Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life, as envisaged by 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are on the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

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 2018-2021 Strategic Plan and help countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development, as described in the HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: Connecting the Dots, leverages UNDP’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development. 

First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Sustainable Development Goals.

Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of the law and legal environments in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property law to lower the cost of medicines and diagnostics. UNDP also works to empower and include marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with HIV. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to municipal action on SDGs, sustainable responses for Health and HIV such as improving sustainability of AIDS financing, sustainable health procurement, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for key populations.

Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multi-sectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time.

UNDP’s Partnership with the Global Fund

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on SDG 3 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding.  UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as interim  Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time. There is a dedicated team who provides support to Country Offices implementing Global Fund grants (GFHIST).

Health procurement and supply chain management support, an integral part of development solutions and support services that UNDP provides for the implementation of large and complex health programmes, contribute to the equitable delivery of essential services.

The national and international health landscapes are rapidly changing. New health initiatives are emerging, particularly in relation to non-communicable diseases, which bring to light pressing challenges linked to health systems strengthening including, health procurement and supply chain management. These opportunities go beyond UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund and require a new modus operandi to optimize UNDP’s investments into global health. In addition, UNDP needs to continue to expand opportunities for partnerships with key stakeholders on health procurement including with UNICEF, UNFPA and UNOPS/GDF but also on supporting the development of national supply chains with additional partners such as GAVI, WHO, WFP and The Global Fund.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Senior Health PSM Advisor (Geneva), the Health Procurement Consultant will be responsible for providing advisory and support services to UNDP Country Offices in pursuing new opportunities in the area of health products procurement beyond the Global Fund projects and to guide Country Offices (COs) to implement the health procurement strategy:

• Provide technical support for the formulation of the needs including the development of related documents such as financing agreements with the government, service level agreement between the CO and Global Fund Health Implementation Support Team (GFHIST), procurement plans, lists of health products, specifications, estimation of the budget and the required contractual arrangements;
• Provide technical support to COs with feasibility, risk and technical analysis, including review of the lists of medicines and other health products to be procured by UNDP according to international treatment recommendations and national guidelines and check/validate technical specifications;
• Provide technical support to COs to identify potential intellectual property issues and facilitate the contact with UNDP Intellectual Property Specialists, HIV, Health and Development Group (HHD Group);
• Provide technical support to COs to explore the regulatory environment at national level related to the importation and registration of the health products in view of determining the requirements for the importation of products by UNDP and potential barriers;
• Engage, as necessary, with national counterparts (e.g., Ministry of Health,  National Regulatory Authorities, National Procurement Centre…) and partners involved in health procurement activities to clarify and agree on the modalities for UNDP COs to conduct the procurement of health products;
• Liaise and coordinate with the GFHIST, and more particularly the Procurement Support Unit Team, Bureau of Management Support (Copenhagen) and the Quality Assurance Team to identify the potential suppliers, define the best procurement strategy, expected timelines, prices and any other requirements;
• Support UNDP COs in developing a proposal outlining the terms and conditions for the requested procurement;
• Serve as a focal point to liaise between the different parties, identify potential risks and propose practical solutions;
• Contribute to the compilation of necessary information to support health procurement activities including collection of data and relevant information for reporting and monitoring purpose; 
• Support the review of the health procurement strategy and the development of SOPs and guidance documents, as necessary;
• Participate in external meetings upon request from the Senior Health PSM Advisor (Geneva).

Expected Deliverables:

• Effective technical support to UNDP Country offices for the procurement of health products beyond the Global Fund to define and implement procurement strategy;
• Proposal outlining the terms and conditions and required contractual arrangements submitted by the UNDP Country offices to local counterparts from governments or partners;
• Health product lists completed with the specifications, quantities, timelines and additional requirements and regulatory and IP aspects clarified before the procurement is started;
• Risks that can influence the procurement process identified and monitored and practical recommendations to UNDP Country Offices to mitigate them are formulated.  

Reporting:

The Health Procurement Consultant shall report to the Senior Health Procurement Advisor  (Geneva) for any queries and assistance on a day-to-day basis.

Travel: 

Possible missions to Kazakhstan, Philippines, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. Payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be covered and paid for by UNDP. The fare will always be “most direct, most economical” and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert.

Evaluation:

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and competencies specified below through a desk review or an interview process. Applicants will be evaluated based on: Cumulative analysis method that combines the results of technical and financial evaluation results.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (maximum 70 points):

• A minimum of 7 years progressive relevant professional experience in procurement supply management for health programmes including at least 4 years of international experience – 15 points
• Experience in the analysis of potential barriers for access to medicines in countries - 15 points
• Experience in the management of people and systems in high-pressure environments – 5 points
• Work experience in developing countries – 15 points
• Strong familiarity with the UN or UNDP system procurement and supply management practices, rules and procedures, desirable – 10 points
• Complimentary qualifications in Procurement and Supply Management and/or Public Health will be an asset – 5 points
• Additional language – 5 points

Financial Evaluation Criteria (maximum 30 points):

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

Timeframe:

The consultant’s 120-day assignment will be UNDP Geneva based and conducted over the period 3 December 2018 to 31 May 2019. 

Payment:

• The consultant will be paid as a daily rate (based on the number of days worked);
• Payments will be based on the Certificate of Payments that will be submitted on a monthly basis;
• Time Sheet will be attached and verified by the direct supervisor; and
• Final tranche upon performance evaluation from the direct supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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.

Functional:

• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
• Knowledge of contract management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations;
• Ability to perform a variety of specialized activities related to contract and procurement management.

Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs;
• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Partnership building and team work:

• Demonstrated well developed people management skills;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills;
• Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a multi-cultural environment.

Communications and Advocacy:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly;
• Strong presentation skills in meetings with the ability to adapt for different audiences;
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Pharmacy;
• Complimentary qualifications in Procurement and Supply Management and/or Public Health will be an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years progressive relevant professional experience in procurement and supply chain management for health programmes including at least 4 years of international experience;
• Work experience in the analysis of potential barriers for access to medicines in countries;
• Work experience in developing countries highly desirable;
• Strong familiarity with the UN or UNDP procurement and supply management practices, rules and procedures, desirable;
• Solid experience in the management of people and systems in high-pressure environments;              
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages and web-based management systems.

Language:

• Excellent oral and written English;  
• A second UN language is desirable and more particularly French, Spanish or Russian.

Other Requirements:

• Willingness to travel frequently to UNDP Country Offices.

Application Submission Process:

Please upload the following documents:

• Signed and Updated Personal History Form (P11)
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability indicating an all-inclusive daily fee in USD. The financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. living expenses, fees, health insurance, vaccination costs, visa costs, travel to duty station costs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged costs except travel costs for missions, must be included in the financial proposal.

Please note that our system only takes one attachment. Therefore, kindly scan all your documents into a single PDF file to upload.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

ANNEX 1- INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS is provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf