Background
The UNDP-GEF Unit is based in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and is responsible for providing leadership, technical support and implementation oversight to the delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability and resilience into development at national and local, but also global and regional, levels. The principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.
The Unit is organized into a number of substantive technical teams with staff located in both HQs and UNDP's Regional Service Centers in Addis Ababa, Istanbul, Panama, and Bangkok, and with a decentralized structure in terms of financial, operational, and budget managements with authority delegated to respective managers located in HQ or in the region.
Under the overall supervision of the UNDP-GEF (Global Environment Fund) Regional Technical Advisors (RTAs) and direct coordination and guidance of the corresponding Regional Team Leaders (RTL), the Regional Programme Support Consultant will facilitate the effective delivery of the GEF portfolio in the corresponding region and technical focal area by providing support and oversight throughout the development, implementation, monitoring/evaluation and closure of UNDP-GEF projects. This includes effective portfolio data management and monitoring to maximize COs' timely compliance with UNDP and GEF requirements. The consultancy demands the ability to meet deadlines and maintain high-quality outputs while working under pressure, as well as, practical experience with relevant databases and an understanding of the UNDP-GEF Project Cycle.
The Programme Support Consultants will be home-based and will work under the overall supervision of the UNDP-GEF Regional Team Leader and/or Regional Technical Advisors covering one of the following regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and CIS, Arab States, Asia Pacific, Africa, or HQs.
The Consultant will provide high quality administrative and operational support to the Regional Technical Advisors, and will work in close collaboration with operations and programme staff at the Regional Hubs, at UNDP Country offices and at HQ to ensure consistent service delivery.
Duties and Responsibilities
The scope of work will vary depending on the specific assignment but would include one or various of the below deliverables:
Management and oversight of project processes:
- Examines, reviews, processes and records all incoming documents relating to project portfolio;
- Communicates directly with UNDP Country Offices (COs), and when necessary, UNDP-GEF Headquarters and Regional Coordination Unit to support project development and implementation;
- Ensures compliance with UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules and the Internal Control Framework;
- Provides support to COs ensuring that UNDP and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and/or Green Climate Fund (GCF) guidelines are followed for project formulation and implementation;
- Coordinates with the UNDP-GEF financial unit and COs regarding operational and financial aspects of project approval and implementation;
- Provides quality assurance in the form of organizing and updating project records, as necessary, in PIMS+ and any other reporting mechanism;
- Assists with facilitation and oversight of program implementation and development, including processing of approval letters, assistance with technical and financial clearances, securing relevant signatures, and ensuring quality assurance within digital project files;
- Provides quality control and corrective/anticipatory feedback regarding project submissions, contributing to quality and accuracy of project proposals and documents.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Monitors project delivery and submission of progress reports;
- Ensures the timely collection, data completeness and analysis of relevant surveys and questionnaires including Project Implementation Reports (PIR)/Annual Project Reporting (APR), including review of relevant mid-term and final evaluations. Liaise with relevant COs, project team and/or RTA to ensure correction, completeness and quality of every PIR with due consideration of the PIR quality evaluation criteria, which will be provided;
- Assists the RTAs to regularly update project management systems, such as PIMS+, progress reports, project financial performance;
- Participates in the preparation of Business Plans, Work Programmes and other activities required for the GEF, GCF and any other donor work;
- Maintains the electronic filing system ensuring safekeeping of confidential materials. Extract data from various sources;
- Ensures cooperation with UNDP-GEF finance and regional/HQ teams on information input requests.
Budget Management Support:
- Coordinates review and approval of budget revisions and approval of Authorized Spending Limits of individual projects in close collaboration with Country Offices and UNDP-GEF financial unit;
- Analyzes individual project budgets and advises COs on any adjustments that may be needed to comply with Project Documents and UNDP-GEF regulations;
- Assists COs with financial clearance of Project documents.
Country Office and Regional Coordination capacity support:
- Manages information flow among COs, RCUs and HQs;
- Advises, provides guidance and training on UNDP-GEF programming and regulations, facilitates understanding of the GEF project cycle, as well as, the development and implementation of projects funded by the GEF.
Any other related tasks
Information on Working Arrangements:
- The overall objective of this Framework Agreement contract is to facilitate and expedite the process by which UNDP can hire the services of a Regional Programme support consultants once there are specific assignments over the next 3 years;
- Estimated level of effort: maximum working days over the 3-year period would be 600;
- UNDP does not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the Framework Agreement as this will depend on forthcoming needs;
- IC as a Framework agreement is non-exclusive (i.e. it does not prohibit UNDP from entering into another such framework agreement with other individuals or entities);
- The initial contract would be for one year (May 2018 – April 2019) with an option for renewal in two other subsequent years dependent on demand for services and satisfactory performance evaluations;
- The Framework Agreement to be signed will be for a fixed all-inclusive daily fee;
- Once the Framework Agreement is signed, if there is a specific assignment, the focal person at UNDP-GEF would contact the Consultant by email informing of the specific tasks, deliverables and timeline;
- The consultant must advise within 48 hours whether s/he is available to deliver the requested service;
- Thereafter a Purchase Order will be raised. Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of the Framework Agreement through the transmitted email and purchase order;
- Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones where applicable;
- The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
- The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
- Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered.
Travel:
- Mission travel might be required to provide administrative support during workshops or training sessions; max. 15 travel days per year;
- Any necessary missions must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
- The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
- Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
- Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas and security clearances needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
- The Consultant is required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
- The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
- All related travel expenses will be supported by UNDP funds and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for mission airfares, terminal expenses, insurance, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s vision, mission and values;
- 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:
Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Results-driven and initiative-taking;
- Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
- Ability to plan and organise work and establish priorities;
- Remains calm and in control even under pressure, and consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Informed, sound, and transparent decision-making;
- Thoroughly and methodically collects, verifies and records data, demonstrating attention to detail and identifying and correcting errors on own initiative.
Client Orientation and Communication:
- Effective written and oral communication skills;
- Good interpersonal and networking skills;
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations;
- Supports and encourages open communication in the team and facilitates team work;
- Ability to work under minimum supervision.
- Ability to work with multiple stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines and fields, from both developed and developing countries, and having diverse and competing worldviews and interests.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Secondary education required, preferably with specialized certification in business, economics, social sciences, public administration, international affairs, finance or related area (max 5 points);
- Bachelor’s degree in business/economics, social sciences or international affairs is desirable (max 3 points);
- Certification in project management would be desirable (max 2 points).
Experience:
- Minimum of seven years of experience in financial resources management, budget management, and/or programme/project management support functions (max 15 points);
- Experience with a UN Agency, UNDP and/or UNDP-GEF processes, project oversight or management would be an asset (max 15 points);
- Knowledge of tools and methodologies to follow-up on projects and project cycle management (max 15 points);
- Experience at the national or international level with organizations that manage grants is a plus (max 5 points);
- Mastery in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, as a minimum); database management as a plus (max 5 points).
Languages:
- Fluency in spoken and written English (max 3 points).
- Knowledge of French, Spanish, or Portuguese will be an advantage (max 2 points).
Evaluation Method:
- Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
- Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
- The technical criteria (education, experience, language [max. 70 points] and interview [max.30 points]) will be based on maximum 100 points;
- Only the top seven candidates scoring 49 points or higher from the review of the education, experience, languages will be considered for the interview;
- Applicants obtaining 21 points or higher in the interview will deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation;
- Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received for the assignment;
- The financial proposal shall specify an all-inclusive daily fee. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this daily fee (including all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);
- Top 5 applicants receiving the Highest Combined Score and have accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the Framework Agreement.
Documentation required:
- Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) to be downloaded from the below link;
- Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application;
- Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment to be downloaded from the UNDP procurement site.
UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.
General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:
Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment
http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=43890