Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the global development network of the United Nations system that is on the ground in over 140 countries, with its Headquarters in New York, USA.  The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) is a central Bureau tasked with the development of corporate strategies, policies, tools and systems in key cross-cutting management areas. Drawing on sound analytics and a risk-management approach, BMS supports the achievement of development results through management advice, innovative business solutions, and other corporate services in line with international best practices and evolving needs and expectations of development partners.  BMS also ensures policy adherence in operations management within UN Rules & Regulations, safeguarding UNDP’s accountability vis-à-vis Member States and other stakeholders.

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) performs a pivotal role within BMS and within UNDP’s global finance function, partnering with Bureaux and Country Offices. The primary role of OFM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing financial leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation in the context of a fluctuating funding environment. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. OFM is a key source of information for the Executive Board, General Assembly, to Partners and wider civil society. It supports transparency through the provision of on time and quality statutory and other financial reports that comply with international standards and regulatory guidelines.

OFM ensures effective and efficient integrated resources management through a continuous and robust process comprising:

• Formulation and implementation of corporate financial and administrative strategies, policies and procedures;

• Formulation, alignment, documentation and implementation of UNDP’s funding frameworks, assuring their integrity, viability and alignment with the Strategic Plan;

• Provision of policy guidance, advisory services and operational support to strengthen client capacities and help them achieve results, seeking to build consensus within UNDP and with key stakeholders on critical budgetary related matters requiring Executive Board legislation;

• Administration of the organization’s internal control framework, overseeing and monitoring financial management of all global UNDP offices, including through formulation/implementation of resource planning, management and oversight tools and reports;

• Promoting clear accountability for financial transactions and producing financial statements, including financial reporting to donors and the UNDP Executive Board.

  UNDP uses PeopleSoft ERP system, referred to internally as “Atlas” which was implemented in 2004 and comprises various modules including, Accounts Payable, Contracts Module (used for management of revenues and receivables), General Ledger, Treasury Module, Human Resources, Grants and Project Management, Bank-to-Book (B2B) and Asset Management modules. Given the decentralized nature of UNDP’s operations with presence in over 140 country offices, access to the Atlas is controlled via customized user profiles and access rights which permit users to access and perform specified functions in accordance with their approved access rights. UNDP has embarked on the process of migrating from the current PeopleSoft ERP to Oracle Cloud ERP to improve internal processes and keep up with evolving industry standards. The Cloud ERP project is in the design phase. The system is expected to go-live on 1 Jan 2022 for the core modules and the functionality is expected to be rolled-out gradually within the HQ and the Bureaus and to the country offices in phases. The system stabilization and staff support activities requiring expert input will continue till at least Q2, 2022.

  The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is responsible for the implementation of financial processes in the Oracle Cloud ERP. The Division is seeking services of a consultant to undertake specific functional and technical work to support project milestones related to the financial management activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

A consultant is sought to support OFM ERP activities related to the design, realization, testing, system integration and roll-out of the Oracle Cloud ERP for financial management processes as defined in the Cloud ERP process ownership matrix.

Specifically with reference to the ERP implementation, the CFO accountability covers the following broad functional areas:

1. Process ownership of L1 processes directly or through delegation to the Deputy Directors, Section Chiefs, or other managers. This covers the financial management business processes realized through the General ledger, Accounts Payables and Receivables system functionality and the production of statutory financial reports, and the provision of donor reports, management, and operational information systems.

2. Internal control framework and implementation of the framework in the ERP systems.

3. Sound integration of various ERP components to provide confidence in the accuracy of official books of accounts for UNDP.

4. Facilitating and implementing change management throughout the ERP implementation and providing

5. Ensure enabling process and policy framework to adopt the best business practices prescribed by the software vendor for financial as well as programme management activities while ensuring consistency with the application financial regulations.

   Expected outputs and deliverables:

   The specific responsibility areas for the consultant and the associated deliverables will include:

The consultancy work focuses on a coordination role in the project. Input on technical matters will be required from the consultant to support the review/assessment/evaluation activities as outlined in the milestone outputs. The consultant, however, is not responsible for the ERP implementation outcome. Given the dependence of planned deliverables on the overall implementation progress, the timing and sequence of the milestone may be adjusted and fine-tuned. The milestone completion will be assessed by the CFO considering the Quantum project developments.

While this is a home-based milestone delivery assignment, the consultant will be responsible for taking part in functional and technical meetings. The consultant will be expected to:

• Attend Oracle Cloud implementation meetings and incorporate ongoing developments for the assignment outputs and updates to the OFM management.
• Prepare discussion notes, option papers, reports and analysis required by other stakeholders for review to support the design, modelling, realization and go-live phases of the project.
• Provide technical and functional input to OFM policies and procedures that will be impacted by the migration from the PeopleSoft to Oracle Cloud ERP. This is an essential aspect of and the key driver of the deliverables

OFM recognizes the large scale of the project and inherent dependencies of various elements on the assignment. The delivery, timeliness and the quality of the specific milestones will be evaluated against the overall project status without prejudice to the consultant.

Competencies

• Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences.
• Demonstrated ability to provide guidance and oversight in the area of financial and administrative management.
• Proven skills and ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, draw conclusions and recommend solutions.
• Ability to assess risks and correctly analyze the likelihood of occurring and prioritize any necessary action to risks with the largest business impact.
• Strong financial management and accounting skills.
• Knowledge of the financial frameworks, programme policies & procedures of UNDP and/or UN entities.
• Experience in large-scale ERP implementation projects including data conversion. Experience with Oracle ERP is a distinct added advantage.
• Thorough & proven understanding of common business and project management practices.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• Professional accounting qualification from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy. Required

• Advanced (Masters) University Degree in Business Administration, Finance/Accounting or a relevant discipline, would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 10 years’ experience in senior financial management position(s) for large international organizations, required.
• Audit experience in a large public auditing firm will be an added advantage.

• Experience with ERP systems is required.

• Experience with Peoplesoft and Oracle Cloud ERP will be an added advantage.

• Experience and understanding of IPSAS or IFRS utilized by international organizations is required. 
• Experience with UNDP Finance and Accounting procedures will be an added advantage.
• Familiarity with international development and the UN system is desirable.
• UNDP experience will be an added advantage.
•  Programme country office experience is desirable.
• Analytical capabilities combined with strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience and ability to communicate effectively in groups and formal meetings.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required;

• Working knowledge of another UN language particularly Spanish and French would be an asset

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 shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager.

• 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.
• 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. Relevance of the experience in senior financial management position(s) for large international organizations to the assignment; Maximum Points: 25;
• Criteria 2. Experience with Peoplesoft and Oracle Cloud ERP; Maximum Points: 20;
• Criteria 3: Experience with UNDP Finance and Accounting procedures; Maximum Points: 15;

• Criteria 4: Experience and understanding of IPSAS or IFRS utilized by international organizations; Maximum Points: 10;

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 Chief Finance Officer and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

Payment modality

• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon milestone delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.

• 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

  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.

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.