UNDP Jobs - 75948- Technical Advisor For project South East Europe Ur

Technical Advisor For project South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network

Location :

Home-based with missions within the Balkan region

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

06-Dec-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approx. 90 days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP works in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We support countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

Severe floods (2014-2015) that struck South East European (SEE) countries have once again confirmed that disasters do not know of any borders and that disasters are often “shared”. However, even though that similar disaster risks are present in all the project partner countries and territories (1) and that there are some institutional similarities their respective Disaster Risk Management (DRM) policies are all somewhat different. The experience learned from the last regional flooding goes to show that connectivity/cooperation weaknesses were twofold: first one concerning institutionalization of municipality level cooperation of DRR stakeholders (urban level of cities/municipalities/counties) and the second one concerning their operative interconnectivity at regional/cross-border level i.e. replication modality of best practice examples and regional know-how sharing at the level of municipality DRR specifically in the area of local DRR prevention initiatives.

A year after the flooding, this problem of more formalized/institutionalized DRR cooperation model between relevant DRR stakeholders both nationally (at the urban level) and cross-border within SEE countries still remain unresolved. Furthermore, bearing in mind that the DRR system of the participating countries is based upon the bottom-up approach calls for a well-coordinated approach at the local level so that in the case when the emergency exceeds local capacities national Civil Protection agencies are engaged and subsequently civil protection mechanism triggered. Moreover, civil protection system is getting more decentralized in the SEE countries meaning that municipalities are increasingly becoming the first responders, therefore the peer-to-peer experience exchange and support is increasingly critical. This project will also support further decentralization of the governance mechanisms and make them more transparent and accessible at local level. Additionally, as institutional interventions are always inevitably calling for improving/strengthening capacity building and awareness raising this segment will also be taken into consideration and adequately addressed.

Note:
(1) - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the assignment is to serve as the main technical advisor to IRH and Balkan region COs in the second year of “South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network” project implementation. The consultant will also provide technical and project implementation support to the DRR team leader in UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

There are two specific objectives for this consultancy:

Support to IRH for “South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network” project implementation, coordination and reporting.
Advisory support to Balkan region COs with implementation of the South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network” project.

Scope of work

Specific tasks are as follows:

Within the project “South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network” provide support to the DRR Team Leader in UNDP IRH on coordination of participating UNDP COs, project partners and reporting to EC;
Support the IRH and COs with project realisation plans development, budgeting and reporting to EC;
Support the IRH and COs in organization and facilitation of the project related meetings/workshops/ trainings.
Ensure that COs participating in project “South East Europe Urban Resilience Building Action Network” UNDP COs receive timely and high quality technical advice and support on project implementation.
Ensure involvement of Croatian partners/ beneficiaries in project implementation

Deliverables

Payment Schedule

Deliverable 1 (20% of total amount; March 31, 2018)

2018 Annual Work Plan developed , COs plans are developed and agreed with the partners and between countries.
Report for project implementation in 2017 submitted and accepted by EC. First payment

Deliverable 2 (30% of total payment; June 30, 2018)

SEE URBAN DRR e-library and SEE URBAN networking website strengthened;
2nd Local level experience exchange roundtables conducted in all participating countries;

Deliverable 3 (30% of total payment; September 31, 2018)

Urban DRR training material for local level practitioners prepared;
Capacity building workshops conducted aimed at enhancing the capacities of local authorities’ knowledge in the area of urban DRR

Deliverable 4 (20% of total amount; December 2017)

Regional best practise sharing DRR working meeting conducted.
Final report to EC submitted and accepted by EC.

Management/organizational arrangements

The consultant will work under guidance and technical supervision of CDT Team Leader of UNDP for ECIS. He/she will also work closely with the six UNDP Country Offices and other partners. Within the duration of the contract the consultant should visit all participating countries and Istanbul. Travels, as per by the ToR will be funded separately.

The duration of the consultancy will be approx. 90 working days. Consultancy will start on 1 January 2018 and will be completed no later than 31 December 2018.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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.

Functional competencies:

Good communication and time management skills, ability to work in a team;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimim Bachelor degree in engineering and/or urban land development, environmental science, disaster risk reduction or other relevant field;

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in environmental management or climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction;
Professional experience in ECIS region, and particularly knowledge of climate risks / DRR and local level policies / procedures in the region is a strong advantage;

Language skills:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Balkan countries languages are required for this assignment.

Evaluation of Applicants
Individual consultants 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 (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points in each of the steps of the process will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Criteria A – Relevant university degree(s) completed – max points 5
Criteria B – Demonstrated relevant work experience in environmental management or climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction for at least 5 years – max points 10
Criteria C – Demonstrated relevant experience in climate risks / DRR and local level policies / procedures in ECIS region – max points 5
Criteria D – Language skills – max points 5
Criteria E – Interview – max points 10

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points

Application procedures
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and vision on how you will approach and conduct the work. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled P11 form 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 ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Financial Proposal* - specifying all-inclusive daily fee in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. Mission related costs, if any, should not be included in the price offer, as they will be paid separately per UNDP rules and regulations.

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

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

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