Background

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN – was developed to provide a comprehensive methodology for governments to: 1) review the existing policy context, 2) measure expenditure levels for biodiversity, 3) calculate future financial needs and 4) design strategic plans to deploy the right mix of finance solutions, tailored to the country context. The methodology has been conducted in 30 countries to date, with many now having reached the implementation stage.

BIOFIN is supported by the Governments of Germany, Flanders, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union. The initiative is part of UNDP’s Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF) unit, hosted by the Ecosystems and Biodiversity (EBD) cluster under UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS).

BIOFIN’s first phase (2012-2019) enabled full assessments and initial implementation of finance plan elements in target countries. Based on lessons learned, a new and comprehensive version of the BIOFIN Methodology was developed. Significant scaling up of finance solutions is required in all countries to address the biodiversity finance challenge. BIOFIN’s second phase (2018 – 2022) focuses mainly on the implementation of prioritised finance solutions while also allowing additional countries to undertake the initial assessments and create the finance plan. See www.biodiversityfinance.org for further information.

The BIOFIN Team is seeking an individual consultant to support BIOFIN countries and the BIOFIN team to improve the knowledge management function, including to develop new knowledge products, analyse results to date, and assist with the implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan. The individual consultant will work under the direct supervision of the BIOFIN Manager. The Consultant will work in close collaboration with the global BIOFIN Team, national BIOFIN Teams, UNDP Country Offices to provide the required services.

Duties and Responsibilities

Knowledge Management:

  • Update the BIOFIN knowledge management plan based on international best practises and develop new knowledge products;
  • Develop guidance and training materials on financing solutions for biodiversity conservation for BIOFIN teams in different countries;
  • Review international best practices to identify case studies that can serve as examples for BIOFIN work;
  • Write stories and news articles on BIOFIN activities and ensure regular content upload on the BIOFIN website;
  • Review country outputs and extract lessons learned;
  • Support the BIOFIN Communication team by promoting and maintaining BIOFIN’s social media updated (e.g. Website / Twitter / Facebook page);
  • Support the organization of BIOFIN Regional and global Workshops;
  • Support the coordination of massive open online courses (MOOCs), webinars and regional calls;
  • Attend BIOFIN related guidance and training sessions and contribute to lessons learnt and best practices;
  • Design and implement surveys to better understand and address the capacity needs from BIOFIN countries;
  • Contribute to the BIOFIN knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Research:

  • Research, collect, analyse and present the work BIOFIN has been doing in its 30 core countries and the same for other similar projects working in different regions of the world;
  • Provide support to the BIOFIN cross country analysis;
  • Carry out background research on areas related to biodiversity finance such as gender, climate change, energy, poverty reduction and marine conservation. Develop new knowledge products on these areas;
  • Support with mapping, identifying, testing and monitoring of adequate knowledge platforms to be used by BIOFIN.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Support with monitoring and collecting biannual progress reports from the BIOFIN countries and report the key results on finance solution implementation to the management;
  • Support the monitoring, analysis and synthesis of developments, press clippings and reports of BIOFIN, maintain a database of BIOFIN news coverage and update it regularly.

Specific Outputs:

An indicative list of tasks includes:

  • Write specific knowledge products such as case studies, BIOFIN Biodiversity Finance Plan cross country analysis, finance solutions guidance;
  • Write the BIOFIN country stories;
  • Attend and support the organisation of regional workshops;
  • Ensure the ongoing knowledge material update of the BIOFIN website;
  • Coordinate and organise webinars on specific biodiversity finance solutions;
  • Design and coordinate four quarterly regional calls;
  • Collect the necessary information from BIOFIN countries and produce biannual progress reports;
  • Mission reports;

Information on Working Arrangements:

  • To be considered for this consultancy, the applicant must either be a Turkish Citizen, Turkish Permanent Resident, or holder of a valid employment visa for Turkey at the time of their application;
  • The consultant will work in UNDP’s Istanbul Regional Hub offices;
  • The overall objective of this framework agreement is to facilitate and expedite the process by which UNDP can hire the services of a Knowledge Management Consultant for the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) once there are specific assignments over the next 2 years;
  • Estimated level of effort including travel: Up to 360 days over 2 years; 
  • UNDP does not guarantee that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the Framework Agreement as this will depend on forthcoming needs;
  • IC as a Framework Agreement is non-exclusive (i.e. it does not prohibit UNDP from entering into another such framework agreement with other individuals or entities);
  • The Framework Agreement will be for a fixed all-inclusive daily fee;
  • Once the Framework Agreement is signed, if there is a specific assignment, the focal person at BIOFIN would contact the Consultant by email informing of the specific deliverables required, and timeline for delivery;
  • The consultant must advise within 48 hours whether s/he is available to deliver the requested service;
  • Thereafter a Purchase Order will be raised. Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of the Framework Agreement through the transmitted email and purchase order;
  • Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones where applicable;
  • The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
  • The consultant will be provided with a working station (i.e. desk, internet, office phone, scanner/printer, etc.);
  • The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop;
  • Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered.

Travel:

  • Limited travel may be required to international workshops relevant to BIOFIN;
  • An estimated up to 5 missions annually (Global Conference in Paris, Global Planning Meeting and Regional Workshops) with expected total travel duration of approximately 4 days per mission.  Expected mission travel would be discussed upon commencement of assignment and updated quarterly;
  • Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
  • The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
  • 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; 
  • Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
  • The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
  • All related travel expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants.  Costs for airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s vision, mission and values;
  • 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.

Functional Competencies:

Communication

  • Effective written and oral communication skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

  • Results-driven, initiative-taking, ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
  • Ability to plan and organize work and establish priorities;
  • Remains calm and in control even under pressure, and consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Informed and sound, transparent decision-making;
  • Thoroughly and methodically collects, verifies and records data, demonstrating attention to detail and identifying and correcting errors on own initiative;
  • Ability to work under minimum supervision.

Client Orientation

  • Ability to work with multiple stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines and fields, from both developed and developing countries, and having diverse and competing worldviews;
  • Good interpersonal and networking skills, ability to establish and maintain effective working relations, supports and encourages open communication in the team.

Teamwork

  • Works well in a team to advance the priorities of BIOFIN and UNDP as a whole;
  • Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
  • Focuses on results for the client;
  • Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Have graduated with a university degree (Bachelor or Master) in Biology, Geography, Economics, Environmental Economics, Environmental studies, Finance, Business Administration, Engineering, Communication or other related field.

Experience:

  • Minimum 2 years of work experience in designing and implementing knowledge management and communications activities in programmes and projects at different scales;
  • Working experience in National or an International organization is an advantage, as is knowledge of UNDP policies, procedures and practices;
  • Experience in managing website content and using social media channels is an asset.
  • At least two knowledge products delivered by you in similar assignments.

Languages:

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language
  • Good command of Spanish, Portuguese, or Russian is an advantage.

Evaluation of applications:


Individual consultant 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 (CV/P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in desk review (Criteria A-E) will be considered for interviews.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation (Technical Total Possible Score = 80; Percentage = TTPS/80x 100%):

  • Criteria A – (desk review) Education in in Biology, Geography, Economics, Environmental Economics, Environmental studies, Finance, Business Administration, Engineering, Communication or other related field (max 10 points);
  • Criteria B – (desk review) experience in designing and implementing knowledge management and communications activities in programmes and projects at different scales (max 15 points);
  • Criteria C – (desk review) experience in National or an International organization is an advantage, as is knowledge of UNDP policies, procedures and practices (max 10 points);
  • Criteria D – (desk review) Experience in managing website content and using social media channels is an asset (max 10 points).
  • Criteria E – (desk review) Good command of Spanish, Portuguese, or Russian is an advantage (Max 5 points).
  • Criteria F – (At least two knowledge products delivered by you in similar assignments): up to 5 points.
  • Criteria G – (interviews): up to 25 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of the total evaluation.

Application procedure:


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 assignment 
  • Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees  (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); 
  • Brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work 

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 the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.