Background
Public Finance Management is throughout the Pacific a topic of importance for international and local partners equally. Numerous stakeholders, institutions and international actors have been engaged in reinforcing the frameworks, tools and actors linked to PFM. Parliament and supreme audit institution function in public financial management across the Pacific Islands region have been identify as an area requiring strengthening. A specific focus of UNDP in this regard is the parliament’s role in budget scrutiny; effective external audit of government budget execution by the supreme audit institutions, inclusion of citizens and civil society in budget processes, thorough and transparent parliamentary oversight of the external audit, and follow-up with government on recommendations.
Strengthening of public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (hereafter PFM) aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, though improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region, aligning with international public financial oversight and accountability standards, and fostering citizen engagement and oversight. Strengthening of Public Finance Management project is funded by the European Union (EU) and Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI).
Implementation of the output 2 of the project has been entrusted to PASAI by issuance of a Responsible Party agreement between UNDP and PASAI. To implement the agreement more effectively, PASAI has revised and established a number of procurement guidelines and procedures. UNDP intends to hire a procurement consultant to provide services in order to expedite finalization, kickstart implementation and streamline the PASAI Procurement Policy.
The consultant is additionally expected to support the rollout of the procurement plan for 2020.
Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of Work
Under the direct oversight of PASAI CEO and the management of the UNDP PFM Project Manager, the Procurement Expert will be responsible for the following activities:
review and establish guidelines following the newly adopted PASAI Procurement Policy;
support key procurement processes and roll-out of the 2020 procurement plan; and
support streamlining and handover to PASAI staff of new processes and filing system.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
Deliverables | % of total contract | |
1 | Review the Procurement Policy and produce SOPs, guidelines and templates as needed including but not limited to procurement processes linked to consultant recruitments; travel; events.
| 20% |
2 | Facilitate procurement of key services and goods including but not limited to establish long term agreement with key consultants required for implementation of technical activities. | 15% |
3 | Support PASAI and build the capacity of staff for development and roll-out of the 2020 procurement plan in: a) reviewing terms of reference being advertised; b) managing procurement processes taking place during the consultancy time; c) coordinating, clearing and filing of all procurement processes taking place during that time.
| 20% |
| Set up a procurement management tracking system to monitor the implementation of procurement activities, including a performance monitoring database for suppliers and consultants to ensure efficiency and timeliness in the delivery of outputs from the service providers. | 10% |
4 | Conduct continuous comprehensive coaching for PASAI staff on new policy and guidelines including one-to-one follow-up and support where needed and develop a mechanism to regularly asses successful uptake of capacity development activities, adjust the efforts accordingly. | 5% |
5 | Create and train operational staff on functional, simple and effective knowledge management and filing system to ensure timely reporting to donors. | 5% |
6 | Provision of general support to the administration and implementation of the Agreement between PASAI and UNDP as and when needed | 25% |
Institutional Arrangement
The consultant will be reporting to PASAI CEO for all activities’ implementation & UNDP PFM Project Manager will manage the contract and clearance of deliverables.
Duration of the Work
The consultant will be required to work for a period of up to 60 days between May 2020 to December 2020.
Duty Station
The majority of the tasks should be undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand, at the PASAI Secretariat. However, there will be some flexibilities for home-based working after agreeing with UNDP and PASAI. Travel to Auckland and living costs for the duration of the consultancy should be included in the financial proposal. UNDP may cover some travel costs on exceptional basis.
Competencies
Corporate competencies:
Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Functional Competencies:
Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment;
Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work under pressure;
Excellent relationship management;
Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation and reporting skills;
Required Skills and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in procurement, business administration and other related areas;
b) At least three (3) years of work experience in procurement of goods and services, particularly in international business;
d) Knowledge and/or experience in UNDP procurement policies and procedures, or other standards set forth for a procurement is an advantage;
e) Strong sense of integrity is essential;
f) Fluent in spoken and written English and high computer literacy (Microsoft, Excel and other software), and;
g) Strong communication and reporting skills and ability to work in a team;
Language requirements
Fluency of English language is required;
Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments
Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.
In general, UNDP shall 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 event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
Evaluation Method and Criteria
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology Cumulative analysis
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.
Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)
Criteria 1 Relevance of Education – Max 15 points
Criteria 2 Relevance of work experience in procurement of goods and services– Max 25 points
Criteria 3 Previous experience of working with UNDP in the field of procurement– Max 10 points
Criteria 4 Assessment of approach/methodology to assignment– Max 20 Points
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Documentation required
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information (in one (1) single document as the application supports only one upload) to demonstrate their qualifications:
Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability for the duration of the assignment using the template provided in Annex II.
CV indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
Technical proposal, including a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment
Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II (in USD)
Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.
Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.
Annexes
Proposal Submission
All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (Procurement Expert) with reference (PN/FJI/039/20) and submitted via UN Job shop by 3rd May 2020.
- Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal consolidated and submitted as one single document.
- For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: procurement.fj@undp.org
Women applicants are encouraged to apply