UNDP Jobs - 82707- International Consultant: Expert on Crowdfunding,

International Consultant: Expert on Crowdfunding, Crowdinvestment and Blockchain (IRH)

Location :

Home-based, with possible missions

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Jan-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated January 15th 2019 –December 31st 2020

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

up to 460 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

Achieving SDGs alone according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report will require $3,9 trillion per year between 2015 and 2030 for health, education and infrastructure - leaving a $2.5 trillion annual shortfall relative to the current and forecast commitments of $1,4 trillion. Innovative financing mechanisms can close the gap by channelling the resources that are available at the market and by leveraging the private sector capital worth over $200 trillion to address the most pressing development issues. Governments’ potential to strategically mobilize various sources of financing for social purposes remains underutilized while many around the world are dealing with fiscal crises and rolling back many essential services. The alternative finance can help leverage public funding to mobilize various new sources of investment (private and venture capital, P2P lending) for public policy, social services and achieving a number of SDGs, while at the same time realigning interests of various partners and creating new investment opportunities.

This project builds on the successes and lessons learned of the Transformative Governance and Finance Facility [Phase I] and, seeks to utilize new technologies and alternative finance mechanisms in support of the SDG agenda. It is a continuation of UNDP’s partnership with the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, during which, through the first phase of TGFF project, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) established the Alternative Finance Lab (AltFin Lab), in an effort to explore potential and feasibility of various alternative finance mechanisms both in the Europe and CIS (as well as other regions). Through the further work in 2018 on prototypes and expanding to new grounds to understand what has the potential to be catalytic in the Europe and Central Asia context; and initiated globally, the Lab was set to support (in)formal citizen and other groups, government partners, business and others who are willing to experiment with some of the top emerging finance mechanisms. Through this project, the work of the Lab will be further promoted, moving from recognizing promising areas and pilot projects, in creating success stories and upscaling them to the regional level.

In this context, the IRH is looking for the Expert on Alternative Finance mechanisms who will, under the guidance of the IRH innovation specialist, continue to work on and further develop AltFin Lab portfolio of projects, activities as well as work on developing new transformational partnerships and projects, which should all contribute to SDG agenda. The needed Expert will help develop and implement a portfolio of experiments with concerned relevant country office (CO) teams, other UNDP business units, UN agencies and governments in order to better understand their implications and the potential for financing public policies and development.

Location:
Home-based, with possible missions to Europe and CIS region and other locations, if needed

Duties and Responsibilities

he Expert will work under the supervision of Governance and Innovation Specialist at IRH; and in collaboration with COs, work on four (4) different distinct areas of alternative finance. Role of the expert is to support existing projects focused on testing and prototyping; but also moving to scaling up activities:

Crowdfunding and Crowdinvesting

Supporting new business models regarding civic CF projects and crowdsourcing projects, in RBEC, RBAS and RBA;
Crowdfunding Lending and Investment – in collaboration with senior alternative finance expert support the number of existing UNDP initiatives and projects on crowdinvesting and bringing them to scale and for renewable energy and SMEs; Supporting projects in RBEC and RBAS, depending on the demand;
In collaboration with senior alternative finance expert building up crowdfunding platforms developed by UNDP and its partners and exploring moving from philanthropy and donations models to impact investment platforms;

Blockchain technologies

Identification and development of new strategic partnerships in the area of blockchain for public service delivery and provision of support to COs in RBEC on leveraging these partnerships for development solutions
Development of regional approach to applying the blockchain technology in addressing development challenges including identification of funding opportunities and provision of support in navigating regulatory frameworks based on experiences of other countries and consolidating lessons learned.
Exploring new business models for blockchain for development, pitching to and bringing on board new investment projects, including the joint field of practice between crowdfunding and blockchain, including ongoing support to existing projects in Moldova, Ecuador and Lebanon;
Exploring new financial mechanisms for development including digital coins/tokens for development and drafting the lessons learned how it can be replicated and scaled with UNDP support;
Provision of support for the blockchain-based technology model for remittances transfer and government services which should be scalable and which, if proved successful, should be upgraded to reach the implementation phase (in particular, Armenia and Tajikistan);

Innovative Financial Technologies

Testing new alternative finance business models and bringing on board CO teams/their partners interested in carrying it out in their region;

Resource Mobilization and Capacity building

Strengthening CO personnel 3-4 countries (different from the senior expert on alternative finance) by providing training on tools and methodologies of usage and implementation of alternative finance mechanisms (within their specific context);
Supporting resource mobilization activities with the TGFF 2 project team.

Within this context, Expert on Crowdfunding, Crowdinvestment and Blockchain will be responsible for delivering tasks, including the following:

Expected Deliverables:
Specific deliverables will be agreed with the certifying officer at the beginning of each month and they will be reported on a monthly basis and will specifically focus on the following:

Advisory support services to 7-8 COs for designing and implementing crowdfunding investment (civic, reward, equity, debt crowdfunding) campaigns within and outside the scope of the UNDP Global Crowdfunding Academy (number of COs supported, number of campaigns in the design stage/implementation stage, amount of funding raised); and setting up national crowdfunding ecosystems (approximately 50% of the time);
Supporting the development of UNDP AltFinLab regional HUBs, in the field of alternative innovating financing models (approximately 10% of the time);
Developing pilot projects on blockchain technology and innovative technologies (AI, AR, VR) (approximately 20% of the time);
Assisting and organizing work in the field of alternative financing models – from research, advising and setting up innovative financing models, logistics to media communication and building up media presence through social networks and website (altfinlab.org) (approximately 10% of the time);
Organizing Global Crowdfunding Academy and Alternative Finance Academy in RBEC, RBAS and/or other regions, and assisting with crowdfunding and alternative finance campaigns devising from it (approximately 10% of the time).

Remuneration:
Timeframe: Up to 460 working days over estimated period of two years from the start of the assignment.

Specific timeline for delivery of services will be agreed with the certifying officer at the beginning of each month. Payments will be made in 24 instalments (once a month) upon submitted satisfactory timesheet and progress report against deliverables and upon its acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer (Governance and Innovation Specialist from IRH).
Travel costs related to the possible missions to Europe and CIS region and other locations, will be paid separately to the Consultant as per UNDP rules and regulations.

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 favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

Strong writing, presentation and reporting skills;
Excellent communication and team-building skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in the field of Business, Energy, Environment or International Development.

Experience:

At least two (2) years of working experience in the field of crowdfunding, innovative financing models and alternative financing related fields in development contexts is a mandatory;
Practical experience in organizing group education and in crowdfunding is mandatory;
At least two (2) years of working experience in the field of blockchain, with a working experience of developing blockchain based prototypes is an asset;
Proven track record of successfully completed crowdfunding campaigns is an asset;
Experience with predictive and preventative finance, with a special focus on working experience in the field of Forecast Based Financing is an asset;

Language skills

Excellent English language skills, both written and verbal are a requirement.

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/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews, interviews and methodology evaluation) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in desk review (Criteria A-D) will be considered for interviews.. Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in technical evaluation (Criteria A-F) will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Criteria A - Experience in the field of crowdfunding, innovative financing models and alternative financing related fields in development contexts – max points:9;
Criteria B – Practical experience in organizing group education and crowdfunding; - max points: 7;
Criteria C –Experience in the field of blockchain, with a working experience of developing blockchain based prototypes - max points: 5;
Criteria D - Proven track record of successfully completed crowdfunding campaigns- max points: 3;
Criteria E - Interview Criteria - Experience with predictive and preventative finance, with a special focus on working experience in the field of Forecast Based Financing- max points: 5;
Criteria F – Interview Criteria - Practical experience in organizing workshops, training on alternative finance models, excellent communication and team-building skills and verbal skills- max points: 6;

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.

Application procedures

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.
Filled P11 form or CV including past 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.
Offeror’s Letter (blank template can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/2KO1okS).
Financial Proposal* - specifying all-inclusive daily fee in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. Mission related costs, if any, should not be included in the price offer, as they will be paid separately per UNDP rules and regulations.
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...).

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.