UNDP Jobs - 90919- International Consultant for the City Experiment F

International Consultant for the City Experiment Fund (IRH)

Location :

Home-based with travel

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

07-Apr-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Opportunities provided to youth will define the future of most developing countries. Today’s generation of young people is close to 1.8 billion – more than at any other time in history. Approximately 90% of them live in developing countries. With over half of the world under the age of 30, young people are crucial for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The issue of youth unemployment is seen as an urgent task and unlike the most targets, its deadline is set for 2020. In Europe and the CIS, substantial progress has been made towards political stability, consolidation of democracy, rule of law, and improvement of human rights records. However, despite the progress, many issues need to be addressed: after a period of relative stability, indicators of democratic governance in the region have recently shown declines in many countries.

The Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) is UNDP’s main knowledge and advisory hub for the countries serviced by UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (RBEC). In the region, UNDP works with national and international partners to strengthen the social contract between the state and society in a manner that protects human rights, promotes equality, and enhances social cohesion. The Hub also connects the region to a global network of development experts, to build knowledge and capacity, and to forge partnerships to meet the development challenges of a large and diverse region. The Hub implements the Regional Programme (2018-2021) that has been formulated based on the most crucial regional challenges in the region with a particular focus on a strengthened approach to specific sub-regional challenges.

In Europe and Central Asia, we are witnessing an increased interest of cities to engage around open cities initiatives UNDP’s research on the impact of open data argues that for initiatives to be impactful, they require availability of relevant and timely data, an active civil society and informed citizenry. Our work in open governance confirms these finds: be it in air pollution, waste management, or in increasing transparency, to have transformative results in the lives of citizens and cities, it is important to integrate the power of crowds and technology in its design.

With these general parameters in mind, UNDP is seeking a consultant to provide support and generate learning from the City Experiment Fund.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will be home-based and will work under the direct supervision of the Innovation Team Leader and TGFF Project Manager. The overall outcomes of this vacancy are the following:

Provide technical support in designing and implementing 5 portfolios of experiments to the COs second cohort of the City Experiment Fund, provide ongoing support to the first cohort & design a scale out for the initiative;
Support the organization of regional workshops for the cities in applying a systemic approach to urban challenges;
Enable regional learning across the different cities and experiments & across the portfolio.

Deliverables, timeline and payment schedule

Payments will be made in once a month upon submitted satisfactory timesheet and progress report against deliverables and upon its acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer.

Provide technical support in designing and implementing 5 portfolios of experiments to the COs second cohort of the City Experiment Fund, provide ongoing support to the first cohort & design a scale out for the initiative (indicative work – 60%)

Provide technical support to up to 10 cities in the RBEC region in the design of cross-cutting portfolios of experiments;
Support each COs in the design and delivery of at least one multi-stakeholder country-level workshop;
Identify external actors in the edge and develop new partnerships – working on rethinking urban spaces;
Based on the lessons learned, draft a concept note for the scaling out of the CEF.

Support the organization of 2 regional workshops for the cities in applying a systemic approach to urban challenges (indicative work input – 15%);

Support in the development of concept note and design for the workshops, facilitation during the workshops;
Preparation of a summary report with the key findings and way forward stemming from the workshops.

Enable regional learning across the different cities and experiments & across the portfolio (indicative work input -25%)

Design and test a process for iterative learning across CO teams and cities – using online and offline tools;
Organize monthly check-in calls with the teams, as well as connecting to external partners;
Feed at least a bi-weekly blog into the knowledge platform on regional innovation work stemming from the country level experiments.

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;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;

Functional Competencies:

Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in team;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
Strong organizational, coordination and time management skills;
Ability to organize tasks independently and assume responsibility;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

MA in social sciences, political science, public policy or international relations

Experience

At least 5 years of working experience in applying innovative methods to development challenges
At least 3 years of working experience in smart cities, urban transformation or inclusive innovation at the local level
Demonstrated experience in leading and designing workshops in multi-stakeholder contexts

Language skills:

Excellent oral and written proficiency in English required.

Evaluation of Applicants
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical criteria, (desk review) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points in technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Criteria A (At least 5 years of working experience in applying innovative methods to development challenges) – max points: 10;
Criteria B (At least 3 years of working experience in smart cities, urban transformation or inclusive innovation at the local level) – max points: 10;
Criteria C (Demonstrated experience in leading and designing workshops in multi-stakeholder contexts) – max points: 5;
Criteria D (methodology: a set of principles to guide design of a smart city) – max points 8;
Criteria E (Language skills) – max points: 2;

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.

Application procedures
The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work
Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees
(blank form can be downloaded fromhttp://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.
Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
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.