UNDP Jobs - 85643- International Individual Consultant

International Individual Consultant - Project Finance Consultant

Location :

Home Based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jul-2019

Application Deadline :

19-Jun-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

190 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

190 working days spread over one year

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 Joint UNDP-UN Environment Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals (PEA) project is a global project for the four-year period 2018–2022. Poverty-Environment Action builds on the deep experience of the UNDP–UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI). Over the past decade, PEI has pioneered integrated approaches to mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages in national development planning and implementation processes—first in support of national efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and now as a model for implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By building on PEI’s legacy, PEA is uniquely placed to ensure that the environmental dimension is not left behind when addressing poverty. Leveraging broader 2030 Agenda and SDG implementation processes provides new entry points not only to mainstream environmental sustainability and related climate concerns for poverty eradication, but also to gradually shift government priorities and resource allocation towards addressing these issues. Further, it provides opportunities to improve the quality of private sector investments to support poverty-environment objectives. This represents the new focus of PEA —aligning finance and investment with poverty, environment and climate objectives to accelerate SDG implementation.

PEA assists government decision-makers and a wide range of other stakeholders seeking to manage the environment in a way that improves livelihoods and leads to investments in sustainable growth that ensures economic growth and poverty reduction initiatives are not at the expense of the environment, with an overall aim to bring about lasting institutional change and to increase investment in pro-poor environmental and natural resource management.

UNDP serves as the Managing Agent for the PEA project administration under the guidance and supervision of the UNDP PEA Project Manager/Director of UNDP Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification (GC-RED), PEA Project Management Specialist, and in collaboration with UNDP HQ BPPS/ROM, BMS (as needed) and GC-RED (Nairobi) operations staff. Special attention is given to the proper financial set-up of PEA particularly during the first year, to ensure the project is properly set-up and managed according to PEA’S multi-donor action agreement as well as UNDP’s rules and regulation. Part of the Poverty-Environment Initiative’s (PEA’s predecessor project) final evaluation recommendation was to set-up a financial management structure and procedures under PEA in a cost-efficient manner and to further train participating country project staff on the set-up and implementation of PEA activities at country level. In that regard, the Finance Consultant will be essential in not only successfully setting up PEA’s financial management structure, but to further provide guidance and train Country Office finance staff on the proper financial management of PEA funds, in particular when it comes to EU funds regulations.

Supervision;

The Finance Consultant will report to PEA’s Project Management Specialist.

The application should contain;

Detailed Curriculum Vitae;
Proposal/ methodology for implementing the assignment ;
Financial proposal that indicates an all inclusive fee in USD.

The successful applicant will be required to complete a UNDP Personal History Form (P11) form prior to contracting.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose and Scope of Activity;

The purpose of this assignment is to generate the essential quality business and financial operations analysis and information for UNDP to undertake necessary quality assurance as part of the Managing Agent function.

More precisely, the Finance Consultant is expected to complete the following tasks;

Scope of Activity;

Ensure proper set-up and financial management of PEA;
Develop training materials, provide guidance and conduct training to PEA finance staff on the implementation of PEA funds;
Develop PEA financial management lessons learned.

Expected deliverables;

Generate, analyze and verify the project financial reporting inputs (Annual, Donor and Progress Project) and create best practices (69 days);
Develop training guidelines for PEA country finance teams on PEA financial implementation and conduct training on PEA financial management and use of funds according to donor agreements specific to PEA (15 days);
Generate, analyze and provide financial management updates and reports on financial project progress to senior management and donors to inform decision making (36 days);

Generate financial business processes mapping and lessons learned to ensure proper management of financial transactions (15 days);
Ensure financial closure of PEI outputs and document the process of transitioning from PEI to PEA as a means of lessons learned. (20 days);
Provide financial and budgetary inputs, analysis and monitoring of the PEA Project situation as a part of overall financial management and efforts to improve efficiency in financial resources management and effective delivery against mobilized resources; prepare the global level budget revisions (20 days);
Provide comments/guidance on financial aspects of global and country work plans and TA proposals for PEA, including the Quality Assurance (15 days).

Possibility of 1-2 mission travels during the contract period. Incurred travel costs will be covered by the project according to UNDP Rules and Regulations.

Expected outputs/Timeframe for deliverables;

The start of the contract is envisioned for 1 July 2019 and should be concluded by 30 June 2020. The sequence of the deliverables and contracted payments will be determined in discussion with UNDP as part of its Managing Agent functions for PEA.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Strong knowledge of complex UNDP financial rules and regulations and IPSAS with demonstrated ATLAS mastery;
Strong knowledge and expertise in preparation of financial reports and financial/budget planning;
Experience in managing finances for complex and multi-country projects, with a preference for joint/multi-agency UN project implementation experience;
Experience with EU PAGoDA regulations and implementation and reporting for EU funded projects;
Advanced knowledge of Excel spreadsheet and database packages;
Demonstrates excellent communication skills.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Sharing knowledge and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Evaluation

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicant's qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded 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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;
Only those candidates who obtained a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation;
The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100% out of a total score for technical criteria equals 70% and 30% for financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation (70% of total evaluation; maximum 70 points);

Previous financial management experience with multi-country/complex global programmes within the UNDP (incl. managing budget revisions, AWP and expenditure monitoring) (Max 30);
Extensive experience with UNDP Financial Rules, Regulations and Systems (ATLAS/IPSAS etc.) (Max 20);
Proficiency with EU PAGoDA regulations and implementation and reporting for EU funded projects (Max 20);

Financial Evaluation (30% of total evaluation; maximum 30 points).

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where;
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Contract Award:

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered qualified and will be offered the contract with UNDP. Firms are not eligible for this consultancy assignment (open only for international individual consultants).

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in a discipline such as: Finance/Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or other relevant studies;
Additional professional accounting qualification from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy (Chartered Accountant or Certified Public Accountant) a plus.

Professional experience:

A minimum of 5 years of extensive and progressively responsible experience in project finance management within UNDP; at least 3 years providing financial advisory level services
Substantial experience in the application of complex financial ERP systems and modules (PeopleSoft/ATLAS) required
Solid knowledge/qualifications of UNDP financial rules, regulations and experience with IPSAS and strong knowledge of IPSAS accounting principles
Experience in implementing complex multi-project programming as well as joint/multi-agency project implementation
Proficiency with EU PAGoDA regulations and implementation and reporting for EU funded projects
Fluency in written and spoken English required
Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines

Language skills:

Fluency in oral and written English.