Communication Advisor

Consultant

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Millions of people continue experiencing untold misery and suffering, as the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelms health, education, and economic systems and takes human development gains back, for the first time since 1990. While the summer of 2020 brought some relief, and the international pharmaceutical scientific community has worked miracles by offering first COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year for (uneven) rollout worldwide, the pandemic is very far from over. As such, humanity is experiencing only the pandemic's initial impacts, since the consequences of the measures we are taking in response will be far-reaching for years to come. Economies and social ties will face aftershocks for decades, as the world only begins to return to "normalcy" in 2021. The trajectory of that return is obscure, shadowed by slower-than-anticipated vaccine rollout, new virus strains, economic troubles and political turmoil worldwide.

Against this backdrop, Ukraine has benefitted from a holistic UN assistance package from spring to fall of 2020. Yet, with the numbers growing drastically in the autumn-winter season of 2020 – 2021 , on some days registering over 16 000 new cases , absence of robust forecasting , the growing threat of new COVID-19 strains (variants), widespread societal fatigue over quarantine measures, uncertainty over vaccination rollout plans, continued macroeconomic challenges and lack of significant progress with resolving the conflict in the east of the country or regaining control over the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine is still far from being on the trajectory for surfacing from the country-wide epidemic or stabilizing the environment in which the country's governance machinery currently operates.

The RESURFACE Project is a mix of rapid response to the highly volatile situation and a longer-term resilience-driven transformation of Ukraine's crisis decision-making and adaptation to extraordinary circumstances. The project will be implemented for 12 months starting from March 2021 and has incorporated lessons learned from its predecessor Crisis Coordination and Management in Ukraine (CCMU) Project. Apart from practical results achieved between April and October 2020 under the small-scale and agile CCMU intervention, UNDP has taken note of ideas and proposals mentioned throughout the high-level policy dialogue meeting between the UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. As the CCMU initiative drew to a close, Ukrainian government counterparts reiterated to UNDP Ukraine their satisfaction with results of the smaller engagement and contributed to the design of the RESURFACE Project by proposing activities, areas for collaboration and making sure that the submission is fully aligned with national priorities and needs including those, based on Ukraine's Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 Assessment (SEIA) and the resulting national COVID-recovery plans.

Given the above, the proposed RESURFACE Project takes catalytic assistance to Ukraine's government authorities to a new level than CCMU by deploying a mechanism that aims at not only delivering on the urgent needs of today but programming for more resilient Ukraine's governance systems in two aspects (1) coordination and (2) institutional adaptability, as the country starts to emerge from the COVID-related crisis.

In this context, the United Nations Development Programme is recruiting an Communication Advisor to the Policy Advisory Unit under Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine with relevant experience and track record.

Communication Advisor will be directly responsible for supporting the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine through the Policy Advisory Unit with technical advice and subject-matter expertise. The incumbent will promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behavior, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Duties and Responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The incumbent will provide advice to Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine on intra-governmental and external coordination machinery for ongoing COVID-19 response with an eye towards being applied as other crises inevitably appear or intensify.

The incumbent will report primarily to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, with a reporting line to the UNDP Ukraine and the Project Manager as a part of a Democratic Governance team. The Strategic Advisor will work closely with the other members of the Policy Advisory Units.

S/he will provide support to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and its respective staffs through the following functions:

• Strengthen the institutional capacities of the beneficiary institution to design, manage and monitor communications’ policy, and introduce new practices in the Ministry’s communications, with a focus on timely, clear and thematically-structured information.
• Support Ministry in their activities on countering disinformation in media while protecting freedom of media/expression.
• Develop capacities of the of Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine staff on best practices of citizen engagement and outreach.
• Develop capacities of the Ministry’s staff on best practices of implementation of the information campaign against disinformation and fake news.
• Provide analysis and recommendations on how to enhance internal communication within the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and its state-owned enterprises.
• Provide support to the Ministry in its activities on decentralization reform in the context of communication strategy for development and support of cultural services.
• Assist the Ministry in strengthening of the media sector and developing its capacity.
• Contribute to the development of the content of thematic communication products in line with the agreed communication policies and help to establish the cooperation with opinion leaders and media assets for their effective channeling to the target audiences.
• Support development of communications plan for activities\events of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
• Ensure digital transformation, gender equality, human rights, SDG and other important aspects are integral part of the communication strategy of the Ministry.
• Ensure creative industries, information policy and Conduct public relations for the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine (media publications, social media management, press events organisation, etc.)
• Ensure visibility of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine in conferences, meetings, seminars, working groups, interaction with public authorities, non-governmental organisations and other international technical assistance projects
• Provide news coverage, support with publication of interviews, columns, articles, reports regarding the achievements of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
• Produce engaging visual, audio and text content to raise awareness about Ukrainian culture
• Support the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine team, build effective interaction with its stakeholders in communications
• Ensure that UNDP’s visibility in this field of work is adequately visible as agreed between UNDP and the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
• Liaise with other government institutions in terms of communications work at the Ministry to ensure synergy, to promote the effective downstream implementation of the policies and to avoid overlap and duplication, where appropriate and when requested by the Ministry.
• Provide sectoral advice and report to UNDP, whenever requested.
• Assist the beneficiary to prepare an exit strategy on how the advice will be mainstreamed and consolidated once this technical support is exhausted.

PAYMENTS SCHEDULE

• Communication protocols, guidelines, content plans, campaigns, instructions developed in cooperation with the press-office of the MCIP – based on number of certified worked days;
• Advisory service on the above-mentioned issues provided — based on number of certified worked days;
• Progress reports are provided to UNDP – based on number of certified worked days.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

• Number of communications products, developed in cooperation with the Ministry representatives, with proper reference to the SDGs.
• Timely submission of the regular performance reports.

MONITORING / REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Work-progress reporting/monitoring meetings will be held with the consultant on a weekly basis. UNDP will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. No reports or documents should be published or distributed to third parties without approval of UNDP.

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Project Manager as a part of Democratic Governance Team and will interact with UNDP to receive any clarifications and guidance that may be needed.

Monthly reports capturing the list of deliverables and progress made, timesheets and the plan for next month should be submitted at the end of each month in the format agreed with UNDP. The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to endorsement of the Project Manager.

Final report covering the whole assignment, followed with recommendations and all relevant Annexes by the end of December 2021.

The Consultant will duly inform UNDP of any problems, issues or delays arising in the course of implementation of assignment and take necessary steps to address them.

All reports and results are to be submitted to the UNDP in electronic format (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx, and *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP).

Competencies

CORPORATE COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in media relations, journalism, international relations, social sciences or related field.

Experience:

• 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in the media sphere, public relations, communications or advocacy.
• 2 years of relevant experience in cooperation with the state institution, NGOs or national media organisations.
• Previous experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation is an asset.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, good knowledge and experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• At least 5 relevant reports and/or publications record related to communication to be submitted.

Languages

• Fluency in English and Ukrainian languages.

Skills to be evaluated during validation interview stage with technically compliant candidates:

• Strong managerial and leadership skills, notably planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling, problem-solving and decision-making.
• Mature judgment combined with a proactive, energetic approach to problem-solving; excellent interpersonal skills.
• Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Excellent writing, proficient communication and organization skills.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

Required

x

Letter of interest/proposal, explaining why the applicant considers him or herself the most suitable for the position; description of specific professional experience at the national or international level in the media sphere, public relations, communications or advocacy; description of specific professional experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation.

x

Personal CV or P11, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees, including clearly stated information about previous projects

x

Financial proposal

x

Examples of at least 5 relevant reports and/or publications record related to communication developed by the incumbent

Financial proposal

Contracts based on a daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee and payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel costs

Should any travel be necessary in connection to this TOR, UNDP will reimburse the expenses based on the duly authorized travel details, including travel and per diems. In general, UNDP should 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 case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation criteria

Criteria A: Education - 7 points max

At least Specialist/Master’s degree in media relations, journalism, international relations, social sciences or related field

{7 pts – PhD degree in the relevant field or higher; 6 pts – Specialist/Master’s degree in the relevant field};

Criteria B****: Work Experience – 43 points max

1. At least five (5) years of relevant experience at the national or international level in the media sphere, public relations, communications or advocacy - 20 points max {up to 20 pts – 8 years and more; 18 pts – 6-7 years; 16 pts – 5 years);

2. At least two (2) years 2 years of relevant experience in cooperation with the state institution, NGOs or national media organisations on issues related to communications – 16 points max

{up to 16 pts – 6 years and more; 14 pts – 4-5 years; 12 pts – 3 years};

3. Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, good knowledge and experience in handling of web-based management systems. - 3 points max

{3 pts – yes, 0 pts – no experience};

*4.* *Experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation is an asset* - **4 points max

{4 pts – existing proven experience, 0 pts – no experience};

Criteria C****: Technical Skills – 20 points max

*Proven reports and/or publications record related to communication (at least 5 relevant publications) -***10** points max

• {10 pts – 5 publications and more; 8 pts – 1-4 publications}

Language Skills – 10 points max:

Fluency in Ukrainian and English

{10 pts – Fluency in English and Ukrainian; 7 pts- fluency in Ukrainian, working knowledge of English }

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

EVALUATION METHOD

Cumulative analysis

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the cumulative highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight: 70%

* Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% from the maximum available technical score (49 points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer.

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org