package should contain the following documents:

A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;

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; and

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 economy class tickets, lodging and terminal expenses will be provided by UNDP, based on its travel rules and regulation.
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

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):

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria 1. Demonstrable experience in the sustainable development sector, focusing on climate, clean energy or environment issues, including in Africa; Maximum Points: 300
Criteria 2. Track record of successfully completing similar assignments; Maximum Points: 250;
Criteria 3. Good knowledge of various programme information and ability to provide recommendation and guidance to management, Maximum Points: 150

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable, and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical criteria, (P11 desk review, whereby only candidates passing 70% of desk review score will be invited to interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation

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 BERA ACSD coordinator and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above. UNDP-BERA focal point will updated of progress. The Consultant will work closely with the ACSD coordinator to discuss issues pertaining the preparation of the prodocs and/or the need for clarification or additional information.

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 consultant will be able to submit one invoice at the end of each month for payment.

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

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to bera.procurement@undp.org

The UNDP BERA HQ 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.