UNDP Jobs - 70859- Junior Consultant on Employment

Junior Consultant on Employment

Location :

Istanbul, TURKEY

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Mar-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approx. 221 working days

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

UNDP works in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We support countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

UNDP helps countries to simultaneously reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development that leads to transformational change, bringing about real improvements in people’s lives.

We promote an integrated approach to achieve sustainable development that tackles the connected issues of multidimensional poverty, inequality and exclusion, and sustainability, while enhancing knowledge, skills and production technologies to reduce risks and sustain development gains for both people and the plant.

We help countries build their capacity to integrate environmental considerations into development plans and strategies, including through managing and sustainably using natural resources; ensuring that natural wealth is used to improve people’s lives; promoting economic recovery and livelihoods, and developing social inclusion policies and social protection for those in need, thus support the achievement of 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

As an integral part of the nexus between social, environmental and economic sustainability, access to full and productive employment and decent work for all are core elements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNDP builds partnerships for supporting the countries to address pressing challenges, tackle root causes, promote policies and build capacities for sustainable jobs creation.
The consultancy will be based within the Sustainable Development Cluster of the Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH). The IRH connects the transition and developing countries of Europe and Central Asia to global networks of development experts, in order to build knowledge and capacity, and to forge partnerships to meet the development challenges of a large and diverse region. Today, the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia faces a variety of challenges. Specifically, we help countries pursue a development response which meets the needs of all citizens, to ensure that economic growth benefits everyone, including those at greater risk of exclusion (ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, rural populations, women and young people). Through the Sustainable Development Cluster we support a sustainable balancing of human and environmental priorities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The specific tasks of this consultancy are to support the Sustainable Development Cluster in its work in the area of employment, in particular supporting the work related to promoting inclusive labour markets and sustainable jobs creations.
Under the supervision of the Project Manager of Promoting Inclusive Labour Markets in the Western Balkans Project the junior consultant will be responsible to:

undertake comparative reviews of the relevant employment and social policies and programmes and evaluation studies and policy assessments in the Western Balkans and CIS countries for promoting inclusive labour markets;
conduct an in-depth overview of the major national and regional initiatives in the areas of employment and good practices that could be scaled up;
conduct desk research of data from official statistics or alternative sources of proxy data on the vulnerabilities and barriers to employment of specific groups (women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, rural population;
draft background analytical papers for the policy events and workshops to be organized under the Promoting Inclusive Labour Market Project;
contribute to summarizing the results and drafting lessons learned from undertaken activities;
contribute to knowledge systematization and codification to foster East-East Cooperation and transfer of know – how to CIS and Caucuses countries;
undertake a comparative overview of youth employment trends and barriers to employment and relevant national policy and programmes;
conduct a research of innovative practices (financing schemes, tools, support systems) at national and local level to promote employment and business startup of youth;
conduct and assessment of information and service gaps, which create barriers to employment for the vulnerable groups;
collect information on the legal and policy framework and experiences in the area of social entrepreneurship;
conduct desk research of comparative policies, possible entry points and experiences in promoting care economy, in particular from the perspective of helping women to lift into the formal labour market;
conduct a desk research of national policies, local practices and capacities of public employment services for creating enabling environment for integration of migrants, reintegration of migrant returnees and promoting circular migration in labour market.

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: a stock taking report on the major employment and social policies and programmes implemented in the Western Balkans and CIS countries and their impact on accessibility of vulnerable and people at risk of social exclusion to labour markets;
Deliverable 2: a compendium of comparative country experiences and UNDP’s contribution to promoting employment agenda in the programme countries and the achievement of Goal 8 or other relevant SDGs;
Deliverable 3: country profiles providing and overview of the employment related challenges linked to informality, vulnerability and inequality of unemployed women, youth, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, rural population, including SDG 8 related indicators;
Deliverable 4: analytical paper on the available statistics, proxy indicators from alternative data sources and data gaps, including through the perspective of the SDG reporting;
Deliverable 5: a background paper on youth employment (overview of youth employment trends, barriers, successful programmes, innovative financing schemes, IT based platforms, support systems);
Deliverable 6: a background paper on labour migration, summarizing the national policies, successful local practices and capacities of public employment services for creating enabling environment for integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, reintegration of returnees and promoting circular migration in the labour market;
Deliverable 7: a summary report of the results and lessons learned from implementation of territorial employment pacts in the six Western Balkan economies;
Deliverable 8: a stock taking report of the legal and policy framework and experiences in the area of social entrepreneurship;
Deliverable 9: a comparative review of policies, experiences and lessoned learned from promoting care economy;
Deliverable 10: outcome documents from training workshops and policy consultations events.

Payment Schedule:

Installment 1 - 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 1, indicative date: 1 month after start of the contract;
Installment 2 – 8% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 2, indicative date: 2 months after start of the contract;
Installment 3 – 12% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 3, indicative date: 3.5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 4 - 12% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 4, indicative date: 5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 5 – 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 5, indicative date: 6 months after start of the contract;
Installment 6 - 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 6, indicative date: 7 months after start of the contract;
Installment 7 – 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 7, indicative date: 8 months after start of the contract;
Installment 8 – 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 8, indicative date: 9.5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 9 – 10% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 8, indicative date: 10.5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 10 - 8% upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 10, indicative date: end of contract.

Competencies

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.

Functional competencies:

Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
Strong organizational skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

Master’s degree in economy or social studies.

Experience:

At least two-years work experience required on social studies, employment or social protection issues;
Experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection, processing and analysis shall be considered a strong asset;
Experience in the management and interpretation of data on employment, poverty or social exclusion shall be considered a strong asset.

Language skills:

Language proficiency in both written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of language(s) spoken in the Western Balkans shall be considered an asset;
Writing and editing skills in English will be assessed by a written test.

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:

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.

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

Criteria A (Relevance of education) – max points: 2.5;
Criteria B (Relevance of work experience on social studies, employment or social protection issues) – max points: 2.5;
Criteria B (Management and interpretation of data on employment, poverty and social exclusion) – max points: 5;
Criteria C (Quantitative and qualitative data collection, processing and analysis) – max points: 5;
Criteria C (Language) – max points: 5;
Criteria D (Written Assignment – technical knowledge and clarity of the text) – max points: 10;
Criteria E (Interview – assessing technical knowledge, motivation and communication skills) – max points: 5.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.

Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points in each step of the process (desk review, written assignment and interviews) can be considered for financial evaluation.

Application procedures:
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position,
Filled P11 form 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;
Financial Proposal* in USD - consisting of a) total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement b) travel costs to/from duty station. Price offer must not include costs related to official missions. Missions will be paid separately as per UNDP rules and regulations;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

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.