UNCDF Jobs - 89602- Administrative Consultant, FIPA

Administrative Consultant, FIPA

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

30-Jan-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Approximately 130 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months with possibility of 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

UNCDF makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments — through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance — can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to number of different SDGs.

Since 2008, UNCDF has been supporting digital finance with significant success which has led UNCDF to make digital finance the largest part of its inclusive finance portfolio. UNCDF is also host to the Secretariat of the Better than Cash Alliance. For several years UNCDF’s work in digital finance has led it to support new digital solutions linked to finance, to further drive financial inclusion and to achieve the SDGs. This includes projects linked to on an off-grid energy, agriculture, employment, health and transport. With 60 professionals with strong digital finance experience across the globe and with close to several hundred projects in digital completed or on-going, UNCDF is one of the leading development agencies in digital finance with a mission and expertise to reach very low-income customers in some of the world’s most difficult markets.

Other UN agencies are also leveraging a range of digital finance technologies to support development outcomes. UNEP is working with private digital finance companies to advance green digital finance solutions. A number of UN agencies are experimenting with blockchain technology. For example, WFP has developed an innovation lab and is using blockchain as a secure accounting basis for moving food at scale. UNICEF is testing blockchain-based smart contracts as new ways to transact in a decentralized, more efficient and transparent manner. UNDP has established a Crowd-funding Academy and an Alternative Finance Lab.
With an aim to address this, the United Nations Secretary General has established a Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals to identify how best to harness the potential of digital in achieving and financing the 2030 Agenda.

The Task Force has members consisting of CEOs, Heads of Organizations and senior government officials, who will advise the United Nations on how digitalization of finance can help achieve the SDGs on a global scale and provide a series of recommendations and priorities by July 2019. UNCDF, as the Secretariat, is engaged to set up and the Task Force and work with them to get their recommendations. This is done in close partnership with UNDP’s Project Catalyst.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Migration and Remittances Programme requires a consultant who will support the administrative and procurement functions of the team. The assignment entails:

Management and Administrative Functions

Build project and administrative capacity of the Migration and Remittances Programme;
Manage the requests for international and strategic procurement as approved by the Program Manager of the Migration and Remittance Programme;
Ensure that all files and reports are in order for the project;
Ensure all financial and project documents are in order for the project.

Deliverables

Updated project reports, including financial and administrative;
Support the Migration and Remittances Programme Team in travel arrangements.

Assist on conferences and events of the Migration and Remittances Programme:

Build capacity, administrative and operations for planning and organizing conferences and events;
Support the Team in outreach and scheduling.

Deliverables:

Satisfactory support provided for organizing conferences and events.

Support the Stakeholders of the Migration and Remittances Programme

Liaise with other internal and external stakeholders to assess any operational needs and support them;
Manage any international procurement requests for any effort related to the Migration and Remittances Programme.

Deliverables:

Satisfactory support extended to all internal and external stakeholders;
Manage all procurement requests.

Timeline, duration of assignment, duty station and expected places of travel
Duration: 6 months with possibility of extension based on satisfactory performance and requirements and budget

Location(s): New York, NY – the consultant will have to report to the UNCDF office as a norm, but depending on the stage and demands of the project, there will be days when the consultant may be allowed to work from home

Total Number of Working Days for Assignment: Approximately 130 days

Provision of Monitoring, Progress Controls & Payments

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager of the Migration and Remittances Programme

Payments will be made on a monthly billing basis in accordance with actual number of days worked evidenced by a time sheet, and upon satisfactorily achieved deliverables. All payments are subject to the clearance and approval of the Programme Manager.

Competencies

Strong ability to communicate and function effectively in local/international/multicultural environment;
Expertise in managing senior level engagements with both public and private sector stakeholders
Fundamental knowledge of public procurement processes, methods and procedures;
Data gathering and implementation of management systems;
Maintains effective client relationships.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

University degree, or secondary Education with specialized certification in Management, Accounting or related field.

Experience

Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible administrative experience is required at the national or international level. = (25%);
At least five (7) years of experience working with senior executives and high-level management within the international organizations, UN organization/agency track record is desirable (20%);
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required (15%);
Experience in the use of Enterprise Resource Planning Software (i.e. ATLAS, Oracle or similar) is required. (20%);
At least three (3) years of experience with international public procurement and finance procedures is required. (10%);
Experience in corporate training and capacity building is desirable. (10%).

Language

Fluency in English, including writing skills
Working knowledge of French is desirable but not necessary

Application
Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The best proposal that will be awarded the contract shall be selected through the following method:
Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals as set out in the RFP. The weight distribution shall be 70% technical and 30% financial.

All applications must contain the following information:

Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the TOR;
Earliest availability and proposed schedule for consultancy;
Curriculum Vitae;
Completed and signed P11 - Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc);
Signed financial proposal

The financial proposal form is available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916)

Evaluation

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Preliminary Evaluation - Step I: Screening
Technical Evaluation Weight - 70% x (Step II: Shortlisting (20 points), Step III: Desk review (80 points) = 100 Points)
Financial Evaluation Weight - 30% = Step IV.

Step I: Screening:
Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria (listed under education and experience) will progress to the pool for shortlisting.
Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review:
UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate them.
As applicable, only the first top 4 ranked applicants achieving 70% of the points at this stage will be included in the desk review
Step III: Financial Evaluation:
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:
Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Award Criteria
The contract shall be awarded to the best applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable and having received the highest weight for the technical proposal 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

Please note that UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visa´s for consultants. Consultants are responsible for securing their work documentation. In the case of national consultants, applicants that are not nationals of the duty station requested will have to prove their residence status.

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Please not that in such case the company institution will be asked to issue an RLA http://www.undp.org/content/dam/vietnam/docs/Legalframework/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement.doc.

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

(Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNCDF and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments. An RLA is governed by the provisions of this policy.)