UNDP Jobs - 96598- Consultancy – Data engineer (Full stack developer)

Consultancy – Data engineer (Full stack developer), Other/Other/UNDP

Location :

Home Based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2021

Application Deadline :

10-Feb-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

100 Working days within 6 months with possibility of extension for additional 6 months subject satis

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

100 Working days within 6 months with possibility of extension for additional 6 months subject satis

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

The UNDP Accelerator Labs Network is the largest learning network in the world, with 90 Labs embedded in UNDP’s global architecture and country platforms. It builds on the latest thinking in fields like complex systems, lead user innovation, and collective intelligence to accelerate development impact.

The Accelerator Labs surface and reinforce locally sourced solutions at scale, while mobilizing a wide and dynamic range of partners w6 ho contribute knowledge, resources, and experience. The idea is to transform trac65ditional development approaches by introducing new protocols, backed by evidence and practice, to accelerate the testing and dissemination of solutions within, and across countries, while at the same time enabling the global community to collectively learn from local knowledge and ingenuity at a speed and scale that our societies and planet require.

The individual contractor will work directly with the Lead Data Scientist in the UNDP Accelerator Labs Network Global Support Team, and will help build data-driven tools to better understand the dynamics of the global network, as well as participate in the elaboration of novel knowledge management products.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Functional responsibilities

The individual contractor will:

Research, evaluate, and develop new tools, frameworks and patterns for (big) data-driven web-applications used by the Accelerator Labs Network.
Support the Lead Data Scientist, the Global Team, and in-country Lab members in the planning, design, implementation and use of applications developed.
Set up and manage backup mechanisms for applications.
Compile and analyze data, processes, and code to identify gaps and opportunities in existing applications.
Develop and work with various APIs for integration in existing applications.
Identify potential data security issues, ensure standards are met, and provide support to in-country Labs on data security related-matters.
Manage the technical transition of tools conceived and developed by the Accelerator Labs Network Lead Data Scientist to other departments within UNDP, including the Office of Information Management and Technology, and the Chief Digital Office.

Competencies

Professionalism

Ability to work effectively as part of a team, but also independently with little supervision
Comfortable working with diverse programming languages, frameworks, libraries, and platforms
Ability and confidence to work directly with indirect partners or clients to define requirements
Passionate about the use of data for human and social development
Passionate about open source/ free software movements
Passionate about software engineering, architecture design, and application development
Ability to work with people from around the world, with different backgrounds, motivations, and competencies

Planning and organization

Ability to identify priority activities and assignments, and adjust these as required
Ability to meet deadlines, work under pressure, manage workflows, and operate as part of a distributed team with members across almost every time-zone on the planet
Possesses good organizational skills
Knowledge management and learnings
Motivation to continuously learn new things, and ability to put new learning and skills to use
Motivation to share personal knowledge and experience with others

Communication

Speaks and writes clearly and effectively, with a particular attention for the audience
Listens to others
Demonstrates openness in sharing information

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

At least a Master’s Degree in computer science, human computer interaction, information visualization, interaction design, data science or related fields. Required

Experience:

A minimum of five years of experience with web technologies, software development, and design. Required
Experience with Microsoft Azure Services is highly desirable.
Experience with Twilio is highly desirable.
Experience in designing and developing for low bandwidth applications is desirable.
Experience in quantitative data analysis is desirable.
Experience with public and hybrid cloud network planning, setup, configuration, security, supervision, and management (with additional services like AWS, Google Cloud, or IBM Cloud/ Bluemix) is desirable.
Knowledge of data security protocols and certifications is desirable.
Experience working in United Nations, UNDP, and an international development organization, programme or agency is desirable.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required
Working knowledge of French is desirable.
Working knowledge of Spanish, Arabic, or any other UN language is a plus

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel.
In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

Criteria 1: Relevant experience in full-stack development (web technologies, software development) .(minimum 5 years: 8 points; 7-8 years: 12 points; 10 years: 15 points). Weight = 15%; Maximum point 15
Criteria 2: Relevant experience with cloud computing services; MS Azure (minimum 1 year; 1-2 years: 6 points; 2-5 years: 8 points; more than 5 years: 10 points)— Weight = 10%; Maximum Point 10
Criteria 3: Relevant experience with Twilio. (up to 1 year: 6 points; 1-2 years: 8 points; more than 2 years: 10 points). Weight = 10%; Maximum Point 10
Criteria 4: Experience in developing for low bandwidth (up to 1 year: 6 points; 1-2 years: 8 points; more than 2 years: 10 points), Weight =10%; Maximum Point 10
Criteria 5: Experience in conducting quantitative data analyses (up to 1 year: 1 point; 1-2 years: 3 points; more than 2 years: 5 points), Weight = 5%; Maximum Point 5
Criteria 6: Prior work experience with the United Nations, UNDP, or other international development organizations, programmes or agencies (up to 1 year: 1 points; 1-2 years: 3 points; more than 2 years: 5 points). Weight = 5%; Maximum Point 5

Criteria 7: Interview; Weight = 15%; Maximum Point 15

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top four shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of UNDP Accelerator Labs Network Lead Data Scientist and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants