National Consultant– Local Government Expert for providing assistance on the implementation of the projects

Background

UNDP is the development arm of the United Nations system, with offices in 180 countries. Globally, the organization employs 17,000 people and manages a budget of USD 5 billion each year.

The UNDP office in Skopje employs a team of 65 and currently manages a portfolio of projects in environmental protection, good governance, and social inclusion worth USD 15 million per year.

Within its Good governance portfolio (GGP), UNDP works closely with the Government and institutions at all levels to increase skills and capacities to design more responsive and inclusive policies and to deliver services more effectively. Through numerous past and ongoing projects, UNDP is working with the national institutions in the design and development of numerous policies, laws, and measures to increase the accountability of public institutions. Significant support has also been provided to assist officials from central and local government in improving challenges of decentralization, achieving significant results through increased cooperation amongst municipalities, provision of public services, strengthening of the regional development, public finance management, cooperation with the NGO and private sector, etc.

In support of implementation of some of the UNDP projects, there is a need for hiring of a national consultant – Local Government Expert to provide expertise in local government and regional development.

The consultant will work under direct supervision of the Head of the Good governance portfolio and respective project managers, and in cooperation with the project teams, representatives of different donors and the stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The Local Government Expert is expected to support the portfolio in design of new project ideas, concepts, and documents and to provide advices and quality assurance related to implementation of the ongoing projects within the Good governance portfolio. The expert will advise programme/project staff on compliance of the ongoing activities with the project documents. In addition, s/he will also assist the communication with the key actors in the projects and will undertake site visits where appropriate/needed.     

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Head of Programme of the Good governance portfolio and Project Managers the consultant will be responsible for carrying out the following tasks: 

1. Familiarize with the existing and planned projects and activities;
2. Advice and support GGP team in designing new project ideas, concepts and documents;
3. Provide quality assurance on ongoing projects/activities;
4. Develop, review and comments strategic documents related to democratic governance issues within the GGP projects;
5. Informs GGP team on best national/international practices and trends related to democratic governance issues with potentials to localize/replicate in the country;
6. Advice on national legal requirements and international standards on project implementation;
7. Inform Head of GGP on funding opportunities by donor community in the country;
8. Advices on creation and maintenance of synergies with ongoing initiatives/projects of other international organizations present in the country in area of democratic governance;
9. Take part in preparation of ToR’s and participates in evaluation (as observer) of applications/bids;
10. Provide guidance on project activities including conferences, study visits, surveys and small grant/procurement schemes;
11. Participates in designing and implementation of different communication and PR activities related to ongoing projects;
12. Conducts, reviews and edits evaluation/assessments/reviews/reports of the ongoing projects and prepare and make presentations;
13. Conduct site visits and meetings with relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries;

Competencies

• Shows strong analytical skills.
• Demonstrates good verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates excellent organizational skills and proven ability to deliver consultancy products within deadlines.
• Ability to synthesize research and draw conclusions on the related subject.
• Writes clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences.
• Experience of working with ministries and local self-governance structures.
• Fluent in the English language.

Required Skills and Experience

• University degree (minimum ?Sc.) in public administration, political science, law, economics or another relevant field. PhD is considered a strong asset;
• Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in provision of advisory/consultancy services, in the field of local government, decentralization and fiscal decentralization, public service delivery and regional development;
• Proven record of participation in at least 5 assignments/projects in area of local government and regional development;
• Proven record of participation in preparation of at least 5 strategic documents (strategies, programs, plans, reports, assessments, etc.) relevant to the local government and regional development;
• Experience in liaising and co-operating with central and local government authorities, ZELS, NGOs and the private sector, international donor community in the country and other relevant national entities for the local government and the regional development;
• Excellent computer literacy (MS Office; Windows).  
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills are required in both Macedonian and English. Knowledge of Albanian is considered an asset.

Timeframe

The consultant shall be hired by UNDP under the IC (Individual Contract) modality for maximum 300 days over a period of 36 months upon signing of contract.

Reporting

The consultant will report to the Head of Good governance portfolio and respective Project Managers. If any, produced documents needs to be submitted in Macedonian or English language (subject of prior agreement between the Project Managers and the expert).

Terms and Conditions

• Contract modality and duration

The Local Government Expert will be hired under IC (Individual Contract) modality as per UNDP procedures for a period of 36 months. A maximum of 300 expert-days is anticipated for the entire period of the assignment. The contract does not form a financial obligation or commitment from UNDP at the time the IC is signed, and that such an agreement is non-exclusive (i.e., it does not prohibit UNDP from entering into another such framework agreement with another individual or entity). Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of IC, through the agreed triggering document that signals commencement of a given engagement.

• Reporting

The expert will report to the Head of the Good governance portfolio and respective Project Managers in charge of different projects. The produced documentation needs to be submitted in English and/or Macedonian language (case specific).

• Travel and other associated costs

The Local Government Expert might be expected to travel to the project sites as required. Normally, transportation to the project site will be organized with a project vehicle. If that is not possible, the consultant might be as an exception be authorized to use private vehicle to travel on project site. Cost for use of private vehicle for official authorized travel shall be reimbursed in accordance with UNDP rules and procedures.  All travel of the consultant that will have financial implication, must be pre-approved by UNDP. Authorized overnight stay will be paid in accordance with UNDP’s applicable rules and procedures if/when pre-approved by UNDP.  

• Payments schedule

The payment for the services will be on monthly basis, based on the accumulated number of used expert-days in line with previously assigned working packages and approved time sheets (to be certified by the respective Project Managers prior to the payments of the installments).

• Rendering of service within the period of contract

If there is a need for Consultancy services, UNDP Project Manager will send a request to the consultant using the standard form (Annex 1). The form should clearly indicate the deliverables expected, duration in days/hours and eventual travel. The standard working day is considered 8 hours if necessary daily fee will be pro-rated.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF BEST OFFER

The award of the contract shall be made to the offeror whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Being responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score based on the following weight of technical and financial criteria for solicitation as per the schedule below:

* Technical criteria weight: 70%

* Financial criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) in the technical evaluation shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

For the considered offers in the financial evaluation only, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (Pl/ Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Technical Criteria:

Criteria	Maximum points 70
University degree (minimum ?Sc.) in public administration, political science, law, economics, or another relevant field. PhD is considered a strong asset;   MSc. = 8 points PhD = 10 points	10
Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in provision of advisory/consultancy services, in the field of local government, decentralization and fiscal decentralization, public service delivery and regional development.   5 years = 10 points 6-10 = 15 points Above 10 = 20 points	20

Proven record of participation in at least 5 assignments/projects in area of local government and regional development;   5 assignments/projects = 7 points 6-8 assignments/projects =10 points Over 8 assignments/projects = 15 points	15
Proven record of participation in preparation of at least 5 strategic documents (strategies, programs, plans, reports, assessments, etc.) relevant to the local government and regional development.   5 strategic documents = 10 points 6-10 strategic documents = 13 points Above 10 strategic documents = 15 points	15
Experience in liaising and co-operating with central and local government authorities, ZELS, NGOs and the private sector, international donor community in the country and other relevant national entities for the local government and the regional development.    Modest experience = 5 points Very good experience = 7 points Excellent experience = 10 points	10
Financial offer	30

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

Interested offerors are invited to submit the following documents/information to be considered:

• Offeror’s letter, as per the following form LINK
• Most updated CV with focus on required qualification as well as the contact details of at least three (3) professional references;
• Financial Proposal: The financial proposal must be expressed in the form of a lumpsum all-inclusive cost.

The submitted documents need to be provided in pdf format.

The financial proposal must consider various expenses, except the travel costs, that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; communications, any other expenses related to this assignment.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Step 1

1. Click on the "Apply now" button

2. Input your information in the appropriate sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume, and motivation (cover letter). You can type in or paste your short Resume into the last box.

3. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload other required documents listed in the step 2.

Step 2

Interested individual consultants must submit the documents/information listed in the “Documents to submit section” above.

The system will allow only one attachment. Therefore, please upload all required documents as one file.

Failing to submit any of these documents may result in disqualification of the application.

Please note that shortlisted candidates might be interviewed.

If the deliverables are not produced and delivered by the consultant to the satisfaction of UNDP as approved by the responsible Portfolio Manager, no payment will be made even if the consultant has invested man/days to produce and deliver such deliverables.