Background

The Global Environment Facility in its 7th replenishment (GEF-7), responds directly to the GEF-7 Four-year Framework of Programme Priorities agreed by countries at CBD COP-13, as well as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, 2011-2020. Specifically, the proposed Biodiversity Focal Area is built around achieving the Four-year Programs’ three objectives: (i) Mainstream Biodiversity Across sectors as Well as Within Production Landscapes and Seascapes, (ii) Reduce Direct Drivers of Biodiversity Loss, and (iii) Strengthen Biodiversity Policy and Institutional Frameworks. Moreover, the GEF to continue and further enhance means to harness opportunities for leveraging synergies among the Rio Conventions and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements.

In line with the GEF-7 strategic synergistic programming for Biodiversity, the project ‘Building institutional and local capacities to reduce wildlife crime and to enhance protection of iconic wildlife in Malaysia’, a country child project under the World Bank Group-led Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) will help to address the following barriers linked to the GWP Theory of Change (TOC): (i) shortcomings in the management and financing of conservation areas; (ii) insufficient opportunities for communities to engage in conservation; (iii) lack of expertise and technologies to support enforcement activities; and (iv) ineffective national coordination in illegal wildlife trade (IWT).

Project information:

Title: Building institutional and local capacities to reduce wildlife crime and to enhance protection of iconic wildlife in Malaysia

The project’s objective is to enhance the protection of three iconic wildlife species and their habitats in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah. Focusing on Malayan tiger, Bornean orangutan and Bornean banteng (as iconic Malaysian wildlife species), the child project will contribute to improving Malaysia’s capacity to prevent, combat and investigate wildlife crimes. It comprises of four complementary components: 

Component 1: Strengthen institutional capacities to combat wildlife crime and reduce poaching of iconic species at the national level;

Component 2: Conserve the Malayan tiger and its habitats in the Malaysian Peninsula;

Component 3: Conserve the Bornean orangutan and its habitats in the protected areas of Sarawak; and

Component 4: Conserve the Bornean banteng and its habitats in Sabah.

UNDP, in collaboration with the Government of Malaysia particularly the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA), Sabah and Sarawak State Governments, seeks to engage a technically qualified National Wildlife Conservation and Management Specialist. The National wildlife Conservation and Management Specialist will fulfil the de facto role as national team project leader and will act as the national counterpart for the International Project Development Specialist@PPG Team Leader. He/she will be responsible for leading the consultative development of the following outputs (refer to approved Project Concept Note dated 16 March 2020_http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/GWP%20CP%20Malaysia%20Project%20Concept.pdf): Output 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 of Component 1; Output 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of Component 2; Output 3.1 of Component 3; and Output 4.1 and 4.2 of Component 4.

Duties and Responsibilities

A.Scope of work

Responsibilities and Deliverables

1.Management of the National PPG team:

• Support the PPG team leader in consultatively developing the detailed PPG work plan;
• Act as the primary contact point for the national PPG consulting team;
• With direct support from the National Geospatial Analyst, collate and standardise the maps prepared by government agencies for incorporation into the project documentation; and
• Support the PPG team leader in verifying and ensuring that all project outputs are technically sound and cost effective.

2. Preparatory Technical Studies and Reviews (Component A): Prepare inputs and support the required analyses/studies, as agreed with the PPG Team Leader, including:

• Prepare inputs for the description of the project ‘Development Challenge’ and ‘Strategy’ (including species and conservation status profiles; policy, legislative and institutional framework, threats, problems, barriers, baseline investments), focusing on the conservation of tiger, orangutan and banteng populations in Malaysia;
• Contribute to the development of the project’s ‘Theory of Change’;
• Consultatively develop a description of outputs including a description of the problem to be addressed, proposed activities to be funded from GEF grant, proposed implementation modalities for activities, partnership arrangements with complementary initiatives and proposed GEF budget for each output;
• Prepare inputs into the development of the ‘Project Results Framework’ and project ‘Monitoring Plan’, including proposing the project core indicators and targets and outcome indicators and targets for components 1, 2, 3 and 4;
• Assist UNDP CO in Malaysia and the PPG team leader in appraising and formulating the most appropriate project implementation and execution modality;
• Assist the PPG team leader in the preparation of the project’s ‘Total Budget and Work Plan’ and ‘Multi-Year Work Plan’;
• Assist the PPG team leader in describing the Terms of References (TORs) of the ‘Technical Consultancies’ for the project implementation phase;
• Complete the baseline Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool’s (METT) for the project-targeted protected areas; and
• Support the preparation of any additional studies that are determined to be needed for the preparation of the Project Document (ProDoc) and all other final outputs as guided by the PPG Team Leader.

3.Formulation of the ProDoc, CEO Endorsement Request and Mandatory and Project Specific Annexes (Component B):

• Provide relevant inputs for the ProDoc and GEF CEO Endorsement Request, as requested by the PPG Team Leader; and
• Review and comment on iterative drafts of the project documentation prepared by the Project Team Leader.

4.Validation Workshop (Component C):

• Contribute to the validation workshop; and
• Support all necessary revisions that arise during the workshop, as appropriate.

5.Final Deliverables:

• Support the Team Leader in gathering all technical and consultation inputs from national and local stakeholders;
• Assist, as required, with completion of the UNDP-GEF ProDoc and GEF CEO Approval Request.
• Review of national and sub-national policy and legislative frameworks, identifying gaps and barriers to addressing gaps and recommendations on project activities to strengthen the policy, legal and regulatory framework;
• Institutional capacity assessment and recommendations for capacity development interventions to be implemented during the project (i.e. institutional capacity development to combat wildlife crime and conservation of tiger, orangutan and banteng and recommendations for the sustainability of capacity development interventions);
• Concrete guidance on measures already identified in the Project Concept Note to address barriers and expand on this preliminary analysis by providing suggestions of additional actions that should be implemented and a set of concrete targets and project indicators;
• Inputs to institutional arrangements for project implementation;
• Inputs to communications strategy, including internal knowledge management and external communication plans;
• Inputs to indicators and targets for the results framework;
• Completed METTs (GEF-7 Biodiversity Protected Area tracking tools).
• In summary, all technical reports, technical inputs and mandatory annexures for the final project documentation, as explicitly identified in the project PPG work plan.

B.Institutional Arrangements

• Estimated level of effort: up to 60 days;
• The Specialist will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The Specialist 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 Expert will report to the UNDP Country Office;
• The Specialist is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability during the PPG tasks;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and Certification of Payment (COP) form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked and outputs delivered.

C.Duration of the work

The assignment will require up to 60 working days starting from 16 September 2020 until 31 December 2021.

D. Duty Station

Home-based

Travel

• Estimated duration of 18 days (9 days for the first mission and 9 days for the second mission, including travel time to the project demonstration sites), the COVID-19 travel restrictions permitting.  Due to the COVID19 travel restrictions the missions could be organized virtually;
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor of the corresponding CO;
• The BSAFE course must be completed before the commencement of travel;
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/; 
• The Specialist will be responsible for making his/her mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
• All envisaged travel costs for estimated duration of 18 days must be included in the financial proposal. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the Specialist wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Specialist, prior to travel and will be reimbursed based on provision of supporting documentation.

E. Schedule of Payment

Payment to be made based on completed deliverables against the TOR, which will be assessed and verified by UNDP Malaysia CO.

[1] Note that Travel bans, restrictions and requirements will likely affect the dates and structure of the missions. The above table provides tentative information for mission budgeting/ICs financial proposal purposes only. Flexibility is expected from the selected candidate in terms of the possibility of having alternative mission and consultation arrangements (i.e. online consultations and online inception/validation workshops. Having one single consultation/truth-grounding mission when travel restrictions are lifted, etc.).

Competencies

Functional competencies:

• Demonstrable experience and knowledge in the technical area of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, sustainable development, or closely related area. Specific experience and knowledge in wildlife management and conservation or similar is an asset;
• Demonstrable experience with GEF project development, implementation and/or evaluation, including formulation of biodiversity conservation projects with capacity development elements;
• 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.

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 favouritism;
• 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:

Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, such as Zoology, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Nature Conservation, Wildlife Management & Conservation and Veterinary Science (wildlife) (10 points).

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of demonstrable experience in the technical area of wildlife conservation and management (10 points);
• Knowledge and/or good understanding of wildlife crime including combating poaching and/or illegal wildlife trade (15 points);
• Demonstrated understanding of political, policy, legal and institutional context and priorities for wildlife species conservation and management in Malaysia (15 points);
• Experience working with UNDP and/or on GEF projects an advantage (5 points); and
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and fluency in Malay (to be assessed through written test) (15 points).

Language Requirement:

Language required for this assignment is English and Malay.

Evaluation Method 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, experience and written test will be based on a maximum 70 points. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted to undergo a written test for written communication skill. Only the top 3 candidates scoring 50 points or higher from the review of the education, experience and written test 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 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 Specialist 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 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.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

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

1. Document 1 : Annex 1: Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Annex 1) at http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Letter%20of%20Interest%20_Annex%201.docx?download
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 (Annex 2) should specify unit price (daily professional fee), travel and relevant costs in Malaysian Ringgit MYR using the financial proposal template at http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Annex%202-%20Financial%20Proposal.docx
4. Document 4: Personal CV or P11 including areas of expertise and past experiences in similar projects and at least three (3) references at http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11%20for%20SC%20&%20IC.doc?download
5. Please submit this information in one file as Document 1, 2, 3 and 4.The system will only accept one attachment , please merge all documents and submit 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 below;
• Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions (refer to below link(;
• Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required;
• Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;
• For clarification question, please email to procurement.my@undp.org. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2020/039" as the subject matter.

 General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

• The General Terms & Conditions for Individual contract is available at: http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/General%20Conditions%20of%20Contract%20for%20IC.pdf?download

           Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNDP and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter    makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments

• The General Terms & Conditions for Reimbursement Loan Agreement is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement%20_%20Terms%20&%20Conditions.pdf?download 

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. Only short-listed candidates may be contacted, and successful candidates will be notified.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, aboriginal groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.