Background

Public Finance Management is throughout the Pacific a topic of importance for international and local partners equally. Numerous stakeholders, institutions and international actors have been engaged in reinforcing the frameworks, tools and actors linked to public monies management. Civil society actors, Parliament and Supreme Audit Institutions form oversight function in public financial management across the Pacific Islands region have been identify as an area requiring strengthening. A specific focus of UNDP in this regard is the parliament’s role in budget scrutiny; effective external audit of government budget execution by the supreme audit institutions, inclusion of citizens and civil society in budget processes, thorough and transparent parliamentary oversight of the external audit, and follow-up with government on recommendations.

Strengthening of public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (hereafter PFM) aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, though improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region, aligning with international public financial oversight and accountability standards, and fostering citizen engagement and oversight. Strengthening of Public Finance Management project is funded by the European Union (EU) and Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The on-going pandemic has constrained activity implementation of the project and a new workplan was design to adapt to the current context. The development of new activities in the final phase of the project require additional support to the coordination and organisation of project activities. The consultant seeked will be integrated in the team and ideally bring additional technical expertise on PFM, oversight or citizen engagement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Reporting to the UNDP PFM Project Manager, the activities coordinator will be responsible for the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities identified monthly. Specific responsibilities will include:

• Ensure effective design, organization and implementation of agreed activities. The Coordinator will ensure that administrative processes as well as technical inputs are planned and delivered in timely manner to effectively deliver the project activities by December 15th. The Coordinator will ensure effective information flux, coordinating local organization and tracking progress by supervising and ensuring highest standards in event organisation and delivery (mostly but not limited to online events).
• Under the leadership of the PFM Project Manager provide direct guidance and supervision of national and international consultants working with the project. This work will include tracking reports and following up with consultants;
• Coordinate the efficient planning, implementation, management and coordination of the project operations and personnel;
• Draft and finalise quarterly and annual report of the PFM project including coordination of inputs from various partners and team members;
• Perform other duties as required.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

The Consultant will report to the UNDP PFM Project Manager Effective Governance. Reporting and payment will be done on a monthly basis, using timesheets and referring to the deliverables of the contract.

The Consultant to provide their own IT equipment and access (computer and internet connection).  

Duration of the Work

The consultant will be required to work for a period of up to 120 days between November 1st 2020 to May 30th 2021.

Duty Station

This consultancy will require physical presence during office hours at the UNDP Pacific office in Suva, Fiji. Only candidates with the ability to travel to or currently residing in Fiji should apply. Online presentations and exchanges will be taking place on the Pacific time-zone. Unforeseen travel might take place as borders re-open.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;

• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;

• Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment;

• Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work under pressure;

• Excellent relationship management;

• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation and reporting skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelors in Social Sciences, Economics or related field is required.

Experience

• 5 years of professional experience including in areas focusing on effective governance/democracy/public finance/citizen engagement and/or project management related issues

• A minimum of 1 years of experience with international/regional/bilateral/development organizations, with proven knowledge of project management, and monitoring and evaluation tools;

• Good understanding of the development context and governance structure of the Pacific is required.

• Hands on experience with UN(DP) technical assistance procedures, project management, and best practices and experience from the Pacific region is an advantage but not essential;

• Experience in working, liaising and collaborating with national government institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners is an advantage.

• Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required;

   

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done based on monthly timesheets validated by supervisor.

In general, UNDP shall 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

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall 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 set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points) [Please add/adjust the below criteria and points awarded to each as necessary]

• Criteria 1 - Relevance of Education – Max 10 points

• Criteria 2 - Relevance of - Max 20 Points

• Criteria 3 – Specificexperience with international/regional/bilateral/development organizations -  Max 20 points

• Criteria 4 – Experience in the development sector – Max 10 points

• Criteria 5 – national government institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners – Max 10 points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information (in one (1) single document as the application supports only one upload) to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability for the duration of the assignment using the template provided in Annex II.

• CV indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II (in USD)

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

Above documents can be accessed from UNDP website via following link:

https://www.pacific.undp.org/content/pacific/en/home/procurement.html

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (Consultant – Activities Coordinator) with reference (PN/FJI/107/20) and submitted via UN Job shop by 31 October 2020.
• Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal consolidated and submitted as one single document.
• For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: procurement.fj@undp.org.  

Women applicants are encouraged to apply