Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand, in collaboration with the Royal Thai Government and partners, has implemented projects to accelerate the development of the country for more than 50 years.

In line with the Country Programme Document (2017-2021), UNDP works with the Royal Thai government, civil society, the private sector and the Thai public in support of the country’s achievements of the SDGs, with a focus on two broad pillar namely a) Climate Change and Environment; and b) Governance and Social Inclusion. This support includes developing human and institutional capacities, sharing the UN’s knowledge and experience, demonstrating solutions, building partnerships and raising funds for development.

In order to support programme design and implementation, communication, advocacy and knowledge management is key to support UNDP Thailand to develop new and innovative partnership, to advocate for gender mainstreaming, to create opportunities for resource mobilization, showcase development results and lessons-learned to general public, as well as for south-south exchanges. Accordingly, UNDP Thailand is seeking a Communication and Engagement Consultant in support of these important streams of work in Thailand.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Assignment

Under the guidance and direct supervision of Resident Representative, the Communication and Engagement Consultant participates in the implementation of the corporate communications strategy, as well as in the design, management and implementation of the Country Office communications and publication strategies which are geared to influence the development agenda, promote public and media outreach and mobilize political and financial support for UNDP. In doing so, the incumbent facilitates internal communication towards the inclusion of innovative practices and resources into UNDP’s programmes, projects, services, and partnership engagement approaches while leveraging communications channels with external stakeholders.

The Consultant will work closely with the Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy (DGSA), Inclusive Green Growth and Sustainable Development (IGSD) teams and UNDP Senior Management towards casting both a broad information net as well as targeted communication efforts in view of projecting the work and identity of UNDP outward and the perspectives and needs of the client communities in ward.

The Consultant, through awareness of communication actors and issues in Thailand, positions and prepares UNDP colleagues for successful communication engagements with the press, government, formal presentations with institutional actors and non-traditional settings as well. She / he prepares the field for the optimal visibility of UNDP’s substantive and innovative collaboration efforts in achieving Thailand’s grand challenge.

Scope of Work:

Communication and Advocacy:

  • Support the conceptualization, planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of an advocacy and communication strategy and digital communication plan to leverage better results and mobilize resources for the Country Office;
  • Contribute to the development of strategies to get the work of UNDP into the public domain, in support of UNDP's mission and objectives, (including communication assessments and analysis, development of a communication plans, strategic use of resources and involvement in key programme processes, especially situation analysis, reviews and evaluations);
  • Help develop communication and visibility plans for key donors, implement communication activities within these plans and produce materials as needed. The Communications Consultant will also be required to help edit donor reports and proposals;
  • Assist in engagement with key influencers through activities such as organizing visits to project sites, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage, and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate to generate and maintain public interest in climate actions and democratic governance;
  • Assist programmes in developing advocacy/communication materials and maintaining close collaboration with relevant partners whose support is essential to the achievement of reporting advocacy objectives (Key Messages, Fact Sheet, Newsletters, Press Releases, Programme summaries, country fact sheets and media kits, etc.);
  • Facilitate the inclusion of innovation practices and resources into UNDP’s programmes, projects, services, and partnership engagement approaches;
  • Leveraging contemporary communication channels and platforms, reach all relevant audiences including stakeholders, experts, sponsors and institutions and citizens with effective and continuous messaging that expands UNDPs position and engagement around the SDGs and Thailand’s development agenda;
  • Create media and information campaigns in local and regional media that position UNDP, as well as UNDP’s partners, and ensure the role and voices of UNDP and its collaborating partners are widely seen and heard in the national development dialogue.

Partnership engagement

  • Create a network of critical communication actors, partners and platforms essential for advancing development cooperation, innovation, and collaboration in Thailand;
  • Systemically support the integration of innovation approaches and external public engagement in UNDP’s programming and project development;
  • Learn how clients and collaborators consume communication products and services, identifying information and data to facilitate greater reach, clarity and impact;
  • Identify effective partner communication strategies and seeks to align and join efforts when useful to advancing UNDP’s shared agenda with its collaborative partners;
  • Provide basic and useful explanations to clients on communications requirements;
  • Promote use and citizen voices and institutional consumers to “tell the story” of development in Thailand in appropriate media and fora.

Outputs

The key outputs of this TOR include timely and effective delivery of the areas referred to under the Scope of Work including the following:

  • An advocacy and communication strategy;
  • Number of influencers reached out to engage in UNDP’s advocacy work;
  • Number of programmes assisted with developing advocacy/communication materials;
  • Number of media and information campaigns launched.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

  • Preferably with knowledge of UN agencies, Royal Thai Government and its line agencies, and some level of familiarity with its operations.

Functional and technical competencies

  • Advanced knowledge of basic computing, particularly the Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and familiar with Microsoft Publisher;
  • Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:

  • Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in media relations, journalism, publishing, or a related field.

Professional Experience:

  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in journalism, public relations, communications or advocacy.
  • Experience in translating technical information into creative products.
  • Excellent command of Adobe Creative Cloud especially inDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker and CoreIDraw
  • Experience in data visualization and information design skills.
  • Experience in plan, managing, and upgrading websites.

Language

  • Fluency in English is essential, both writing and speaking.

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel

  • Maximum 6 months during the period 1 January 2020 – 30 June 2020 for the maximum number of 130 working days.
  • Duty Station: Bangkok, Thailand with some in-country travels required as needed.

Payment terms:

  • Payments will be done upon completion and approval of the monthly timesheet submitted from month of Jan-June 2020
  • In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP Living Allowance rates.

Institutional Arrangement

  • The Communication and Engagement Consultant will be under the direct supervision of UNDP Resident Representative. 

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodology

Criteria for selection of Best Offer

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points) 

  • Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in media relations, journalism, publishing, or a related field.- Max. 15 points
  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in journalism, public relations, communications or advocacy- Max. 15 points
  • Experience in translating technical information into creative products. Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing.-15 points
  • Experience in data visualization and information design skills.- Max. 15 points
  • Experience in plan, managing, and upgrading websites.- 10 points

30 points would be earmarked for financial evaluation.

Required Documents:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

  • Duly filled and signed Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
  • A detailed CV, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
  • Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Basis Amount in Thai Baht (THB). The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be daily basis-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration.

ANNEXES

Annex 1- General conditions of contract;

Annex II- Terms of Reference

Annex III- Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal

All the documents can be downloaded from the following link:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=61841

 For any clarification, please write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org specifying job title.