Background

The EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project (PRP) is aimed at strengthening the functioning of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU), 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) was established within the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project, serving as an advisory group to the Leadership and Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine 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 an Expert on E-Governance and Transparency with relevant experience and track record.

The Expert of the Parliamentary Reform Office on Parliamentary E-Governance will be directly responsible for coordination of PRO activities related to support the VRU in the implementation of e-Parliament Strategy, including the digital legislative process and introducing a new registration and voting procedures for MPs.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the coordination of the E-Governance and Transparency Specialist 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:

• Coordinate PRO activities on Parliamentary E-Governance to support the implementation of e-Parliament Strategy in consultations with key stakeholders at the VRU;
• Ensure implementation of the PRO work plan on Parliamentary E-Governance within the agreed timescale and provide proper reporting;
• Provide strategic advice to EU/UNDP, project team and the parliamentary stakeholders on the issues of digitalisation, e-governance, and technical areas of the e-Parliament Strategy;
• Provide the cost-estimation of project development and other technical and IT management expertise for VRU Secretariat to support the implementation of strategic tasks of the e-Parliament Strategy;
• Support the complex diagnostics and analysis of information systems of the VRU which will be performed by the professional IT consulting company selected by UNDP on a competitive basis; 
• Support the development of the technical and functional specifications for ToR on developing IT solutions for VRU and its Secretariat;
• Coordinate development, implementation and support the testing of IT-solutions for VRU and its Secretariat;
• Contribute to the preparation of the PRO/project's progress reports and related monitoring meetings.

III. Measurable outputs of the work assignment/deliverables:

PRO deliverables on Parliamentary E-Governance are timely achieved, with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported, namely:

• Support the complex diagnostics of information systems of the VRU which will be performed by the professional IT consulting company selected by UNDP on a competitive basis – April-July 2020;
• Based on the results of the complex diagnostics of information systems of the VRU, advise the project on the course of action for the project support in terms of IT-solutions to be developed – July-August 2020;
• Technical requirements for the new stage of EuroVoc developed and agreed with the relevant stakeholders – May 2020;
• Recommendations on implementation of IT-solutions based on the results of complex diagnostics of information systems of the Verkhovna Rada agreed with the relevant stakeholders – August-September 2020;
• Monitoring of functioning of all computerized systems of the VRU and of the progress on implementation of the E-Parliament strategy provided – June 2020; October 2020; January 2021;
• Recommendations for implementation of new registration and voting procedures for MPs, including technical, functional and other related documentation, and technical specifications developed - July 2020;
• The developed IT solutions are tested and launched – January 2021.

IV. Performance Indicators for evaluation of results:

• PRO activities on Parliamentary E-Governance are implemented in a timely fashion with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported;
• Number of technical requirements for the IT solutions, thematic briefs and monitoring reports on implementation e-Parliamentary Strategy developed and discussed with the VRU stakeholders (at least 5);
• Timely submission of the regular performance reports.

V.  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 work in close cooperation with the Parliamentary E-Governance and Transparency Specialist.

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 Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office.

The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to endorsement of the Head of the Parliamentary Reform Office and 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

VI. Experience and qualification requirements

Education

• At least Master’s degree in software engineering, information and communication systems, computer engineering, computer systems and networks, information systems and technologies, integrated information systems, economic cybernetics, programming or another related field.

Experience

• At least 5 years of specific professional experience in information systems and technologies and IT management or related field;
• At least 5 years of programming experience working with languages, libraries and frameworks preferably, but not limited: C#; Net Framework 4.6+; .Net Core 2.1+; ASP.NET MVC v. 5.2.3+; ASP.NET Web API 2.2 OWIN 5.2.3+; ASP.NET Core 2.1+; ADO.NET Entity Framework 6.1.3+ (Code First), Entity Framework Core 2.1+; HTML5; CSS3, Javascript (ECMA 2016); xml, json; jQuery 2.1.4+; jQuery UI 1.11.4+; Visual Studio and creating applications using SharePoint Apps (Add-ins) technology, interacting with the application and SharePoint farm using C # CSOM (Client side object model);
• Successful development and implementation of projects using technologies described above will be a strong asset;
• Professional certificates will be an asset;
• Experience of collaborating with Ukrainian or other Parliaments will be an asset.

Languages

• Fluency in Ukrainian and English is required

Skills

• Knowledge of state standards in software development;
• Skills in designing of technical requirements for the IT solutions; designing and documenting the software system architecture; formulation of the task for development and testing IT solutions;
• Skills in addressing the issues of functioning at all stages of the information system life cycle.
• Excellent writing, communication and organization skills;
• Mature judgment combined with a proactive approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Strong organizational and time management skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Excellent analytical skills.

VII. Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

VIII. 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.

IX. 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 (At least 5 years of specific professional services experience in information systems and technologies and IT management or related field) – 20 points max

{20 pts – 9 years and more; 18 points – 7-8 years,16 points – 5-6 years};

• Relevant expertise (At least 5 years of programming experience working with languages, libraries and frameworks preferably, but not limited: C#; Net Framework 4.6+; .Net Core 2.1+; ASP.NET MVC v. 5.2.3+; ASP.NET Web API 2.2 OWIN 5.2.3+; ASP.NET Core 2.1+; ADO.NET Entity Framework 6.1.3+ (Code First), Entity Framework Core 2.1+; HTML5; CSS3, Javascript (ECMA 2016); xml, json; jQuery 2.1.4+; jQuery UI 1.11.4+; Visual Studio and creating applications using SharePoint Apps (Add-ins) technology, interacting with the application and SharePoint farm using C # CSOM (Client side object model);) – 20 points max

{20 pts – 9 years and more; 18 points – 7-8 years,16 points – 5-6 years};

• Successful development and implementation of projects using technologies described above – 8 points max;

{8 points – 3 projects and more, 5 pts – 2 projects, 3 pts – 1 project};

• Professional certificates will be an asset – 3 points max;

{3 pts - 2 certificate and more, 1 pts – 1 certificate};

• Experience of collaborating with Ukrainian or other Parliaments - 3 points max

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

• Language Skills – 6 points max

{6 pts – Fluency in English and Ukrainian, 4 pts – fluency in Ukrainian and working level of English};

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

X. 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.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 62 and older shall undergo a full medical examination, including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination shall be paid by the consultant.

The Basic Security in the Field II and Advanced Security in the Field courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of contract.