UNDP Jobs - 79791- International Consultant for Private Sector Engage

International Consultant for Private Sector Engagement modalities in development cooperation for Romania

Location :

Home-based with 2 missions

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

17-Jul-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated 15 August – 15 Octomber 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

estimated 20 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

In 2007, following its accession to the European Union (EU), Romania became a donor of official development assistance (ODA), sharing its experience and offering financial support to developing countries contributing to the global efforts to eradicate extreme poverty world-wide. Since then, Romania has strived to position itself on the international development arena as an innovative donor, with the main comparative advantage of being able to share its direct knowledge and experience in the democratic transition and Euro-Atlantic integration processes. Romania’s strategic objective in development cooperation is to contribute to poverty reduction by promoting security and economic welfare, state of law, sustainable economic development, climate change mitigation and investments in education, complementing international efforts in the field.

In view of increasing its capacity as donor of development assistance, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), in its capacity of national ODA coordinator, has partnered with the UNDP under The New ODA Cooperation Partnership with Romania project. The key objective of this project is that, by end of 2018, UNDP supports the establishment and operationalization of the International Development Cooperation Agency (RoAid) in view of managing all parts of ODA project management cycle.

The Private Sector is a critical partner for development with a key role to play in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as called for in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Plan, recognizing private companies as critical sources of innovation, expertise and finance to be harnessed in addressing development challenges. Increasingly, many private sector actors are going beyond their regular business operations and actively pursuing innovative business strategies and sustainable business models aimed at maximizing profits while also contributing to sustainable social and environmental benefits. These trends show an important shift whereby the private sector is not only being provided with greater space to contribute to international development discussions, but is also expected to serve as a key development partner.

In general, awareness among emerging donors in the ECIS region on the mechanisms for partnering with private sector stakeholders on development cooperation is mixed. There is a number of countries that have started developing capacities in this field, but work on private sector engagement is still at a very early stage. In this context, and based on the Romanian MFA’s expressed need for guidance on this matter, UNDP conducted, at the beginning of this year, a mapping of the Romanian private sector entities interested in investing in developing countries, as well as research for the identification of Romania’s top niches of expertise in the economic sector. To follow up on the results of this first study, UNDP is currently seeking to identify the best modalities Romania could use in engaging the private sector in its development cooperation program.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP is looking for a consultant to identify the private sector engagement modalities that could be best used in Romania’s development cooperation program considering the specificities of the Romanian private sector context, as well as the current capacities and development status of Romania as a donor of ODA. To this end, the consultant is expected to provide a report that includes a mapping of the private sector engagement modalities in development cooperation, highlighting those that are most relevant to the Romanian private sector context, legal framework and ODA institutional capacities. In so doing, the PSE modalities used by selected traditional and emerging donors will be analyzed and mapped in view of offering concrete examples, best practices and inspiration to the Romanian MFA and the RoAid Agency. The consultant will provide solid argumentation for the selection of the respective private sector engagement modalities.

The project team will provide the expert with all additional information and documents necessary to perform the specific tasks.

Methodology

The consultant selected for the assignment will be required to propose a methodology for achieving the above stated objective as well as draft a detailed work plan. This will include, at a minimum:

Undertaking a desk review, including an analysis of existing documents, reports, research papers, articles, other publicly available documents that have been developed in connection with private sector engagement in development cooperation;
Building on the results of the consultations already conducted with the private sector entities during the first phase of the study, organizing consultations with relevant public stakeholders in Romania, as well as with other donors that have solid and relevant experience in PSE;
Conducting on site visits to at least 2 donors that can provide the most relevant examples, good practices and lessons learnt to the Romanian MFA and RoAid Agency,

The expert is expected to work under the supervision of the UNDP project manager and in close coordination with two UNDP staff who can provide research support as needed in order to respond to the specific task.

Time frame:

The consultancy will consist of approximately 20 working days, out of which:

approximately 4 working days for conducting 2 field missions abroad (2 working days per mission). Methodology: field research and interviews with stakeholders
approximately 16 working days for desk review, additional consultations and report drafting.

Deliverables:
With the support of and in close coordination with the UNDP team, the consultant is expected to deliver the following outputs:

Methodology and detailed work plan (max. 2 pager) by 30 August (payment: 30%)
A draft report that should be submitted to UNDP by 30 September 2018 and should include: a) A mapping of the PSE modalities in development cooperation, highlighting the modalities that are most relevant to the Romanian private sector context, legal framework and ODA institutional capacities. The PSE modalities should be detailed and strongly justified with clear arguments and examples and b) A short mapping of the best practices used by other donors in engaging the private sector in development cooperation. The report will include details regarding the specific challenges different donors have encountered while using certain engagement modalities and/or the specific opportunities they are opening and provide arguments on why they are or are not appropriate for Romania’s specific context and capacities. (payment: 40%)
A final report on the above to include UNDP’s feedback on the draft report, to be submitted by 15 October 2018. (payment: 30%)

The report should present complete and convincing evidence to support its findings. The length of the final report shall not exceed 10 pages in total (not including annexes). The research methodology should be clearly presented as part of the document.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Promotes the mission and values of the UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
Effective interpersonal and communication skills;

Functional competencies:

Strong client orientation and advisory skills;
Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
Ability to work effectively in multicultural teams;
Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
Well-developed ability to synthesize information;
Excellent written communication skills.
An ability to write in Romanian, articulate ideas and concepts with minimal text and high quality editing skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

At least Master Degree (or MBA) in International Development, Economics, Business Administration, International Relations, or any other relevant area;

Experience:

Solid knowledge and experience in Romanian economic (both public and private) sectors (industry, services, investments) - at least 7 years of experience in working for the development of economic and business sectors, including Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Romania;
Experience in drafting analytical documents (strategies, policies, development programs, legislation, etc.) – a minimum of 3 such documents drafted (hyperlinks to be provided within application).
Experience in working with international organizations and/or development cooperation agencies is a plus;

Language skills:

Romanian native speaker and fluency in English language (both mandatory)

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, and
having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

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

Education related to International Development, Economics, Business Administration, International Relations, or any other relevant area; - max. 10 points;
Experience in working with and/or for the economic and/or business sectors/SMEs in Romania - max. 20 points;
Experience in drafting analytical documents (strategies, policies, development programs, etc.) – a minimum of 3 such documents drafted – max. 20 points;
Experience in working with international organizations and/or development cooperation agencies is a plus – max. 10 points;
Language skills - max. 10 points.

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

Application procedure:
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. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Hyperlinks to samples of your previous work - minimum of 3 analytical documents (strategies, policies, development programs, legislation, etc.)
Filled P11 form including experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded fromhttp://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 a) total lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement b) travel costs for 2 missions in Bucharest, Romania, 2 days per mission (including i) travel costs and ii) per diem).
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...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal.
Candidates are requested to apply price for an economy class ticket on the most direct routes and per diems not exceeding maximum UN daily allowance rates (http://icsc.un.org/rootindex.asp).
In one of our vacancies we also added this sentence: Consultants are encouraged to bid lower amounts to make their offers more competitive.

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.

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.