UNDP Jobs - 79431- Consultancy – Supporting a One UN Climate Approach

Consultancy – Supporting a One UN Climate Approach

Location :

New York City, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Jul-2018

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

7 months (with possibility of extension to 16 months subject to funds and satisfactory performance)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

July 2018-Feb 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 Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

UNDP’s Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction team provides technical support to deliver on, and contribute to, global policies, including efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Through the NDC Support Programme – which supports countries to deliver on their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement – as well as through engagement in global policy development (COP24, Global Climate Action Summit, the Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Summit), UNDP helps shape the climate agenda while simultaneously working with countries to deliver on ambitious commitments.

Ahead of the SG’s 2019 Climate Summit, the consultant will work with UNDP’s Climate Change and External Engagement Teams to support efforts towards a One UN approach on global climate change policy and advocacy. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting the preparation of the Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Summit; supporting the development of a Resilience Framework; facilitating UNDP’s engagement in the California Global Climate Action Summit and COP24; and supporting UNDP’s engagement in Invest4Climate.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES, DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK and DELIVERABLES:

The consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables over the duration of this consultancy:

Deliverable 1: Contribute to development and implementation of a 16-month engagement strategy for the Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Summit.

The consultant will support the CDT to prepare and execute an engagement strategy that includes key messages, signature events, overall advocacy objectives, and a clear ‘end goal’ for the 2019 Climate Summit. This will be backed by research and the production of materials that showcase UNDP’s work on climate change adaptation and mitigation, all under the umbrella of the NDCs and the Paris Agreement.

Support development of the 16-month strategy. Should the strategy be finalized, work with the team on a plan to roll-out the strategy over the period;
Support at least six major events over the 16-month period that help showcase UNDP (and the broader One UN System) work on climate change. This can include advocacy events such as the ‘Pathway to Paris’ concert;
Support the preparation of ‘toolkits’ for Country Offices so that they can engage in the 2019 Summit and in the 16-month strategy;
Work closely with the Policy Advisor and BERA to help roll-out an 16-month communications campaign;
Provide inputs to all corporate policy briefs on climate change

Deliverable 2: Provide support to the One UN Climate Change Communications Strategy.

The consultant will support the development and implementation of the UN & Secretary General Climate Change Communications Strategy:

Using the existing/approved strategy, further develop this to include more detailed components;
Support efforts to reach out to and build partnerships with the private sector and with major foundations. Overall aim to build a grand coalition on climate communications;
Develop with partners a joint, One UN social media strategy that can be implemented by all UN agencies and Country Offices. Liaise with partners across the UN System to finalize and roll this out by September 2018;
Improve data collection processes on climate change that can be updated daily on a single, climate-info dashboard. This includes collecting information from Country Offices and from partner agencies;
Develop a system to collect and share success stories, videos, op-eds and blogs from UNDP Country Offices;
Work with the Department of Public Information (DPI) at the UN Secretariat, as well as UN partners, help to roll-out a Youth Strategy that is a key part of the communications campaign.

Deliverable 3: Support the development and implementation of the Invest for Climate (I4C) initiative

The consultant will support relevant focal points within the UNDP team on a wide range of media, social media, communications and advocacy support for these critical events being developed through 2018 and into 2019. The consultant will support both internal and external communications and include efforts to undertake a range of critical external events through the life of the consultancy, direct outreach to the private sector, and more.

Deliverable 4: Work with BERA and BPPS colleagues to support UNDP partner ‘Pathway to Paris’ in climate advocacy. Also work closely with UNDP’s climate team and BERA to ensure that the 2019 Social Good Summit is focused on climate action and that country offices are well equipped to engage.

Building on the Concert for Climate Action, held at Carnegie Hall in 2017, work with Pathway to Paris and 350.org to plan and host another advocacy event on the sidelines of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, as well as support long-term advocacy ahead of the SG’s Climate Summit:

Support outreach to the private sector in an effort to fundraise ahead of the 2018 and 2019 concerts;
Help mobilize musicians, artists, and other advocacy partners;
Develop a deck that can be used to help promote the concert and attract resources;
Support promotion and ticket sales/general marketing for the concert;
Together with Pathway to Paris, begin preparation on a ‘toolkit’ that can be shared with Country Offices that intend to host their own, national or local, climate concerts or advocacy events

Competencies

Communication: The consultant should be able to communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner
Professionalism: The consultant should be capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously; Able to handle a large volume of data/information and reports accurately and thoroughly, with great attention to detail; Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.
Teamwork: The consultant should be able to work well in a team; Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks; Focuses on results for the client; and welcomes constructive feedback
Knowledge Management and Learning: The consultant should willingly share knowledge and experience and make contributions to UNDP practice areas (e.g., documented knowledge, community of practice building initiatives); actively develop substantive understanding and experience in one or more knowledge areas, including process and/or technical knowledge

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in international relations, journalism, communications or related field, required.

Experience:

At least 5 years of professional work experience in advocacy and communications is required.
Experience in and/or knowledge of climate change policy/programming is required.
Experience developing communications/advocacy campaigns, including drafting key messages, developing and undertaking social media campaigns, producing multimedia materials, and organizing events, etc. is required.
Strong knowledge and understanding of the international policy context related to energy and climate change is an asset.
Knowledge of UNDP’s work at country level, particularly in climate change, is an asset.
Ability to design infographics and use relevant software (adobe, etc.) is required.
Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral.
Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
Working knowledge of another UN language would be 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. These are to be included in the price proposal. 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):

Criteria 1. Minimum 5 years’ experience working on communications campaigns and/or advocacy. (Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 200);
Criteria 2. Experience in and understanding of climate change policy and programme issues (Weight = 10 %; Maximum Points: 100);
Criteria 3. Experience in designing infographics and using relevant software (Weight = 10 %; Maximum Points: 100)
Criteria 4: Experience in developing and implementing social media campaigns (Weight = 10 %; Maximum Points: 100)
Criteria 5. Interview to assess candidates understanding of the scope of work, knowledge of climate change challenges/opportunities, particularly in communications/partnerships and inter-agency coordination Weight = 20 %; Maximum Points: 200)

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 (700 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 assignment will be implemented under an individual consultancy arrangement with clearly identified deliverables. Under the guidance and supervision of the Policy Specialist: Advocacy, Results Reporting and Partnerships, the consultant will work with Team Leaders on Energy, Climate Change and External Engagement, as well as with colleagues in other clusters and the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy. The consultant will be provided with office space.

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