Antecedentes

By 2050, the UN foresees that 66% of world’s population will be living in cities. With this expanding population, there is a global shift to cities as primary agents of innovation and intervention and a demand for them to be resilient, economically vibrant, sustainable, accessible, well-governed, and well-planned. This appears insurmountable given that most countries face shrinking fiscal space, dwindling sources of financing, and uncertainty over trade, technology and finance in the future. 

The UNDP innovation work shows that the most interesting and novel insights and experiences in policy work come at the intersection of industries, sectors and perspectives.  Similarly, with the emerging work on cities, we are seeing a set of experiments that sit at the cross section of new approaches and technologies.  These seek to either reinforce existing inequalities and growth patterns or could be leveraged for a more inclusive and participatory development.  Cities are on the forefront of how this question pans out.  

UNDP’s NextGenGov agenda also recognizes cities as one of the spaces for experimentation, given their emergent leadership in international governance, like climate change, and new civic accords. It is at the city level that we find a diverse and dynamic set of actors, connecting, engaging and networking, and cutting across silos to improve life in cities.

A cross-regional UNDP initiative, supported by the Innovation Facility, is seeking to use cutting-edge technologies in understanding how different issues interact with one another in cities, what parts of the cities are sustainable or not, and how infrastructure development is interacting with the green spaces in Vranje, Serbia, Guatemala City, Guatemala and in Mogadishu, Somalia.  It assumes that parts of cities face multiple and intersecting deprivations (which we define as SDG hotspots). The interconnected nature of these challenges requires moving beyond sector-specific or silver-bullet technical solutions. 

Deberes y responsabilidades

The consultant will be home-based and will work under the direct supervision of the Knowledge and Innovation Team Leader in RBEC & Innovation Team Leader in RBAS. The project implementation is expected to take place in close partnership with UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub and UNDP Amman Hub, as well as Serbia, Guatemala and Somalia country offices, partners and national counterparts. 

Deliverables, timeline and payment schedule

The consultant is expected to design an open source prototype using artificial intelligence, machine learning or other advanced analytical techniques, to allow to unpack complex issues in urban settings, including those linked to urban development. The tool is expected to provide insights to governmental counterparts in Vranje, Guatemala City and Mogadishu, and UNDP on strategic areas for urban development and investment, as well identifying parts of towns where the issues converge. 

The specific deliverables include:

• Deliverable 1: Exploratory work for the definition of work for Vranje, Guatemala City and Mogadishu (a summary note of 2 pages), where work inputs include consultations with UNDP and municipal governments, definition of the data sources (including big data), defining the concrete questions to be answered depending on the local context, identifying a compendium of similar examples, technical support in development of partnerships for leveraging data and data collection  (30% of total payment; app. 18 days, by end of April 2019); 
• Deliverable 2: Design of the proposal for using new data and new technology in understanding urban development and how the issues interact (3-4 pages), including clearly defined project parameters,  proposing the technology and presentation to the partners of the project for their endorsement (30% of total payment; app. 18 days, before end of May 2019);
• Deliverable 3: Development of an open source prototype in the form of a map – identifying environmental, infrastructure and built environment hotspots in the Vranje, Guatemala City and Mogadishu, and their interaction, through the use of advanced computational techniques (30% of total payment; app. 18 days, by mid- June 2019);
• Deliverable 4:  Draft report with a summary of the findings (4-5 pages), a slide deck with key insights and a blog summarizing the experience and the findings from the prototype (10% of total payment; app 6 days, by end of June 2019).

Competencias

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;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Strong organizational, coordination and time management skills;
• Ability to organize tasks independently and assume responsibility; 
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education: 

• Master’s degree in design, architecture, urban planning, urban design or related areas is required
• PhD in architecture, urban planning, urban design or related area is an asset,

Experience: 

• At least 3 years of demonstrated research experience working on the interaction of environment, urban design and technology required; 
• Demonstrated experience in using innovative methods such as the use of data - for urban planning or experience with urban systems required;  
• A portfolio of projects designed by the consultant on the intersection of urban design, science and technology would be an advantage;

Language skills: 

• Excellent oral and written proficiency in English 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 criteria, (P11/CV desk review and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

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

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

• Criteria A (desk review) (Education in architecture, urban planning, urban design or related area) – max points: 10)
• Criteria B (desk-review) (Demonstrated research experience working on the interaction of environment, urban design and technology required) – max points: 7;
• Criteria C (desk-review) (Proposed approach/methodology in addressing the challenge at hand) – max points 5
• Criteria D (interview) (Demonstrated experience in using innovative methods – including the use of data - for urban planning or to understand urban systems required) – max points: 5;
• Criteria E (interview) (A portfolio of projects on the intersection of urban design, science and technology) – max points: 5;
• Criteria F (interview) (Language skills) – max points: 3;

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; 
• Proposed approach/methodology in addressing the challenge at hand (max. 1000 words)
• Filled P11 form/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); please upload the P11 instead of your CV; 

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: 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.