Consultancy: eVPPEF/ VPPN Project Support, Vaccine Centre, Supply Division, Copenhagen (11.5 months- Part-time (Home based)

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, every right

UNICEF Supply Division has identified strengthening national vaccine procurement practices as a key component of its approach to supporting Gavi transitioning and other middle-income countries (MICs) in ensuring sustainable access to and timely supply of affordable vaccines.

In alignment with the IA203, facilitating and fostering peer-to-peer learning by building on the experience of different countries and experts, UNICEF has a significant potential to provide a way for in-country expertise development, ultimately leading to improved vaccine procurement outcomes for the benefit of children.

To this end, UNICEF Supply Division has been hosting the annual Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Exchange Forum (VPPEF) every year since 2015. This event is a unique opportunity to allow vaccine procurement practitioners from different countries/regions to network with and learn from peers and to catalyze momentum for future continuous exchanges. To further the aims of the VPPEF, UNICEF Supply Division established in 2016 the Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Network (VPPN) which has today more than 250 members from 80 countries.

As a virtual community of practice focusing primarily on targeting country governments and partners in immunization to the vaccine procurement process, the VPPN aims to provide a platform for continuous exchange of theoretical and practical knowledge, joint learning and collaborative problem solving. Membership in the VPPN is by application only. With considerations to the COVID19 situation, the VPPN offers a unique space for countries vaccine buyers to exchange and reflect on the impacts of and way forward to access vaccines through and beyond the COVID-19 context.

How can you make a difference?

The scope of this consultancy is to support the project team at UNICEF Supply Division Vaccine Centre to develop activities in order to strengthen the capacity of national vaccine procurement processes and ensure that countries access reliable supply of quality, affordable vaccines.

Description of assignment

Under the supervision of the Supply Officer in the Vaccine Centre, UNICEF Supply Division the consultant will support a series of projects that seek to strengthen governments’ vaccine procurement capacity within a health system strengthening lens. The selected candidate will work in close cooperation with across UNICEF offices/ Divisions, in-country procurement experts and strategic partners. The consultant is expected to perform the following: in close collaboration with the rest of the team, to contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of vaccine procurement strengthening activities.

Expected outcomes

• National vaccine procurement practitioners are equipped with relevant and contextualized resources, tools and methodologies on how to strengthen their procurement practices that will lead to ensuring access to affordable and sustainable quality-assured vaccines.
• Final report is finalized and disseminated.
• Relevant content is curated and made available on the VPPN at the end of the event.

Deliverables:

Phase 1 : - Support the development and implementation of the VPPN Knowledge Strategy. - Support the roll-out of the VPPEF and produce the meeting final report, highlighting the main takeaways. - Support the roll-out of the global and sub-regional VPPEFs including and not limited to knowledge exchange methods, content, evaluation tools (to develop pre-Forum and post-Forum evaluation surveys), presentation templates and supporting materials including participants’ handouts, a guiding road map on how to achieve procurement efficiencies. - Curate and potentially develop information to be posted on the dedicated website of the VPPEF, and link participants to the resources. - Support a new initiative around fostering peer-to-peer knowledge exchange including webinars and e-discussions on the VPPN by facilitating and capturing technical knowledge and engaging with the community.

Phase 2: - Assist the timely management of the VPPN Advisory Group - Support the ongoing management of the VPPN Knowledge Strategy. - Organize content to fit TechNet’s information architecture. - Provide a 2-pager report on the VPPN performance metric (traffic, number of new posts, number of resources uploaded, number of country governments participations…) and suggest a strategy to enhance country governments’ participation.

Phase 3 : - Review available materials related to procurement efficiencies in public health context and beyond, communicate and consult with relevant experts on the topics and develop in-depth analysis of countries that are transitioning out of Gavi support focusing on challenges and good practices by contextualizing theoretical concepts to specific country settings. - Support the roll-out and dissemination of the Strategic Vaccine Procurement e-Course.

Phase 4 : - Support the mapping, documentation and analysis of potential synergies among countries in order to establish effective south-south interactions embedded in the already available platforms.

Expected Delivery (TBD)

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: Advanced university degree in a relevant field: information and knowledge management, communications, public policy, public management, public health, business administration, international relations, or international development; a combination of relevant academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• Minimum seven years relevant work experience with public health, or capacity building initiatives.
• Effective interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to engage different stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to produce high quality results in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated familiarity with the work of UNICEF, the UN and/or with issues related to public health/immunization is an asset. Ideally proven experience working in a UNICEF Country/ Regional Office, or within a UNICEF partner government ministry.
• Demonstrated experience with documenting lessons learned. Excellent presentation and writing skills.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies:

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Works collaboratively with others

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Functional Competencies

• Able to work independently and problem solving oriented.
• Have excellent organizational skills and networking
• Able to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
• Demonstrated communication and relationship building skills.
• Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills.

Technical Knowledge

• Proven experience in developing and curating technical information and disseminating it to a panel of experts.
• Proven knowledge of public health/ procurement technical complexities and foster use of appropriate knowledge exchange for internal and external partners.
• Demonstrated solid experience in technical and operational support to health program implementation.
• Proven experience in innovation, knowledge management and capacity building.

Language:

• Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are essential. Knowledge of other languages spoken by VPPEF participants a plus (i.e. French, Russian, Portuguese).

EVALUATION PROCESS

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application.
2. Financial quote at a daily rate in US Dollars. Financial quote should be inclusive of service fees, and living expenses.
3. CV.
4. Examples of previous, relevant work.
5. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project.
6. At least 3 References (email addresses for the current and previous supervisors)
7. P 11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html ).

Applications should be submitted online through www.unicef.org/about/employ. Queries can be directed to lsanchez@unicef.org with subject line “VPPEF/ VPPN Project Support Consultant” by 24 September, 2021 23.59 CET. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates. As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Please note that consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

Successful applicants will be invited to a telephone interview and will be evaluated by the following criteria:

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL (70 points) Overall Response (10 points) Understanding of tasks, objectives and completeness and coherence of response 5 Overall match between the TOR requirements and proposal 5

Proposed Methodology and Approach (20 points) Quality of proposed approach/methodology 10 Quality of proposed work plan 10

Technical Capacity (40 points) Professional and relevant work experience in areas knowledge exchange and peer learning 15 Experience in developing and implementing community management and engagement strategies 10 Experience with online collaboration platforms 10 Experience organizing and facilitating participatory events such as workshops, learning sessions and webinars 5

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION - Total Points 70

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL (30 points) Tranche payments per deliverable: • End of Phase 1: 20% of the total amount • End of Phase 2: 30% of the total amount • End of Phase 3: 20% of the total amount • End of Phase 4: 30% of the total amount

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The closing date is 24 September 2021****. Please be informed that all applications to UNICEF are handled via UNICEF's online recruiting system. Kindly note that all applications should be in English and that applications outside of the online recruiting system will not be accepted. Kindly also note that diversity and gender balance are factors in the selection process.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.