Background

UNDP Sustainable Development Group (SDG) is based in UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to the delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan.  Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability and resilience into development at national and local, but also global and regional, levels.  The principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.

The UNDP-GEF Unit is seeking to establish a Roster of experts that would be comprised of vetted capable and qualified individuals who can provide specific graphic design services to UNDP-GEF teams and other UNDP offices. A screening procedure will be applied to select the prospective applicants who will be registered in the UNDP-GEF Graphic Design Vetted Experts Roster. This roster will be maintained for a period of 3 years. Towards the end of the third year, and dependent on demand of services and performance, another round of screening and selection will be carried out to update the roster.

For reference purposes, sample UNDP-GEF communication materials can be checked in the following link(s):

The current generic call aims to build on UNDP's GPN/ExpRes roster capacity of consultants with relevant experience in Graphic Design to support UNDP Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF) Unit. The Experts Roster for Rapid Response (ExpRes) is a recruitment and deployment mechanism which maintains pre-vetted consultants on a roster and contracts them quickly.

The GPN/Experts Roster for Rapid Response (ExpRes) provides pre-selected and technically vetted consultants across 21 profiles and 79 sub-profiles to support the work of UNDP Country Offices/units and other UNDP partner agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

The scope of work will vary depending on the assignment but would include one or more of the below deliverables:

  • Design, layout and format publications, brochures, posters, bookmarks, websites, e-newsletters and other print and web-based communications materials (taking into account UNDP branding guidelines, GEF branding requirements, UNDP-GEF Unit branding guidelines, and branding requirements of other donors/partners, as needed);
  • Design and create illustrations, art-work, maps, tables, charts and other graphic elements;
  • Development of infographics using supplied data to present core messages and organize complex information into visual representations;
  • Advise UNDP staff on best design options (for the given content), and propose multiple versions for their consideration;
  • Custom photo editing (restoration, noise reduction, tonal adjustment).  If necessary, locate photos from online sources and ensure proper photo credit is given;
  • Incorporate comments and changes from UNDP staff;
  • Liaise closely with UNDP staff and/or editors on final layout;
  • Ensure that the final output(s) for each communication product will be the final web-ready and/or print-ready version;
  • Liaise with printers, if necessary;
  • Deliver creative graphic and technical solutions (including infographics if required) for print, electronic, web-based and animated presentations.

Information on Working Arrangements:

  • Successful candidates will be included in the UNDP-GEF Graphic Designers Vetted Experts Roster for a period of up to 3 years once Roster is approved;
  • Estimated level of effort will vary according to the requirements of each individual assignment;
  • The consultants will be home based;
  • UNDP does not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of entry into the Roster as this will depend on forthcoming needs and performance appraisals;
  • Entry into the Roster is non-exclusive (i.e. it does not prohibit UNDP from sourcing expertise from other rosters, individuals, or entities);
  • The final nature and scope of each assignment will vary and will focus on particular aspects of this Terms of Reference (TOR) and such details will be included in a separate TOR for each specific assignment;
  • The financial proposal will specify the all-inclusive daily and hourly fee and payments will be made to the consultant based on number of hours/days worked payable against assigned deliverables.  Such fee would be the ceiling amount;
  • The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under each particular assignment;
  • The Consultants will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, specific software, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
  • Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones where applicable;
  • Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with “a day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered.

Competencies

Corporate 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.

Functional Competencies:

  • Results-driven, initiative-taking;
  • Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
  • Ability to plan and organise work and establish priorities;
  • Remains calm and in control even under pressure, and consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • High attention to detail;
  • Critical thinking skills to solve visual design challenges;

Client Orientation and Communication:

  • Good interpersonal and networking skills, ability to establish and maintain effective working relations, supports and encourages open communication in the team, and facilitates team work;
  • Ability to work under minimum supervision. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Bachelor‘s degree or higher in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, Communications and/or Media, Web Design or other closely related field (maximum 5 points).

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of professional experience in communications layout, design and graphics skills (maximum  15 points);
  • High quality professional portfolio demonstrating advanced skills and competence in graphics, design and illustration. Please provide a link to your design portfolio with at least 6 samples of relevant previous work in your application (maximum 20 points);
  •  Mastery of current graphic design practices and web production software, including Adobe CS5/CS6 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver) (maximum 20 points);
  • Technical knowledge of web-based technologies that apply to web design such as HTML, Flash, and CSS is an advantage (maximum 10 points);
  • Experience with designing and creating illustrations and info-graphics is an advantage (max 5 points);
  • Experience with applying the UNDP and/or GEF branding guidelines is an advantage (maximum 5 points);
  • Experience with designing publications for UN agencies is an advantage (maximum 5 points).

Language:

  • Excellent written and oral skills in English (maximum 5 points);
  • Working knowledge in other UN languages is highly desirable (maximum 5 points).

Evaluation Method:

  • Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. 
  • The technical criteria (education, experience, language) will be based on maximum 95 points.
  • Only the candidates that have achieved a minimum of 66,5 points or higher from the review of the education, experience and language will be included in the roster.

Documentation to be submitted

  • Applicants must submit a a P11 or CV including Education/Qualification, Professional Certification, Employment Records /Experience;
  • Please provide a link to your design portfolio with at least 6 samples of relevant previous work in your application;
  • Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application;
  • Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Roster to be downloaded from the UNDP procurement site.  Such fee would be the ceiling amount.

Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach). Incomplete applications will not be considered.

UNDP Personal History form (P11):

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=56093