Background

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN – was developed to provide a comprehensive methodology for governments to: 1) review the existing policy context, 2) measure expenditure levels for biodiversity, 3) calculate future financial needs and 4) design strategic plans to deploy the right mix of finance solutions, tailored to the country context. The methodology has been conducted in 30 countries to date, with many now having reached the implementation stage.

BIOFIN’s first phase (2012-2018) enabled full assessments and initial implementation of finance plan elements in target countries. Based on lessons learned, a new and comprehensive version of the BIOFIN Methodology was developed. Significant scaling up of finance solutions is required in all countries to address the biodiversity finance challenge. BIOFIN’s second phase will mainly focus on the implementation of prioritised finance solutions while also allowing additional countries to undertake the initial assessments and create the finance plan. See www.biodiversityfinance.org for further information.

BIOFIN is part of UNDP’s Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF) unit, hosted by the Ecosystems and Biodiversity (EBD) cluster under UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS).

UNDP-BIOFIN is seeking a Communications Specialist to develop and support the implementation of communication strategies for BIOFIN at global and national levels, such as through the development of various communication products and the preparation of, and participation in, national and international events.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Individual Consultant will be primarily home-based and work under the supervision of the BIOFIN Project Manager. The Consultant will work with the global and national BIOFIN Teams, UNDP Country Offices, core and donor country governments, other international/multi-lateral organizations, and contractors. The scope of work will vary depending on the specific assignment, but would include one or various of the below tasks:

Update and implementation of the BIOFIN communication strategy at global level and national level:

• Update the global communications strategy for BIOFIN, in line with visibility guidelines of UNDP and BIOFIN donors and including key BIOFIN messages;
• Update the communications and advocacy toolkit to be used by national level BIOFIN teams in developing and implementing communication strategies at their level (templates, standardised messages, branding guidelines, “Dos-and-Don’ts”, tips to web-designers, policy advocacy guidelines etc.). The central element of the national communications strategies is a framework to advocate for policy recommendations developed under the national BIOFIN process;
• Develop UNDP-BIOFIN press kits and assist with the facilitation of media at international events;
• Upon request and according to demand, guide and support the development of communication strategies for BIOFIN at national level in the 35 core BIOFIN countries and support this process at regional and national meetings;
• Advise the BIOFIN global and country teams on all media related aspects;
• Frequently update BIOFIN social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and ensure an online presence in other channels as applicable;
• Engage with UNDP and UN goodwill ambassadors and other prominent people to involve in BIOFIN activities;
• Liaise with international and national media and provide information about BIOFIN’s activities and results.

Capacity development:

• Engage in capacity assessments and capacity development of national teams as required, helping to build basic skills to implement the BIOFIN communication strategy;
• Support and provide inputs to global, regional, and national technical workshops, regional conference calls, technical webinars, and website discussions as requested by the global BIOFIN team.

Knowledge management:

• Develop a glossy version of the BIOFIN annual report for a general audience;
• Oversee the design work of BIOFIN’s main tool, the BIOFIN workbook;
• Support the continuous improvement of the BIOFIN methodology and specific tools on communication aspects;
• Deliver high quality inputs for bi-annual donor reports on communication activities at the global and national level;
• Continuous development of the BIOFIN web platform including an interactive map focusing on finance solutions;
• Develop a knowledge product concluding phase I and demonstrating country results during the first phase of BIOFIN;
• Develop and/or update communications products such as banners, factsheets, news articles, case studies, press releases, infographics, website pages and articles, videos and other media products summarizing key experiences and lessons from core countries in collaboration with the global and national teams;
• Editing of communication materials prepared by BIOFIN global and national teams.

Specific Outputs:

An indicative list of outputs includes:

• Update the BIOFIN communication strategy and tools provided to the national team;
• Development of at least one news story per month;
• Participate and produce video interviews, photography, setup livestreams, write web articles, updating social media, and liaise with the media at international and national events for BIOFIN, as well as, regional and global BIOFIN workshops;
• Organization of the BIOFIN participation, identification of the speakers, event promotion and preparing event materials of the international events;  
• Session design and presentation for regional and global workshops and webinar recordings;
• Mission reports;
• Fully designed version of drafted project proposals;
• Develop one knowledge product concluding Phase I and demonstrating country results during the first phase of BIOFIN;
• Finalization of the interactive map on the BIOFIN web platform;
• Specific knowledge management products such as case studies, press releases and inputs into donor reporting;
• Other media projects.

Information on Working Arrangements:

• The overall objective of this Framework Agreement is to facilitate and expedite the process by which UNDP can hire the services of a communication specialist for the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) once there are specific assignments over the next 3 years;
• Estimated level of effort: approximately 173 days per year. Maximum working days over the 3-year period would be 521;
• UNDP does not guarantee 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 Framework Agreement 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 BIOFIN would contact the Consultant by email informing of the specific deliverables required, and timeline for delivery;
• 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, relevant software, etc.) and access to a stable, secure and 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:

• Approximately 8 international mission travels per year will be required to core countries and relevant methodological and coordination meetings. It is expected that the total number of missions will not exceed 24 for the duration of the Framework Agreement;
• Any necessary missions must be approved in advance and in writing by the BIOFIN Project Manager;
• 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 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 the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants.  Costs for airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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 favouritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Technical:

• Advanced editing skills;
• Good command of commonly used design and publishing software packages;
• Computer literacy for Microsoft Office Package or equivalent;
• Demonstrated skills in writing news articles, press releases, success stories, newsletters, communication strategies and programmatic reports.
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Functional:

Communication

• Able to communicate effectively to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism

• Capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
• Exercises the highest level of responsibility and able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Teamwork

• Works well in a team to advance the priorities of BIOFIN and UNDP as a whole;
• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism or other closely related field (Max. 10 points).

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of communications, graphic design, journalism, website moderation or a related field (Max. 10 points);
• Proven expertise in developing and implementing communication strategies at the institutional/national level as a minimum, but preferably with a global or regional scope (Max. 10 points);
• Demonstrated experience in dealing with relevant graphic design and publishing programmes (Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or equivalent – please indicate in your resume), developing, editing and layout of publications and content management for websites and social media (Max. 10 points);
• Previous experience working on communications and outreach that relate to sustainable development, environmental and/or biodiversity issues is an advantage (Max. 10 points);
• Experience and network with the international media is an advantage (Max. 10 points);
• Previous work experience with UNDP or a related organization and familiarity with their brand identity requirements is also an advantage (Max. 5 points).

Language:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language (Max. 3 Points);
• Good command of Spanish, Portuguese, or Russian is 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 technical criteria 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 a maximum 100 points;
• Only the top 3 candidates scoring 49 points or higher from the review of the education, experience and languages will be considered for the interview;
• Candidates obtaining 21 points or higher in the interview will be deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation;
• The financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
• 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);
• The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and who has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions may be awarded the contract.

Documentation to be submitted:

Kindly note you can upload only ONE document to this application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

• Applicants must submit a CV shall including Education/Qualification, Professional Certification, Employment Records /Experience;
• 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.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs

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

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=