Background

About UNCDF

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: (1) inclusive digital economies, which connects individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyze participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; (2) local development finance, which capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and (3) investment finance, which provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization.By strengthening how finance works for households, small enterprises, and local infrastructure in ways that benefit the poor, UNCDF contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals—SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a broad diversity of SDGs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

The UNCDF Partnerships, Policy and Communications Unit is seeking a Junior Communications Consultant for 12 months starting Jan 2021, with the full-time position being homed-based or remote.

The Consultant will work with the Partnerships, Policy and Communications (PPC) Unit of UNCDF. The PPC Unit is responsible for implementing the UNCDF Partnerships, Policy Communications Strategy and plans and its components, including (list not exhaustive):

1. Strategic Partnerships and External Relations with donors, development partners, the UN System, the media and the public, increasing awareness and support for UNCDF’s work in the two practice areas: Local Development Finance and Inclusive Finance;
2. Resource Mobilization: primary responsibility to raise core resources while supporting programme units and regional and country offices in mobilizing non-core (earmarked, thematic or other) resources. PPC provides the tools and services that enhance UNCDF´s institution-wide capacity to identify and capitalize on resource mobilization opportunities, including donor intelligence, quality assurance support to funding requests and donor reporting, and advice and support on contribution agreements with donor development partners.
3. Communications and Branding, including improving internal and external communications through web-based tools (website, intranet, social media), events, publications, new media initiatives, etc.

Under guidance and supervision of the Communications Specialist, the consultant is expected to:

Communication Design

• Manage in corporate level wide efforts to enact a design style that aligns UNCDF content across practices, units and geographies. This includes the creation of design templates for content creation UNCDF-wide.
• Support in the creation and execution of a communications “standard operating procedure” for the practices, units, country-teams, organizations and initiatives. Such an “SOP” is expected to include a presentation deck, a one-sheeter, and a podcast. This SOP would be created for, but not limited to, the following: UNCDF Evaluation Unit, the Inclusive and Equitable Local Development programme, and the Subnational Observatory report.
• Support the development and design of a range of designed marketing collaterals, including brochures, infographics and presentations for UNCDF’s priority initiatives in 2021; including but not confined to UNCDF’s blended finance vehicle in partnership with Bamboo Capital Partners; the International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF); the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL); and the “Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era” strategy.
• Create designed content to support UNCDF personnel in their thought-leadership capacities.

Writing & Editing

• Support in the drafting of content for the practices, units and organization as a whole as requested and needed; this includes content for the UNCDF website.
• Draft and edit a range of materials, including blog posts, web content, inputs and presentations developed for UNCDF priority initiatives for 2020; including but not confined the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL); the “Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era” strategy; the Blue Peace initiative.
• Collect stories and updates from countries and synthesize them into short stories to be featured in the social media channels.
• Support with the development of new articles in collaboration with partners and UNCDF team members, with an aim to publish in global media.

Newsletter

• Lead on a monthly newsletter marketing our content on the basis of a chosen SDG.
• Provide support, training and  mentorship to UNCDF personnel charged with deploying newsletter below the corporate level.
• Assist in the scheduling of UNCDF newsletter deployments.
• Collect stories from the country offices and other resources within and outside UNCDF, format and adjust them as inputs to the newsletter.
• Initiate the monthly newsletter review process by other team members, make necessary adjustments as per obtained feedback and release it in a timely manner.

FINAL PRODUCTS

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT, DUTY STATION AND EXPECTED PLACES OF TRAVEL

Duration of assignment:                  1/1/2021 to 12/31/2021

Duty station:                                       Home-based           

Places of travel:                                  N/A

PROVISION OF MONITORING AND PROGRESS CONTROLS

Work-progress reporting/monitoring meetings will be held with Consultant on a weekly basis to check on progress towards deliverables. All activities of Consultant shall be discussed and agreed upon with the supervisor. The UNCDF Communications Specialist will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. 

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNCDF
• Understands UNCDF’s role in the context of SDG (Agenda 2030) achievement
• Ability to work as part of a team in a constantly evolving work environment
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to manage workload with minimum supervision and collaborate with a wide range of colleagues and partners across organizations, while meeting deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal skills: being able to listen and collaborate with a wide range of players, being able to work independently, being pro-active and taking initiatives but also able to identify threats in social media use.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, Development Studies, International Relations or a related field is required. Master's degree in the above areas is preferred.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of experience in PR and communications, including social media and other digital media management (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and web) is required;
• Familiarity with the 2030 Agenda and private sector / philanthropy engagement for development is desirable;
• Practical experience in developing innovative and effective social media campaigns, including using data for storytelling and, publishing stories and editing content is desirable;
• Previous experience with communication work for the UN and private sector / philanthropy is considered an asset.

Language:

Spoken and written fluency in English, including excellent writing and editing skills, is required.

APPLICATION

All applications must contain the following information:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to this Terms of reference (TOR);
• Curriculum Vitae and /or Completed and signed P11 - Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc);
• Signed financial proposal for the assignment outlining: All-inclusive fee including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc. (Available at: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

(Note: The system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file)

EVALUATION OF APPLICANTS

Individual contract applicants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

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

• Criteria A - University degree in relevant field as indicated in the Qualifications section - max. 10 points;
• Criteria B – Number of years of working experience in relevant field including in the private sector or the economic development space as indicated in the Qualifications section- max. 25 points;
• Criteria C - Proven experience (based on the best example provided) in producing deliverables similar to the one in this announcement – max 25 points;
• Criteria D – Written and spoken fluency in English – max 10 points

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

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the 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%

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