Background

UNDP multi-country office in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam provides technical assistance, policy and technical advisory services to the Governments of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam in their efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); in partnership with development partners, financial institutions, private sector and civil society.

In Malaysia, UNDP’s programme priorities and partnerships are defined and operationalized through the Country Programme between Government of Malaysia and UNDP to support and contribute to the development priorities and results envisioned in the 5-year Malaysia Plan. Malaysia is currently implementing the Twelfth Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 (12MP), which is anchored around three key themes namely resetting economy, strengthening security, wellbeing and inclusivity; and advancing sustainability to achieve economic growth and transform Malaysia into a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable country.

Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) is the biggest programme portfolio for UNDP Malaysia Country Office (CO) ranges from biodiversity and ecosystems, climate change, energy, environmental management, ozone protection, green commodities, natural resource management and waste management. Currently, the programme implementation is funded from various resources including the Global Environment Facility. The portfolio remains one of the important programme areas in the Country Programme Document period from 2022 – 2025 with a shift towards diversification of funding and efforts to operationalize new financial instruments.

UNDP multi-country office in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam is looking for a National Technical Adviser to provide policy and technical advisory & oversight services for the implementation and pipeline development of initiatives / projects under the Nature, Climate and Energy portfolio. 

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

The National Technical Adviser will be responsible to provide policy and technical advisory & oversight services for quality assurance and timely preparation & submission of reports and documents in the Nature, Climate and Energy portfolio. The Technical Adviser will liaise/collaborate/coordinate/meet with NCE unit, other Programme units in the Country Office and project teams in UNDP Country Office and/or Implementing Partners for programme/project technical advisory & oversight matters and relevant project teams for project level technical matters to deliver the outputs under this assignment without administrative nor management functions.

Key responsibilities of this assignment are listed as follows:

1. NCE programming planning under the new Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2022 – 2025

• Provide policy and technical advice to CO senior management on the strategic programming of NCE.
• Provide policy and technical inputs to the preparation of CPAP 2022 – 2025 and/or the development/design process of the integrated development project concept(s) and/or project document(s) under the new CPAP 2022 – 2025.
• Finalize the draft Country Office’s NCE compact (key performance result areas) for the year 2023.

2. Sensemaking and Strategic Programming Assessment for Climate Actions in Malaysia

• Provide technical oversight on the process of the UNDP Malaysia CO’s Sensemaking and Strategic Programming Assessment for Climate Actions in Malaysia including the selection of the consultants and coordination with technical experts in the UNDP Global Policy Network.
• Provide technical guidance including a stakeholder engagement plan to the international and national experts in undertaking the Sensemaking and Strategic Programming Assessment for Climate Actions in Malaysia.
• Perform policy & technical review and provide written inputs to the Sensemaking and Strategic Programming Assessment Report for Climate Actions in Malaysia; and ensure linkages and contribution of the assessment to the current country programme.
• Verify and ensure that all substantive information and data are technically sound.

3. Project pipeline development and associated preparatory technical studies & reviews

Project #1: Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Phase 2 extended

• Perform technical review on the draft Biodiversity Finance Solution proposals – Ecological Fiscal Transfer and Sabah Ecosystem Conservation Fee, and finalize the Biodiversity Finance Solution proposals with stakeholders’ inputs during the project inception phase.
• Prepare the project inception workshop concept note & agenda, and inception report in collaboration with the Project Manager.

Project #2: Integrated Landscape Management for Sustainable Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration in Sabah (FOLUR Sabah) Project Preparation Grant

• Review and provide written technical inputs to the draft project document & annexes for submission to Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Project #3: HCFC Phase-out Management Plan Stage 3 Preparation

• Provide technical inputs to the preparatory process of the HCFC Phase-out Management Plan Stage 3 in collaboration with Montreal Protocol Unit, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and the Department of Environment Malaysia.
• Review and provide written technical inputs to the draft project document & relevant annexes for submission to Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Funds.

Project #4: Climate Finance Network (CFN)

• Provide technical inputs in the preparation and finalization of the Climate Finance Network Country Strategy 2022 – 2026 and work plan for years 2023 – 2024.
• Support the preparation of the inception workshop concept note and agenda in collaboration with UNDP-engaged technical experts, the Ministry of Finance (national focal point) and the Ministry of Environment & Water (KASA); and facilitate the technical discussions during the inception workshop.
• Provide inputs and quality assurance on the project inception report.

4. Technical quality assurance of NCE project outputs

• Perform technical review of NCE project outputs including policy analysis reports, technical reports, publications, etc. to ensure these outputs are quality assured in accordance with UNDP standards. This includes the 4th National Communications to UNFCCC, Sarawak Biodiversity Master Plan, etc.  

Expected outputs/deliverables:

• Technically cleared UNDP Malaysia CO’s Sensemaking and Strategic Programming Assessment for Climate Actions in Malaysia.
• Technical inputs into Climate Finance Network Country Strategy 2022 – 2026 and work plan for years 2023 – 2024
• Support the organization of a CFN inception workshop concept note/agenda and inception report
• Biodiversity Finance Solution proposals
• BIOFIN inception workshop concept note/agenda and inception report
• Written inputs to the FOLUR Sabah project document and annexes
• Written inputs to the HPMP Stage 3 project document and annexes
• Technically cleared 4th National Communications to UNFCCC
• Technically cleared Sarawak Biodiversity Master Plan

Methodology

The methodology employs a number of analytical and consultative methods and tools to complete the tasks; and based on the needs:

• Collect data from public domains and official documents including policies, legislation, strategies and plans from Sarawak.
• Supplement the data analysis with literature research.
• Regular meetings for the purpose of verification and finalization of data with UNDP and Sarawak Government;
• Dialogues or interviews with key stakeholders in Sarawak Government such as Sarawak Economic Planning Unit, Ministries in Sarawak, Forest Department Sarawak, Districts, etc.; and NGOs in Sarawak;
• Stakeholder consultations.

Handling of Data, Information and Documents

All data, information and documents obtained under this assignment are the property of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and be treated as strictly confidential.

No such information shall be used by the expert for any other purpose other than the preparation of specific deliverables under this assignment.

All soft and hard copies of the data, information and documents must be returned to UNDP upon completion of this assignment.   

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

National Technical Adviser will report to and seek approval and/or acceptance of the outputs/deliverables from the Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Multi-country Office in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. The Technical Adviser is expected to liaise/collaborate/coordinate/meet with NCE unit, other Programme units in the Country Office and project teams in UNDP Country Office and/or Implementing Partners for programme/project technical advisory & oversight matters and relevant project teams for project level technical matters to deliver the outputs under this assignment without administrative nor management functions.

• Estimated level of effort: up to 75 days;
• The Technical Adviser will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment.
• The Technical Adviser will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, photo camera, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection.
• For specific tasks in this assignment relating to the country-level projects, the Technical Adviser will report to the UNDP multi-country office.
• The Technical Adviser is required to obtain travel authorization from the Deputy Resident Representative prior to any field mission.
• The Technical Adviser is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability during the assignment; and
• Payments will be made upon submission of the Certification of Payment (COP) form, and upon acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on the days worked and outputs delivered.

DURATION OF THE WORK

The assignment will require up to 75 working days including potential 20 travel days within Malaysia starting from 1 November 2022 until 31 March 2023.

DUTY STATION

Home-based and Putrajaya (at least 2 days per week)

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT

Competencies

Functional competencies:

• Proven ability to be flexible in a team-oriented approach with diverse groups of people;
• Capable of working in a high- pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Exercises the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Welcomes constructive feedback;
• Excellent communication and writing skills; and
• Excellent planning, organizational, multi-task and time management skills.
• Familiarity with UNDP and government strongly desired.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters or higher degree in economics, environmental/natural resource economics, environmental science, environmental studies environmental law, or related discipline with a minimum of 15 years of experience (5 points).

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of demonstrable policy & technical experience in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change, and environmental management at the national and sub-national levels in Malaysia (10 points).
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in environmental policy and institutional review and/or formulation (20 points). 
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in strategic planning for programming in environmental sustainability in Malaysia (20 points).
• Experience in working with government and UNDP (20 points).
• Working knowledge and understanding of climate change, nature, and/or energy-based projects will be considered an asset (5 points).

Language:

• Excellent command of English and fluency in Bahasa Malaysia.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Document 1: Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability 
2. Document 2: Technical Proposal: on how your qualifications, experience and list of track records can lead to successful deliverables of this assignment within the required timeframe, and provide a methodology and approach on how you will approach and conduct the assignments;
3. Document 3: Financial Proposal should specify unit price (daily professional fee), travel costs up to 20 days, and relevant costs in Malaysian Ringgit MYR using the financial proposal template. 
4. Document 4: Personal CV or P11 indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references 
5. Please submit this information in one file as Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4. The system will only accept ONE (1) attachment, please merge all documents and submit them as one file.
6. Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
7. Candidates who fail to submit all the information requested above will be disqualified.

How to Apply:

• Kindly download the Letter of Confirmation of interest and availability, Financial Proposal Template, and General Terms & Conditions mentioned above at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=96034 
• Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions.
• Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required.
• Scan all documents into 1 (One) pdf folder and then upload;
• For clarification questions, please email procurement.my@undp.org. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2022/028" as the subject matter.

EVALUATION AND AWARD OF CONTRACT

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be shortlisted for technical evaluation;
• Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
• The technical criteria including education and experience will be based on a maximum 70 points and technical proposal review at 30 points maximum. Only the top 3 candidates scoring 50 points or higher from the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation;
• Financial score (max 30 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
• The financial proposal in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) shall specify an all-inclusive fee and including breakdown per deliverable and all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, in-country travel costs, living allowance and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the Technical Adviser in completing the assignment.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this daily fee (including number of anticipated working days), travel costs up to 20 days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment;
• Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.