UNDP Jobs - 87606- Consultant for Strategic Communications for Transf

Consultant for Strategic Communications for Transformative Governance and Finance Facility II (TGFF II)

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

03-Oct-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated 1 November 2019 – 31 December 2020

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approximately 150 working 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

Development challenges are increasingly complex and unpredictable. With Agenda 2030, ever greater collaboration across sectors and partners is required to deliver impact at scale and to make the most of limited resources. UNDP has been helping countries to connect the dots on the toughest sustainable development issues they face, and, in a rapidly changing world, is constantly seeking to improve the work done, to diversify its sources of funding and to pilot more effective business models. New ways of doing development and use of innovative solutions driven by citizens are emerging. From social impact investors to new government units focusing on behavioral change, new players are pioneering methods that turn traditional approaches on their head. At UNDP, the goal is to capture these methods and help partners roll out solutions to key issues such as participation and inclusion, open and transparent governance, inclusive growth and sustainable management of natural resources.

The Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) is UNDP’s main knowledge and advisory hub for the countries serviced by UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (RBEC). In the region, UNDP works with national and international partners to strengthen the social contract between the state and society in a manner that protects human rights, promotes equality, and enhances social cohesion. The IRH is also the corporate leader on innovation and broader social innovation work. The IRH connects the region to a global network of development experts, to build knowledge and capacity, and to forge partnerships to meet the development challenges of a large and diverse region.The Hub implements the Regional Programme (2018-2021) that has been formulated based on the most crucial regional challenges in the region with a particular focus on a strengthened approach to specific sub-regional challenges. Furthermore, the IRH is also implementing sub-regional initiatives and projects, such as the Transformative Governance and Finance Facility (TGFF), which empowers young people through the use of new data and new technologies in the region. TGFF seeks to utilize new technologies, data and alternative finance mechanisms in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through three outputs: new technologies, data and engagement of citizens are used to improve governance and development outcomes; collaborative platforms are utilized at the regional and national level to drive innovative solutions to governance and development challenges; and effectiveness of development interventions is strengthened and enhanced through alternative finance mechanisms.

Ministry of Data (MoD), a flagship open data challenge designed by UNDP and the Slovak Ministry of Finance, and takes a regional approach, is housed within TGFF. As of now, there have been 3 rounds of the Ministry of Data, two in the Western Balkans, and one in the Black Sea region. Ministry of Data has reached around 1000 young people through meet-ups in 13 countries, solicited 150 ideas from over 600 young people and brought together 150 young people to look at issues as diverse as air pollution, transparency, mobility and gender empowerment, generating solutions. Through the Ministry of Data, UNDP has worked with over 40 mentors, engaged the private sector and supported the development of 8 ideas.

To this end, UNDP IRH is seeking a consultant who will work with the Transformative Governance and Finance Facility II project, to support implementation of the communication strategy and value proposition for the project.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant tasked with executing this support, under the direct supervision of the TGFF II Project Manager and Regional Innovation Specialist, will work closely with both teams and other members of the IRH. The consultant will also work with Country Office staff and other partners as required.
In particular, the consultant will be responsible for strategic communication of two different streams of work:

Transformative Governance and Finance Facility II:

Support the development of M&E tools to measure the effectiveness of communication activities and to adjust activities if need be, together with TGFF team and country offices;
Support implementation of the workplan for comms - including coordinating aligned visual communication, streamlining of communications across the different platforms, ensuring that messaging across the platforms is aligned;
Ensuring there are at least two blogs a month published from the team - including identifying topics, editing and working with team members;
Preparation of project communication materials (to communicate to external audience) - photo stories, tweets, etc.

Ministry of Data:

Support in developing and implementation of an integrated communications strategy for MoD once the revised draft MoD project to help communicate the redesign process to project partners, stakeholders and potential future MoD challenge target audiences;
Produce two blogposts on the MoD challenge redesign process including consolidating feedback and finalization;
Manage MoD online presence, including the website and social media accounts, such as Facebook;
Support the MoD events, meet-ups and conferences through the creation of communications material, live-blogging and live-tweeting;
Manage MoD online presence, including the website and social media accounts, such as Facebook, and copy-edit MoD related communications;
Liaise and coordinate work with external contractors, such as design agencies and individual consultants on the communications aspect of the redesign and implementation of MoD;
Support development of key performance indicators (KPIs) for the MoD.

Expected Tasks
Specific deliverables will be agreed with the certifying officer at the beginning of each month and they will be reported on a monthly basis and will specifically focus on the following:

Provide technical advice, update and support the implementation of TGFF Communications Strategy to be positioned strategically within relevant communities of practice until the end of 2020 (approximately 10% of the time)
Support the preparation and copy-edit communication materials (e.g., blogs, reports, et cetera) with team members related to projects (approximately 40% of the time)
Ensuring the same visual identity, through collaboration with external vendors, and value proposition across the four platforms (Ministry of Data, ODECA Alternative Finance Lab and UNDP Eurasia) under the TGFF-2 project and different communication channels including social media channels, collateral and other materials (approximately 15% of the time)
Supporting the promotion and distribution of TGFF knowledge management, research and reporting products within relevant communities of practice and its partner network, relevant events and partnerships with like-minded organizations, business networks (approximately 20% of the time)
Development of communication Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), regular measurement of results against established KPIs, iterating engagement strategies, and identifying the most effective means of communicating (approximately 15% of the time)

Renumeration
Timeframe: up to 150 working days over estimated period from the start of the assignment.
Specific timeline for delivery of services will be agreed with the certifying officer at the beginning of each month. Payments will be made in 14 installments (once a month) upon submitted satisfactory timesheet and upon its acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer (TGFF Project Manager and Regional Innovation Specialist).
Travel costs related to the possible missions to Europe and CIS region and other locations will be paid separately to the consultant as per UNDP rules and regulations.
Payments will be made against deliverables and upon its acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer.

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;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in team and multi-cultural environments;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree in international development, social sciences, or similar areas.

Experience:

At least 5 years’ work experience supporting organizations working on communication - both hands on (writing + editing) and in strategic communication is required;
At least 3 years work experience in communications, with demonstrable experience leading campaigns;
Demonstrated experience of digital content creation, including blogs, website or any format of communication platform.

Language:

Fluency in oral and written English is required.

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:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11/CV desk reviews, interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points in desk review (Criteria A-C) will be invited for interviews. Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points in technical evaluation (Criteria A-E) will be considered for financial evaluation.

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

Criteria A - (desk review) Master's degree in international development, social sciences, or similar areas– max points: 6;
Criteria B – (desk review, based on samples and methodology) Min. 5 years’ work experience supporting organizations working on communication - both hands on (writing + editing) and in strategic communication - max points: 8;
Criteria C - (desk review) Min. 3 years’ work experience with international organizations, or civil society organizations is required: 7;
Criteria D – (interviews) Demonstrated experience of running successful campaigns - max points: 9;
Criteria E - (interviews) Fluency in English - max points: 5.

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

Application procedures
The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled P11 form or CV 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);
Portfolio of min. 2 working samples related to relevant past experiences
Brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

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: https://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/UNDP%20General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf