UNDP Jobs - 91657- Writer/Editor for Knowledge and Advocacy Products

Writer/Editor for Knowledge and Advocacy Products

Location :

Home based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jun-2020

Application Deadline :

25-May-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months with possibility of extension for additional 6 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months

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

In May 2019, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) approved the expansion of services of its Global Shared Services Unit (GSSU). With offices in Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul, the GSSU services over 180 countries, 40,000 personnel and more than 40 other UN Agencies and Organizations. Through its functional lines, GSSU ensures high quality and timely delivery of human resources, financial and procurement services as well as information and innovative tools to its various clients and stakeholders.

The GSSU within the UNDP Bureau for Management Services (BMS) supports all UNDP offices and units with the provision of transactional services. This includes a core set of transactions in Finance and HR that are already being handled by the GSSU in Kuala Lumpur. The main objective for the clustering of shared services is to ease the provision of support services, thereby enabling Country Offices to focus its core purpose of supporting national development programmes. The GSSU is led by the Deputy Director of BMS. The Management Committee (MC), comprised of the BMS Director and Deputy Director, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Director of the Office of Human Resources, provides overall direction and guidance to the GSSU and reviews reports on the status and performance of transaction service centers. It also provides oversight for the transitional process, including new functions moving into the GSSU. Operational Level Agreements will be instituted for internal performance agreements with the Office of Financial Resource Management.

The Customer Relationship and Quality Assurance Team focus is on creating exceptional customer experiences, in line with Resolution 67/226 and the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021. The operating model focuses on providing value to UNDP’s operations through effective integrated customer channels and quality assurance. The integrated customer channel is critical to enabling global GSSU services across different time zones and languages around omni-channel flexibility, convenience and dialogue-oriented. In this context, three customer channels will be established that will lead to an industry benchmarked customer experience including self-service platforms and a contact center for Tier 1 requests

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant is expected to support GSSU with the following tasks:

Provide strategic advice on digital communication (including data visualization and how data use interacts with data design) as well as social campaign strategies.
Support positioning of GSSU as a Centre of Excellence within UNDP and with external clients, through innovative story telling.
Develop and/or review standard operating procedures for the Customer Relationship and Quality Assurance Team.
Writing/ editing of knowledge management wiki papers and advocacy products targeting internal and external clients.
Develop global protocols, guidelines, processes and principles for Customer Relationship and Quality Assurance Team client relationship management and support.
Lead and coordinate visual analytics work with multiple clients and stakeholders including UN agencies.
Develop communication ideas, infographics, charts and images that creatively convey key messages/data in GSSU CRM Products.
Provide support in developing partnerships and networks, including engagement with GSSU clients and stakeholders from the data visualization, information design and human-computer interaction communities;
Set up/update relevant libraries on SharePoint ad other UNDP databases
Participate in workshops, meetings and conferences as needed.

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 skills, ability to work in a team
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities
Ability to synthesize complex and technical information from various sources into jargon-free, content for different audiences;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

At least Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science, International Relations, Economics, Political Science, Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Media Relations, Journalism, Development or related field, required.

Experience

At least 5 years’ experience in writing and editing knowledge and advocacy products, required.
At least 2 years’ experience in advanced producing knowledge products in the area of development, preferably in the area of operational services, required.
Proven ability to communicate complex, abstract concepts using both visual, and written language, required.
Experience in delivering presentations to various audiences will be an asset.
Experience in writing for media outlets, development-related organizations, research centers, think-tanks or multilateral institutions is an asset.
Previous professional experience with the United Nations or similar organizations in this or a related field would be considered an asset.
Proven ability to manage relationships with partners, including peers, government, universities, UN organizations, NGOs, or private sector is a strong asset.

Language skills

Fluent written and oral English required.

Evaluation of Applicants

Evaluation will be based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicant’s qualifications and financial proposal

The award of the contract should be made to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation

Criteria 1 - desk review - Experience in writing for media outlets, development-related organizations, research centers, think-tanks or multilateral institutions – max. 150 points (Only candidates with at least 5 years of experience in writing will be evaluated during the desk review. Candidates whose writing expertise is found relevant to this assignment will be granted special advantage)
Criteria 2 – desk review- Relevance of the experience producing knowledge products in the area of development, preferably in the area of operational services - max. 100 (Only candidates with at least 2 years of experience producing knowledge products will be considered. Candidates with graphic design experience producing knowledge products will be given advantage. Relevant experience from 2 to 4 years of experience = maximum of 60 points, relevant experience greater than 4 years = up to 100 points).
Criteria 3 - desk review - Previous relevant professional experience delivering presentations to various audiences max. 50 points (up to 3 years of relevant expertise delivering presentations = maximum of 25 points. More than 3 years of experience delivering presentations = up to of 50 points)
Criteria 4 – desk review - Proven ability to manage relationships with partners, including peers, government, universities, UN organizations, NGOs, or private sector – max. 150 points.
Criteria 5 – desk review – Quality of the writing and copy-editing samples provided – max 100 points. (The evaluation of this criteria will be based on the samples provided as part of the application package, candidates are asked to provide at least 2 self-authored writing samples, 2 self-authored copy-editing samples including source text and final product. The maximum points obtainable for each category is 50 points).

Only the top 4 candidates who obtain at least 70% of the total of points obtainable during the desk review will be invited for an interview.

Criteria 4 – Interview. Max. 150 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

Only applicants who will get 70% of points in desk review (and at least 70% of the total of points obtainable during the interview), will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Document 1: A cover letter explaining the applicant’s motivation and interest for the advertised position. The letter is to be pasted into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Document 2: Resume/CV.
Document 3: At least 2 self-authored writing samples; 2 self-authored samples of copy-editing work (including original source text and final result to enable the evaluation of the editing work).

Incomplete applications may not be considered.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Chief, Strategic Performance and Client Manager and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

Payment modality

Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily (New York Time).

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org by 18 May 2020.