UNDP Jobs - 84753- Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office on

Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight

Location :

Kyiv, UKRAINE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

01-May-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 months with possible 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

The EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project (PRP) is aimed at strengthening the functioning of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its working bodies, MPs and Secretariat (VRU), to become a progressively more effective, accountable and transparent institution in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities of legislation, oversight, and representation with positive influence on the overall process of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement implementation. The project strategy is aligned with the priorities of the EU’s Single Support Framework for Ukraine 2018 – 2020, the Government of Ukraine – UN Partnership Framework 2018–2022, and the UNDP Country Programme Document 2018 – 2022. It is built on achievements and lessons learnt of the EU-UNDP Rada for Europe project (2016-2018) and will continue to support parliamentary reform, including through promoting the implementation of the recommendations of the 2016 Needs Assessment Mission (NAM). For the continuation of parliamentary reform, top level leadership and political ownership is key, which will be assured through continuous high-level consultations with relevant stakeholders and full transparency of project implementation.

The project is an EU-funded initiative strongly connected to UNDP’s Democratic Governance Programme and comprises of three components. Component One, #Rada4Reforms, will focus on fostering the parliament’s role in the overall reform process with a particular emphasis on improvement of the legislative process and parliamentary oversight, by providing comprehensive expert support to the implementation of the VRU Roadmap for Internal Reform and Capacity Building, improving the quality draft law expertise and impact assessment, and enhancing parliamentary monitoring.

Component Two, #RadaPro, will support the professional modernization of the parliamentary Secretariat, through the finalisation and implementation of its strategic development plan and comprehensive human resource development, including in the Committee Secretariats, along the lines of broader public administration reform (PAR) and the law "On Civil Service".

Component Three, #Transparent&Service-OrientedRada, by making use of new technologies for communications, civic education and participation in coherence will build stronger transparency and accountability links between parliament and citizens with special focus of increasing public trust to the Ukrainian Parliament.

To provide more targeted support to parliamentary reforms the Parliamentary Reform Office (PRO) will be established within the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project, serving as an advisory group to the Leadership and Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) under the general supervision of the VRU Chairperson. PRO operates based on the Resolution of the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “On Parliamentary Reform Office” and provides support to parliamentary reforms aimed at strengthening the functioning of the Ukrainian Parliament, including its Secretariat , as a progressively more effective, accountable and transparent institution in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities of legislation, oversight, and representation with positive influence on the overall process of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement implementation.

In this context, the United Nations Development Programme is recruiting a Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight with relevant experience and track record.

The Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight will be directly responsible for coordinating PRO activities related to legislative and normative amendments within VRU Secretariat, including with special focus on amendments to the Rules of procedures related to legislative process and parliamentary oversight.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the coordination of PRO Head and operational supervision of the Project Coordinator as well as in close cooperation with appointed officials of the VRU Secretariat, the incumbent will perform the following functions:

Design, manage and coordinate PRO activities on legislative process and parliamentary oversight taking into account, inter alia, Needs Assessment Mission and OECD/SIGMA recommendations;
Ensure implementation of the PRO work plan on legislative process and parliamentary oversight within the agreed timescale and provide proper reporting;
Coordinate development of policy recommendations and, where necessary, legislative amendments on parliamentary legislative process and oversight in line with the NAM recommendations and other related policy proposals;
Provide appropriate technical advice to the leadership of the VRU and VRU Secretariat with regard to adoption and implementation of developed recommendations and legislative amendments;
Lead the team of PRO coordinators in the area of parliamentary legislative process and oversight;
Contribute to the preparation of the project's progress reports and related monitoring meetings.

Measurable outputs of the work assignment:

PRO deliverables on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight are timely achieved, with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported, namely:

General guidance / principles of legislative planning developed – 15 December 2019;
Proposals for prioritization of legislative planning developed – 1 November 2019;
The Joint Government-Parliament Roadmap on AA implementation updated based on the Action Plan on AA implementation – 1 July 2019;
Monitoring mechanism on the consideration of the Road map draft laws at each stage of the VRU legislative process developed - 1 July 2019;
Amendments to the legislation on end-to-end legislative process drafted in cooperation with the CMU, SCMU and other stakeholders (submission to the VRU and discussion of the concepts of the draft laws, introduction of MP proposal, strengthening requirements to explanatory notes to draft legislation, improvement of preliminary expertise of draft legislation: budget, economic, environmental, inclusivity and gender impact etc.) – 1 October 2019;
Recommendations on improvement of legislative drafting requirements and guidelines prepared - 1 October 2019;
Recommendations on improvement of preliminary expertise of draft legislation (budget, economic, environmental, inclusivity and gender impact etc.) prepared - 1 October 2019;
Recommendations to ensure coherence of the VRU-CMU requirements for legislative drafting as well as to enhance cooperation on legislative development prepared - 1 October 2019;
Typical requirements to oversight plans for VRU Committees drafted and piloted for 2 VRU Committees – 15 December 2019;
Recommendations for the unified form for the executive reports developed in cooperation with SCMU and ministries – 15 December 2019;
Typical requirements to post-legislative scrutiny drafted – 15 December 2019.

Performance Indicators for evaluation of results:

PRO activities on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight are implemented in a timely fashion with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported;
Number of policy papers, thematic briefs, pieces of legislation on Legislative Processes and Parliamentary Oversight developed in cooperation with the VRU stakeholders;
Timely submission of the regular performance reports.

Monitoring / reporting requirements:

Work-progress reporting/monitoring meetings will be held with the consultant on a regular basis. UNDP will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. No reports or documents should be published or distributed to third parties without approval of UNDP.

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of Project Coordinator.

The consultant will interact with UNDP Programme Coordinator and CO staff to receive any clarifications and guidance that may be needed. He/she will also receive all necessary informational and logistical support from UNDP Country Office and the Project. On a day-to-day basis, consultant’s work will be supervised by the Specialist on Legislative Process and Parliamentary Oversight.

The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to endorsement of the Programme Coordinator.

The Consultant will duly inform UNDP of any problems, issues or delays arising in the course of implementation of assignment and take necessary steps to address them.

All reports and results are to be submitted to the UNDP in electronic form (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx, and *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP).

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience and qualification requirements

Education

At least Master’s degree or equivalent in law, public administration, international relations;

Experience

A minimum of five years of professional work experience in legislative development process and/or parliamentary oversight at the national and/or international level;
A minimum of two years of leading /coordinating a team of experts;
Experience in cooperation with parliament structures would be an asset;
Experience in legislative drafting (draft laws) would be an asset;

Languages

Fluency in English and Ukrainian languages is required

Skills

Excellent writing, communication and organization skills;
Mature judgment combined with a proactive approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
Ability to work in team;
Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
Familiarity with the parliamentary reform and good understanding of policy making cycle;
Excellent analytical skills - provide not less than 2 samples of recent reports/analytical papers.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Letter of interest/proposal, explaining why the applicant considers him- or herself the most suitable for the work;

Personal CV or P11, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees;

Not less than 2 samples of recent reports/analytical papers;

Financial proposal;

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.

Financial proposal

Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee and payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel costs

Should any travel be necessary in connection to this TOR, UNDP will reimburse the expenses based on the duly authorized travel details, including travel and per diems. 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.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation criteria

Educational background – 10 points max

{10 pts – PhD degree in the relevant field; 8 pts – Master’s degree in the relevant field};

Relevant professional experience (A minimum of five years of professional work experience in legislative development process and/or parliamentary oversight at the national and/or international level) – 35 points max

{35 pts – 11 years and more; 32 pts – 9-10 years; 28 pts – 7-8 years);

Relevant expertise (A minimum of two years of leading /coordinating a team of experts) – 15 points max

{15 pts – 7 years and more; 12 pts – 5-6 years; 9 pts – 3-4 years};

Prior experience in cooperation with parliament structures – 3 points max

{3 pts - 1 year and more, 0 pts – less than 1 year};

Previous experience in legislative drafting (draft laws) – 3 points max

{3 pts - one or more assignments; 0 pts – no experience};

Language Skills – 4 points max

{4 pts – Fluency in English and Ukrainian};

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Evaluation method

Cumulative analysis

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the cumulative highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight: 70%

* Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70% from the maximum available technical score (49 points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.