Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the global development network of the United Nations system that is on the ground in over 140 countries, with its Headquarters in New York, USA.  The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) is a central Bureau tasked with the development of corporate strategies, policies, tools and systems in key cross-cutting management areas. Drawing on sound analytics and a risk-management approach, BMS supports the achievement of development results through management advice, innovative business solutions, and other corporate services in line with international best practices and evolving needs and expectations of development partners.  BMS also ensures policy adherence in operations management within UN Rules & Regulations, safeguarding UNDP’s accountability vis-à-vis Member States and other stakeholders.
The Office of Financial Resources Management (OFRM) performs a pivotal role within BMS and within UNDP’s global finance function, partnering with Bureaux and Country Offices. The primary role of OFRM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing financial leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation in the context of a fluctuating funding environment. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. OFRM is a key source of information for the Executive Board, General Assembly, to Partners and wider civil society. It supports transparency through the provision of on time and quality statutory and other financial reports that comply with international standards and regulatory guidelines.

• OFRM ensures effective and efficient integrated resources management through a continuous and robust process comprising:Formulation and implementation of corporate financial and administrative strategies, policies and procedures;
• Formulation, alignment, documentation and implementation of UNDP’s funding frameworks, assuring their integrity, viability and alignment with the Strategic Plan;
• Provision of policy guidance, advisory services and operational support to strengthen client capacities and help them achieve results, seeking to build consensus within UNDP and with key stakeholders on critical budgetary related matters requiring Executive Board legislation;
• Administration of the organization’s internal control framework, overseeing and monitoring financial management of all global UNDP offices, including through formulation/implementation of resource planning, management and oversight tools and reports;
• Promoting clear accountability for financial transactions and producing financial statements, including financial reporting to donors and the UNDP Executive Board.

UNDP uses PeopleSoft ERP system, referred to internally  as “Atlas” which was implemented in 2004 and comprises various modules including, Accounts Payable, Contracts Module (used for  management of revenues and receivables), General Ledger, Treasury Module, Human Resources, Grants and Project Management, Bank-to-Book (B2B) and Asset Management modules. Given the decentralized nature of UNDP’s operations with presence in over 140 country offices, access to the Atlas is controlled via customized user profiles and access rights which permit users to access and perform specified functions in accordance with their approved access rights. UNDP has embarked on the process of migrating from the current PeopleSoft ERP to Oracle Cloud ERP in order to improve internal processes and keep up with evolving industry standards. The implementation of the Oracle Cloud ERP will be staggered with target dates for the roll-out of different modules spread from the second half of 2021 and 2022.

The Financial Performance Management and Reporting (FPMR) Unit is the part of OFRM that is responsible for financial reporting and financial performance management including implementing and maintaining a financial performance framework within OFRM and supporting the analysis of internal controls and tracking of emerging risks across the organization. The unit is also responsible for rolling out the framework for managing the risk associated with implementing partners who implement UNDP projects activities including the revised Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) framework which was implemented by UNDP in 2015. FPMR is looking to hire a consultant to support the unit in the performing certain key tasks which are part of OFRM key deliverables. The consultant will report to the manager, Financial Performance Management (FPM) unit and will perform the functions described in the section below.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK 

Summary of key functions:

A consultant is sought to support FPMR in performing the following key tasks:

• Support FPMR in reviewing UNDP’s implementing partner risk management framework and performing detailed reviews of compliance by country offices with key requirements of the framework in order to address the root cause of recurring audit observations.
• Send communication to all country offices on status of HACT compliance and action required on noted non-compliance and follow-up to ensure recommendations are implemented.
• Assist the unit in developing and updating implementing partners risk management policies and procedures and monitoring tools.
• Review the accuracy of HACT and implementing partner data in financial monitoring databases (SharePoint and other Corporate platforms) and follow-up with UNDP offices to update.
• Support the analysis of the root cause of recurring audit observations and emerging risk in UNDP and rolling out proposed solutions. 
• Support the unit in the implementing of Oracle Cloud ERP including the integration and digitization of implementing partner financial reporting risk assessments into the ERP and backfilling key functions within the unit due to the involvement by key staff of the unit in the ERP implementation.
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the unit manager.

Deliverables:

The consultant will be working under the direct supervision of the manager FPMR who will assign tasks and indicate completion dates for each assigned task.

Competencies

Key competencies required:

• Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences.
• Demonstrated ability to provide guidance and oversight in the area of financial and administrative management.
• Proven skills and ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, draw conclusions and recommend solutions.
• Able to assess risks and correctly analyze the likelihood of them occurring. Able to then prioritize action to the risks with the biggest business impact.
• Strong financial management and accounting skills
• Knowledge of the financial frameworks, programme policies & procedures of UNDP and/or UN entities. 
• Thorough & proven understanding of common business and project management practices.  

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• Advanced (Masters) University Degree in Business Administration, Finance/Accounting or a relevant discipline, or a professional accounting qualification certificate from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy is required.  Possession of both qualifications will have an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in financial management position(s) with large international organizations, required. 
• Audit experience in a large public auditing firm will be an added advantage
• Familiarity with international development, preferably the UN system, required. UNDP experience will be an added advantage.
• Experience with UN Finance and Accounting procedures and the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) framework, required. 
• A sound understanding of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) utilized by international organizations will be an added advantage. 
• Analytical capabilities combined with strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with ERP systems, required. Experience with PeopleSoft or Oracle Cloud ERP will be an added advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in English, required. 
• Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage, particularly Spanish or French.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; 
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references; 

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment due to travel restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel unless travel restrictions into Malaysia are lifted. If travel restrictions are lifted, the consultant may be expected to relocate to Kuala Lumpur for the remaining term of the consultancy. During the period the consultancy is  homebased, the consult should be available for at least 3 working hours daily in New York and 4 hours daily in Kuala Lumpur time zone.  
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):

• Criteria 1.  Demonstrable experience in financial management position Maximum Points: 100;
• Criteria 2. Familiarity with international development, preferably the UN system Maximum Points: 150; 
• Criteria 3. Experience with UN Finance and Accounting procedures and the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) framework. Maximum Points: 300; and
• Criteria 4. Experience with ERP systems, preferably PeopleSoft or Oracle Cloud ERP. Maximum Points: 150

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: 

• p = y (µ/z), where

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

• z = price of the proposal being evaluated

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 Manager, Financial Performance Management and Reporting (FPMR) Unit and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop. 

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 but because this is a home based assignment due to travel restrictions imposed by the Covid Pandemic, the consult should be available for at least 4 working hours daily in New York or Kuala Lumpur time zone.

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 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.