UNDP Jobs - 75667- Vetted Experts Roster: Climate Change Mitigation (

Vetted Experts Roster: Climate Change Mitigation (CCM)

Location :

home-based with possible missions

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

04-Dec-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Depending on particular assignment

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. In Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS), UNDP has been supporting over 30 countries and territories since 1992 in the areas of Poverty Reduction, Democratic Governance, Environment and Energy, HIV, Health and Development, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Gender and Capacity Development.

The Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) is UNDP's main knowledge and advisory hub for ECIS. It aims to connect the region to a global network of development practitioners, to build knowledge and capacity, and to forge partnerships to meet the development challenges of a large and diverse region. IRH also aims to capture and spread development successes and best practices in the region and to improve the impact of UNDP's work through effective communications and advocacy. In its work IRH and UNDP Country Offices (COs) in ECIS rely on high-quality external expertise.

In order to better serve COs in the ECIS region, and to provide a transparent and variable system of very specific expertise in Climate Change and Mitigation (CCM), IRH established a regional vetted roster of experts/consultants. The roster provides an instant access to vetted regional consultants and makes the recruitment as quick and easy as possible.

In this context, UNDP is soliciting the submission of CVs (individuals) from experts and experienced consultants to be considered for registration in the UNDP regional expert roster in the following thematic area: Climate Change Mitigation (Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Cities).

Duties and Responsibilities

Consultants will provide advisory support to clients (UNDP offices, national project teams, and national stakeholders including governments, civil society organizations and affected communities in the region). Specific reporting and working relationships will be specified at the time of contracting for a specific assignment.

When demand arises, pre-selected consultants are called upon to provide demand-driven advisory services, access to knowledge, and technical backstopping to UNDP Country Offices. The range of tasks for the consultant may include applied research, diagnostic missions, provision of strategic and operational advice, capacity assessments and capacity development activities, strategic development and implementation of projects and policies, on-site support to programme identification and development, monitoring and evaluation, legislation drafting, negotiation and coordination with public/private partners and stakeholders, partnership development, community engagement and outreach including through social media, training, report drafting, peer review, and others. Consultants will perform their duties from home through e-mail, telephone and/or fax combined with the in-country missions and/or project site visits (per request of the UNDP). Consultants may be expected to attend relevant meetings and workshops at the country level, including stakeholder consultations, inception and validation meetings. Requirements for specific competencies, qualifications, duties and responsibilities are outlined separately for each thematic area in this Terms of Reference (TOR).

Duties and Responsibilities:
Consultant selected for the roster will be working with the UNDP COs, UNDP IRH and reporting technically to the relevant Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) of UNDP/Global Environment Facility (GEF), and/or other staff, in IRH. Final agreement on operational reporting lines will be made during the contract negotiations. The consultants will be expected to undertake specific tasks in order to support CCM projects and programs at the country and regional level (i.e. projects dealing with energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable transport). These tasks may include and can relate to the points listed below, and will be finally agreed upon, in the contract negotiations:

Assist the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) and the UNDP COs during the project preparation phase of new climate change mitigation projects;
Assist the relevant RTA in providing responses to the comments on the Project Identification Forms (PIFs) and Project Preparation Grants (PPGs) received from the GEF secretariat, GEF agencies and Scientific & Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) and incorporate issues raised in to the revised documents;
Assist the relevant RTA in providing responses to the comments on the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Concept Notes and Full Project Proposals received from the GCF and the Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP) and incorporate issues raised in to the revised documents;
Contribute to the project preparatory phase and work for new GEF projects, working with the relevant governmental and non-governmental partners and UNDP in the development of the UNDP Project Document (Prodoc) and other GEF required documentation, including Request for CEO Endorsement, letters of co-financing, project results framework, and others, based on the latest GEF requirements;
Contribute to the project preparatory phase and work for new GCF projects, working with the relevant governmental and non-governmental partners and UNDP in the development of the GCF project concept note, the GCF Full Project Proposal and other required documentation, including all annexes, as required
For GEF projects, review all comments received on the draft Project Document from countries, GEF Secretariat (GEF Sec) and other agencies and finalize the Prodoc and Request for CEO Endorsement for final approval;
For GEF projects, review all comments received on the draft project concept and draft full project proposal from countries, from GCF Secretariat, from Board Members, and from ITAP and assist with finalizing the documentation to enable the full project documentation to be submitted to an upcoming GCF Board meeting;
Undertake mid-term review and final independent evaluation of CCM projects;
Assist UNDP-GEF CCM projects with providing technical inputs and advice throughout project inception and implementation phases, Project Board and Steering Committee meeting, preparation of project inception reports and annual Project Implementation Reviews (PIRs), developing and implementing project monitoring plan, including to account for and track greenhouse gases emission reduction impact;
Calculate CO2 reductions for calculating GHG emission reductions for both GEF and GCF climate change mitigation projects;
Develop financial models and investment analysis for various climate change mitigation interventions in different sectors, applying the UNDP de-risking approach towards investment analysis;
Support UNDP-GEF CCM project teams in regular design and implementation of knowledge management plans, including preparation of project-related publications, capturing and analysis of best practices and lessons learnt, substantive contribution to project public events and other public relations (PR) and knowledge management (KM) products and activities; and implementation of knowledge management plans, including preparation of project-related publications, capturing and analysis of best practices and lessons learnt, substantive contribution to project public events and other PR and KM products and activities; and
Undertake any other duties that will ensure successful execution of this consultancy.

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
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 a team
Strategic vision, strong technical and analytical capabilities
Ability to accommodate additional demands on short notice
Ability to manage heavy workload and solve complex problems with minimum supervision
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities
Excellent public speaking and presentation skills
Excellent drafting and formulation skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master, PhD) relevant to the climate change mitigation.

Experience:

At least 10 years of professional experience in the field of climate change mitigation, i.e. with projects, programs and policies on energy efficiency, renewable energy or sustainable transport and sustainable urban systems which demonstrates extensive technical knowledge relevant to climate change mitigation;
Strong preference for candidates with both private and public sector experience working in energy-efficiency, renewable energy and/or sustainable transport and urban systems;
Knowledge and experience with GEF project management cycle;
Experience with formulation of GEF and/or GCF Project Documents which were approved is an asset;
Experience working with the GEF Focal Area Strategies in general and Climate Change Mitigation focus areas in particular is an asset;
Experience with concept of ‘adaptive management’ as it applies to UNDP GEF CCM project is an asset;
Experience in ECIS in climate change related areas is an asset; proven working experience of successfully undertaking assignments for international organizations in the region is an asset.
Theoretical and practical experience in drafting, implementing, monitoring and evaluating public policies, strategies or concepts relevant to the climate change mitigation;
Proven and recent experience with technical assistance project development, implementation, management or evaluation;
Proven record of technical assistance projects that have been approved, official reports or papers/studies in the selected area of climate change mitigation;
Experience with training and facilitation of training events is an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in spoken and written English; Russian or French may be an asset; knowledge of other languages used in the ECIS region is preferred.

Computer skills:

Full IT literacy;
Ability to operate with on-line web-based applications;

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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation

Criteria A (desk review – Relevance of education) – MAX 10 points;
Criteria B (desk review – Years of professional experience in Climate Change Mitigation) – MAX 15 points;
Criteria C (desk review – Relevant regional knowledge and experience in ECIS in climate change areas) – MAX 10 points
Criteria D (desk review – Experience with formulation of GEF and/or GCF Project Documents; experience with the GEF Focal Area Strategies in general and Climate Change Mitigation focus areas; experience with concept of ‘adaptive management’ as it applies to UNDP GEF CCM project) - MAX 10 points;
Criteria E (desk review - Experience with training and facilitation of training events) – MAX 5 points;
Criteria F (desk review – Fluency in English and Russian and knowledge of other languages) - MAX 5 points;
Criteria G (written samples evaluation – Excellent drafting and formulation skills as shown by writing sample; proven record of technical assistance projects that have been approved in a timely manager, official reports or papers/studies in the selected area of climate change mitigation) - MAX 15 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points from desk review and written samples evaluation combined can be considered for the financial evaluation.

Short-Listing and Selection of Contractors

Max. 30 individuals with the highest overall score (Technical Score + Financial Score) will be selected to be part of the UNDP RBEC Vetted Experts Roster for the Area of Climate Change Mitigation, provided that they pass the reference checks. For those individuals who have already successfully undertaken assignments for UNDP in the area of climate change mitigation in the past seven years, no validation interview is required. For those individuals who have not already successfully undertaken assignments for UNDP in the area of climate change mitigation in the past seven years, validation interviews may be required. We will aim to have at least 5 candidates in each sub-category (i) energy-efficiency (ii) renewable energy (iii) sustainable transport (iv) sustainable cities.

Contracting Arrangements:

Successful candidates will be included into UNDP RBEC Vetted Experts Roster for Area of Climate Change Mitigation for the period of 3 years. Entry into the expert roster system does not necessarily mean that contract with UNDP is guaranteed. This will depend on forthcoming needs. During this period, IRH which manages the roster, can regularly follow up with consultants as well as UNDP offices in ECIS on their assignments. Financial proposal (daily fee in USD) provided by the consultant is the all-inclusive maximum daily fee payable and is bound to the period of 3 years (unless the consultant applies to the roster during its re-opening).

Profiles of roster members will be published at UNDP internal platform and accessible to UNDP IRH and Country Offices.

Where a request for services arises, the UNDP IRH or UNDP office will share a specific Terms of Reference (TOR) outlining specific services, outputs and timeline for that assignment with consultant(s) matching the requested profile and consultants will be requested to provide a price offer. A consultant offering a best value for money will be contracted.

Payments:

Payments will be made as specified in the actual contract upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. Interested consultants are advised to carefully study all the sections of this ToR and ensure that they meet the qualifications described in this ToR. Only applicants who pass all screening procedures will be included into the roster and recommended to Country Offices in the region. Applicants who have 1 case of being terminated on prior assignments may or may not be included on the roster, subject to the assessment of IRH staff. Applicants who have two or more instances of being terminated during the course of previous assignments, will not be included.

The application should contain:

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.
Writing Sample of at least 3 pages or more which shows the ability of the candidate to write clearly and concisely. The writing sample should be from work carried out for an academic publication, a news article/report or for a national or an international organization on climate change mitigation
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 – specifying all-inclusive maximum daily fee.

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 (e.g. fee, health insurance, office supplies, communications, 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.