Background

The Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office) provides dedicated fund administration services when UNDP is appointed by the UN System to serve as the Administrative Agent (AA) for Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) and Joint Programmes (JPs) using the pass-through modality. The Office provides focused support and service to UN Country Teams (UNCTs), national governments and donors in administering Trust Funds established for humanitarian, transition, reconstruction and development programmes and implemented by more than 40 UN system organisations. The MPTF Office portfolio currently comprises over 120 Funds with annual contribution exceeding $700m.As part of its AA-services, the MPTF Office is responsible for issuing consolidated progress reports for each MDTFs and JPs it administers, as outlined in the legal instruments for the Fund. Individual project reports, prepared annually by Participating UN Organizations of the MDTF/JP, are consolidated, analyzed and in some cases written by MPTFO, submitted to Steering Committees, donors, Participating UN Organizations and other relevant stakeholders, and posted on the MPTF Office GATEWAY (http://mdtf.undp.org/).The MPTF Office seeks the services of highly qualified reporting consultants for a 3 year Long Term Arrangement to assist the MPTF Office Portfolio Managers’ team with the writing and preparation of the consolidated annual progress reports for MDTFs/JPs. For additional information about the various MDTFs and JP portfolio of the MPTF Office, please visit the MPTF Office Gateway (http://mdtf.undp.org/).

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The consultancy will be home based and the consultant should demonstrate a willingness to work in a collaborative/ consultative team manner while simultaneously taking responsibility for individual deadlines and deliverables as outlined in Terms of Reference (ToR) and Individual Contract (IC).

The consultant will be reviewing and producing written work in French. The responsibilities of the consultant include but are not limited to: - review and analysis of the progress reports, writing and editing a consolidated report for overall coherence, ensuring conformity with UN terminology and language and providing basic layout services in MS Word to ensure the reports are appealing to the audience. All reports will follow a standardized report format, with some MDTF-specific characteristics, including executive summary, table of content, narrative analysis of project/thematic sector progress, financial analysis and relevant annexes – see MPTF Office GATEWAY (http://mdtf.undp.org/) for examples of previous year’s reports.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

  • Review and analysis of incoming individual project progress reports prepared by Participating Organizations and/or previous consolidated annual reports. The focus of the analysis will vary based on each Funds’ strategic objective(s) and reporting obligations, but will follow a standardized UNDG-wide agreed results based report template with some variation by MDTF/JP;
  • Based on the above reports, review and analyze the overall progress made at the MDTF-level in relation to the specific MDTF strategic objectives as well as trends across Participating Organizations and sectors/themes/clusters including identifying emerging common challenges, lessons learned and success stories, etc. ;
  • With financial provided by the MPTF Office, the consultant will review, analyze and demonstrate, as relevant, financial progress in relation to the programme implementation status in order to present an overall picture of the status and progress of the MDTF within the specific reporting period as well as throughout the lifetime of the MDTF;
  • Write and edit the consolidated annual or final progress report based on the above analysis;
  • Ensure that all quotations, document references to annexes, tables and other reference materials within the narrative report are correctly labeled and/or attributed and the quality and accuracy of grammar, punctuation, etc. ;
  • Ensure the reports are appealing to the target audience by incorporating basic report layout and design features in MS Word; and
  • Have regular telephone and email contact with the relevant MPTF Office Portfolio Manager’s team throughout the process, as required.

Deliverables

The consultant will produce the following deliverables (specific timelines will be developed for each MDTF/JP):

  • Zero draft for review and comment by the MPTFO Portfolio Team
  • Final draft incorporating all inputs, including inputs received from the MPTF Office Portfolio Manager’s team, relevant external governance structures, and fully edited. The final draft should be ready for printing;

Payments

  • Payments shall be made following certification by the designated staff member at MPTFO/BMS/UNDP that the services related to each Deliverable, as described in the TORS, have been satisfactorily performed and the Deliverables have been achieved by or before the due dates specified.

Competencies

The consultant is expected to have the following competencies:

  • Strong ability to think strategically and creatively, and analyze information in project reports and review/analyze and synthesis such information into a well-structured and high quality consolidated report;
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in French and English;
  • Proven capacity to work collaboratively in a consultative team environment while taking responsibility for individual deadlines and deliverables;
  • In-depth and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the UN system and the mandates of consultants constituent agencies, including with UN corporate standards and language requirements; and Strong organizational skills and readiness to work flexible hours to ensure that agreed upon timeline is adhered to.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Master’s degree in public policy, development studies, political science, international relations, or related field

Experience

  • A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience, with strong track record in report writing;
  • Experience of working with or for UN organizations; familiarity with the role and responsibilities of the MPTF Office as an Administrative Agent for MDTFs/JPs is an asset;
  • Knowledge of project management, results-based reporting, monitoring and evaluation and basic financial terminology and analysis;
  • Demonstrated experience in the usage of standard software packages. Must be able to provide all materials in Word-format and produce charts, graphs and tables to support the narrative

Languages Requirements

  • Native French speaker and writer with a strong command of English, is essential. Knowledge of other UN official languages will be considered an asset.

Application Requirements

Interested candidates should follow UNDP standard online application procedure, mindful of the following instruction

Evaluation

  • Individual consultants will be evaluated using the Cumulative Analysis methodology.
  • The award of the contract would be made to the individual consultant with responsive/compliant/acceptable submission and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;
  • Short-listed candidates will be requested to participate in an interview with the selection panel;
  • Short-listed candidates will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal. The Financial Proposal should include the payment terms in USD around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments are made in installments or upon completion of the entire contract)
  • The technical selection will be based on a balanced assessment of candidate(s)’: (i) knowledge and analysis of the subject matter; (ii) relevance of previous experience and technical expertise; (iii) educational background; and (iv) language skills;
  • The selection of the Consultant will be made in accordance with the quality and cost based selection method (70% technical component and 30% price/cost component)
  • Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of 100 points in the Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Note on Long Term Agreement (LTA)

MPTF office of BMS/UNDP shall enter into an exclusive three year long term agreement (LTA) with the selected consultant(s) and shall provide specific deliverables and time frames for each task, as and when required. Prospective individuals are requested to take note of the following:
Long  Term  Agreement  is  a  mutual  arrangement  between  UNDP  and  an  individual  to  provide  the  required
Services at prescribed prices or provisions over a period of 12-36 months.
UNDP reserves the right to rescind the agreement during that period should performance of the consultant not meet its requirements. Under a Long Term Agreement, UNDP does not warrant that any quantity of services shall be purchased during the term of this agreement.  Where  a  request  for services  arises,  UNDP  shall  directly  contract  the  consultant based on its need to carry out those activities. A specific Term of Reference (TOR) outlining the outputs for each assignment  shall  be  provided  and  an  Individual  Contract  (former  SSA)  would  be  issued  to  the  consultant, detailing the time frame.

ANNEX 1- GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS_ INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT (IC)

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdfhttp://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf