PNUD recruits 01 MIF Policy Advisor

Consultancy – MIF Policy Advisor

Publié pour le compte de : UNCDF

Lieu : Dakar UNCDF Office, Senegal with travels across the sub-region or as may be requested by UNCDF, SENEGAL

Date limite de candidature : 14-May-20 (Minuit New York, États-Unis)

Type de contrat : Individual Contract

Niveau du poste : International Consultant

Langues requises : Anglais   Français

Date de commencement : (date à laquelle le candidat sélectionné doit commencer) 01-Jul-2020

Durée du contrat initial: One year, with possible extension for two additional years, based on continued project need, funding

Durée prévue de la mission : Initial 1 year, 2 years possible extension

Historique

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to development finance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on the least developed countries in Africa and Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It provides seed capital, loans and targeted technical support to help development finance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.’

Reporting directly to the Regional Advisor for the Local Development Finance Practice, as well as the Municipal Investment Finance (MIF) Global Program Manager, the Policy Advisor will ensure developing the MIF program in Senegal and West African Region, in collaboration with a MIF Municipal Finance Specialist.

The MIF program aims at supporting towns, cities and urban areas in the region to secure the capital and recurrent financing required for their growing infrastructure and service requirements. The program operates in Senegal and other selected LDCs in the Western Africa region in coordination with the respective UNCDF country team under the direct supervision of the Regional Technical Advisor who is based in Dakar, Senegal, as well as the MIF Global Program Manager.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The Consultant will ensure effective relations with national actors and participation in policy dialogue in support to the MIF Program in Senegal and the Sub-region, as well as provide policy advice to UNCDF in the area of municipal finance and local public and private finance in Senegal and in countries of the Sub-region. Key tasks are as follow:

ENSURING RELATIONS WITH NATIONAL ACTORS, PARTICIPATION TO POLICY DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES, PROVIDING POLICY ADVICE:

-Maintain close working relationships and high levels of trust and support with government stakeholders, based on UNCDF’s mandate and a client-based approach — led by countries demand;

-Ensure close dialogue between UNCDF and local governments for effective collaboration and on-boarding;

-Act as a liaison to leverage strategic information and support from all parties involved;

-Represent UNCDF in key policy forums and conferences ensuring that UNCDF programming has access to the latest knowledge and experiences in building conducive policy environments;

-Support the development of national policies in the areas of municipal finance; using the latest research and ideas, lessons of policy pilots as well as the opinion of key actors and major international institutions;

-Provides strategic advices to relevant actors about the growing infrastructure and service requirement based on UNCDF’s mandate and a client-based approach — led by countries demand,

-Providing guidance internally on key policy issues – orally and writing strategic notes;

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

-Prepare annual workplans, reports on activities and progress of the MIF program and other issues;

-Organize and prepare meetings and agendas, highlight critical actions, and tracking follow up of activities;

-Provide planning and logistical support in preparing missions, organizing meetings, writing reports/minutes, writing follow up letters and other activities;

-Contribute to the strategic positioning of the MIF Program;

-Support in the resource mobilization of the MIF Program and prepare meeting minutes for the relevant stakeholders including the LDFP team of UNCDF,

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

-Organize UNCDF’s knowledge management around key policy issues;

-Ensure best practices from global experience are incorporated into Local Development Finance Practice programming;

-Identification, documentation and incorporation of lessons learned from Local Development Finance experience on policy and regulation mainly in Africa;

-Identification and development of new instruments, tools and processes in UNCDF and UNDP niche areas to better employ comparative advantages of UNCDF and UNDP in Africa;

-Share different experiences with stakeholders and partners interested in the region.

Monitoring and Progress Control

Based in UNCDF Dakar Office, the MIF Policy Advisor will work under the direct supervision of the Regional Technical Advisor for Local Development Finance Practice based in Dakar and the MIF Global Program Manager based in New York.

Payment will be made based on the reception and validation of deliverables, and disbursement of payments should be approved by the Regional Technical Advisor, as set forth below:

Deliverable 1: Methodological note on activity implementation strategy and work plan (Month 1, 10%)

Deliverable 2: Quarterly report on the implementation of activities and revised work plan for the coming months (Month 3, 20%)

Deliverable 3: Quarterly report on the implementation of activities and revised work plan for the coming months? (Month 6, 20%)

Deliverable 4: Quarterly report on the implementation of activities and revised work plan for the coming months (Month 9, 20%)

Deliverable 5: Final report on the implementation of the activities and work plan for the year n+1 if activities are continued (Month 12, 30%)

In addition to the general deliverables mentioned in the table above, specific deliverables will be requested by UNCDF, and their receipt and validation will condition the payments mentioned above. These deliverables include: Mission Reports, Strategic/methodological Notes, Workplans etc.

Compétences

Core Competencies:

-Demonstrates ethics and integrity;

-Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk taking;

-Impeccable diplomatic skills and knowledge of protocol;

-Builds own competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;

-Creates and promotes open communication;

-Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;

-Conducts fair and transparent decision making;

-Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;

Functional Competencies:

-Proven ability in public speaking, specifically to senior-level audiences including governments, companies and international organizations;

-Strong professional spokesperson ability, technically able to convey messages on behalf of UNCDF while respecting cultural contexts, political sensitivities and advancing national priorities.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Public Finance, Public Administration, or related field is required.

Experience:

Minimum of 5 years of relevant, practical working experience is required in:

-International development working on local development finance; preferably in Senegal or other least developed countries (LDCs) in the Western Africa region;

Technical knowledge is required on at least on the following:

-Local development planning and capital investment programming in urban or rural areas;

-Municipal finance issues or in private sector financing of infrastructure projects;

Demonstrated ability to:

-Developing project documents and start-up of new projects;

-Experience with new product/mechanism development, testing, roll-out;

-Proven resource mobilization experience and record of success in building partnerships, negotiating financing, reporting to and managing grants from development partners;

-Strong program and project management experience including budget and financial management, staff supervision, teambuilding;

-Experience of managing a bond process is a bonus;

-Strong financial analysis and business project appraisal skills;

Familiarity with UNCDF/UNDP rules and procedures is an advantage.

Language requirements:

-Written and spoken fluency in English and French;

-Spoken Wolof is an asset.

Application Procedure

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. (Note: the system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).

All applications must contain the following information:

a)  Duly accomplished?Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability;

b)  Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and the names of at least three (3) professional references (e-mail addresses, telephone numbers);

c)  Brief description?of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.?

d)  Signed Financial proposal for the assignment outlining: All-inclusive fee (including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as housing, insurance, taxes, etc.). Available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNCDF under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF.

Evaluation process

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100 points, where weight distribution shall be 70% technical (30% desk review + 40% interview) and 30% financial.

Step I: Screening:

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria (listed under education and experience) will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

-Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Public Finance, Public Administration, or related field

-Minimum of 5 years of relevant, practical working experience in the field of international development working on local development finance; preferably in Senegal or other least developed countries (LDCs) in the Western Africa region

-Fluency in both French and English

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review (100 points)

UNCDF will conduct a desk review process to shortlist and technically evaluate candidates as per the following criteria:

Education (20 points):  Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Business, Public Finance, Public Administration

Experience (70 points):

Minimum of 5 years of relevant, practical working experience is required in the field of International development working on local development finance; preferably in Senegal or other least developed countries (LDCs) in the Western Africa region (30 points);

Technical knowledge is required on the following (20 points):

-Local development planning and capital investment programming in urban or rural areas;

-Municipal finance issues or in private sector financing of infrastructure projects;

Demonstrated ability in (15 points):

-Developing project documents and start-up of new projects;

-Experience with new product/mechanism development, testing, roll-out;

-Proven resource mobilization experience and record of success in building partnerships, negotiating financing, reporting to and managing grants from development partners;

-Strong program and project management experience including budget and financial management, staff supervision, teambuilding;

-Experience of managing a bond process is a bonus;

-Strong financial analysis and business project appraisal skills;

Familiarity with UNCDF/UNDP rules and procedures is an advantage (5 points).

Language (10 points): Fluency in English/French

As applicable, only the first top 3-4 ranked applicants achieving minimum 70 points shall be invited for an interview.

Step III: Technical interviews?

A competency-based Interview shall be conducted with the top three or four candidates who score the highest in Step II (minimum of 70 points). Candidates will be tested on the same key work areas, in greater depth, with the same weighting, namely:

-Relevant experience

-Sector Technical Knowledge

-Programme Development and Management

-Understanding of the mission

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Step II: Desk Review and Step III: Interview will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.

Step IV: Financial Evaluation:

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Step V: Award Criteria:

The contact shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as:

-Responsive/compliant/acceptable vis-à-vis the requirements of the TOR and the project operating environment; and

-Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (70%) and financial (30%) criteria.

Individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

UNCDF 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.

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to uncdf.procurement@uncdf.org

The UNCDF Procurement Team will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.

Le PNUD s’engage à recruter un personnel divers en termes de genre, de nationalité et de culture. Nous encourageons de même les personnes issues des minorités ethniques, des communautés autochtones ou handicapées à postuler. Toutes les candidatures seront traitées dans la plus stricte confidentialité.

Le PNUD ne tolère pas l’exploitation et / ou les atteintes sexuelles, ni aucune forme de harcèlement, y compris le harcèlement sexuel, et / ou toutes formes de discrimination. Tous/tes les candidats/tes selectectionnes /ées devront ainsi se soumettre à de rigoureuses vérifications relatives aux références fournies ainsi qu’à leurs antécédents.