Background

Purpose

To assist the government’s Office for IT and e-Government (ITE) in planning and establishing the IT infrastructure for government Data Centre.

Objective

To support development of the common government ICT infrastructures and platforms, necessary for rapid provision of cost-effective, secure and citizen-focused e services.

Background Information

Digital transformation of the national economy and public administration are among the key priorities of Serbian Government. In addition to providing high-level political support and institutional sponsorship, the Government introduced new institutional framework to manage this process and initiate internal changes. In August 2017, a new cabinet-level body – Office for IT and e Government – was created to consolidate government's ICT resources, develop common infrastructures and support transition from institution-centric to citizen-centric model of designing and providing e services.

UNDP provided support to this broad digitalization agenda of the Serbian Government since its inception, through "Serbia at your Fingertips – Digital Transformation for Development" project. This project comprises five segments. The first three relate to development of the e-government system, the fourth includes support for implementation of activities from the ministerial councils' agendas, while the fifth includes support for implementation of big infrastructural projects in e Government.

One of the project segments is dedicated to supporting the ITE in establishing and managing the digital government stack – a set of common government ICT infrastructures for provision of e services. This digital government stack, operated by ITE, comprises physical infrastructure (including Government Network and data centres), virtual infrastructure (Government Cloud, with IaaS, PaaS and SaaS services), key registries and databases (including the Meta register, interoperability standards and Government Service Bus for data exchange between institutions), portals and integrated services (including the central government e-services portal, sector portals and standalone apps), as well as various other IT services provided by ITE to other government entities (e.g. Internet access for government institutions, email for civil servants, hosting of government web sites etc.).

With the new Data centre built in Kragujevac, which will be used as primary/disaster recovery location for government institutions, ITE need to reorganise the government IT infrastructure in order to provide scalable and robust platform with high availability.

UNDP is looking for the highly skilled consultant to support ITE to assist the government’s Office for IT and e-Government (ITE) in planning and establishing the IT infrastructure for government Data Centre.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Within this assignment, the Consultant will, under the guidance of the UNDP Portfolio Manager and Office for IT and eGovernment:

• Implement an asset management software platform to keep track of hardware, racks, data center floor plan and rack layout, and relevant contracts and suppliers;
• Implement capacity management and growth planning for the virtualization infrastructure (server and storage) including monthly reports;
• Support activities related to upgrade of NSX-V SDN to the latest NSX-T Data Center SDN implementation (design, implementation, and testing);
• Develop the high-level design of government multi-site private cloud solution based on VMware and contribute to low-level design activities.

ITE will provide the Consultant with the existing data, information and documentation related to the aspects listed above.

Deliverables and Timelines

All deliverables will be quality reviewed and approved by UNDP Portfolio Manager – Digital Governance, in consultation with the national partner. All deliverables should be in English language.

Competencies

• Consistently ensures timeliness and quality of project work;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Evidence of ability to express ideas clearly, to work independently and in teams;
• Ability to summarize and systematize complex information and identify priorities for follow up activities;
• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Focuses on results and responds positively to feedback;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling ethical standards.

Required Skills and Experience

The Consultant selected to undertake the assignment must fulfil the following minimal requirements:

Education:

• University degree in engineering, IT/ICT or similar fields. Master’s degree will be considered an asset.

Work experience:

• Minimum of 15 years of professional work experience in ICT industry.
• Proven experience in implementing/maintaining ICT infrastructures and IT strategy and planning;
• Experience in IT projects in public sector in the Republic of Serbia;
• ITIL Operational Support and Analysis certificate(s) will be considered as an advantage;
• Experience in at least three projects related to virtualisation, DC and cloud strategy;
• Experience in working in regional and international teams and projects;
• Experience in working with international organizations will be consider as an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Serbian, both spoken and written.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Application Procedure:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their applications via UNDP Web site: UNDP in Serbia under section “Jobs” no later than 24th June 2021.

Application should include: 

• CV in English language containing date of birth, contact information (home address, phone number, e-mail) and timeline of work experience (including description of duties).  
• Offeror’s Letter (only PDF format will be accepted) confirming Interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) Assignment. Can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.undp.org.rs/download/ic/Confirmation.docx. The Offeror’s Letter shall include financial proposal specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement with a breakdown of costs.
• Cover Letter – explaining why you are the most suitable for the work should be included in the CV.

In order to apply please merge above listed documents into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

Note: Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit signed Offeror’s Letter Confirming Interest and Availability including a price for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail vacancy.rs@undp.org. The procuring UNDP entity will respond by standard electronic mail and will send response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

Financial Proposal:

• Lump sum contracts

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  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.

Evaluation

Additional Information:

• An Individual Contract (IC) will be applicable for individual consultants applying in their own capacity. If the applicant is employed by any legal entity, an IC will be issued upon the submission of a consent letter from the employer acknowledging the engagement with UNDP. Prior to submitting their offer, the applicants should get familiar with General Conditions for Individual Contractors which be found at: https://rs.undp.org/content/dam/serbia/downloads/General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf. Individual Contract (IC) will be applicable for individual consultants applying in their own capacity. 

• A Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) will be applicable for applicants employed by any legal entity. A template of RLA with General Terms and Conditions can be found at: http://www.rs.undp.org/download/RLA%20with%20General%20Terms%20and%20Conditions.doc. In the case of engagement of Civil servants under an IC contract modality a no-objection letter should be provided by the Government entity. The ‘no-objection’ letter must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status (if applicable), and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any. If the previous is not applicable ‘leave-without-pay’ confirmation should be submitted.

Engagement of Government Officials and Employees:

• Government Officials or Employees are civil servants of UN Member States.  As such, if they will be engaged by UNDP under an IC which they will be signing in their individual capacity (i.e., engagement is not done through RLA signed by their Government employer), the following conditions must be met prior to the award of contract: 

(i) A “No-objection” letter in respect of the individual is received from the Government employing him/her, and 

(ii) The individual must provide an official documentation from his/her employer

formally certifying his or her status as being on “official leave without pay” for the duration of the IC. 

• The above requirements are also applicable to Government-owned and controlled enterprises and well as other semi/partially or fully owned Government entities, whether or not the Government ownership is of majority or minority status.  

UNDP recognizes the possibility that there are situations when the Government entity employing the individual that UNDP wishes to engage is one that allows its employees to receive external short-term consultancy assignments (including but not limited to research institutions, state-owned colleges/universities, etc.), whereby a status of “on-leave-without-pay” is not required.  Under such circumstance, the individual entering into an IC with UNDP must still provide a “No-objection” letter from the Government employing him/her.  The “no objection” letter required under (i) above must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any.  The said document may be obtained by, and put on record of, UNDP, in lieu of the document (ii) listed above. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.