Individual Contractor (IC) – Communications Consultant
Contract
This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.
Background
CONTEXT/BACKGROUND
With financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), the SDG-Climate Facility is a multi-partner platform focusing on the impacts of climate change on human security in the Arab region, especially in the context of countries in crisis. It brings the UN Development Programme (UNDP) together with the League of Arab States (LAS), the Arab Water Council (AWC), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN Habitat) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver climate-oriented solutions that address climate challenges, and to bring co-benefits across the SDGs. In doing so, it aims to scale up access to and delivery of climate finance, including through innovative partnerships with the private sector.
During the SDG-Climate Facility Project’s Strategic Partners retreat which took place in September 2021, the project board agreed that an Interim Hosted Facility will be established in 2022 which will pave the way for the establishment of a fully legally independent Facility at a later stage.
In preparation for the establishment of the interim hosted facility and the independent facility, a rebranding exercise will be undertaken to establish a new brand for the Facility with a new visual identity and a website will be developed to act as a one-stop-shop for knowledge, evidence and other information resources related to climate security in the Arab region.
Duties and Responsibilities
SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK
Under the overall guidance of the SDG-Climate Facility Project Manager/CTA, and the direct supervision of the SDG-Climate Facility Project Communication Specialist, the consultant will develop the SDG-Climate Facility brand including:
- In consultation with the project team and partners, develop a brand identity for the SDG-Climate Facility which is in line with the Facility’s vision. The brand identity should include but not limited to brand mission, slogan/tagline, and positioning. The brand identity should also take into consideration the multi-partner nature of the Facility which implies that co-branding and cross-branding will be applied in several instances.
- Develop a visual identity for the SDG-Climate Facility which will include the logo, the color palette, typography, graphics, and imagery in both English and Arabic.
- Develop branding guidelines manual.
- Develop standardized branded material in English and Arabic (templates for PowerPoint presentations, publications, social media platforms headers and profile pictures, letterheads, business cards, etc.).
- In coordination with the SDG-Climate Facility Project Communication Specialist, convene a meeting with all project partners to present the brand, the branding guidelines manual and standardized branded material which will govern the Facility’s identity.
- Design the layout of the SDG-Climate Facility website and contribute to the development of the terms of reference and other required documents for website development services. The consultant should provide at least three consecutive different options for the design, where UNDP team will select one to proceed with.
- Provide brand reputation management services for 12 months.
The consultant will be expected to develop relevant deliverables as outlined below:
Phase 1:
- Review relevant information on the SDG-Climate Facility, its design, scope of services, partners, and stakeholders.
- Propose the brand development approach including:
- Development of the brand strategy.
- Development of a workplan.
- Development of the key milestones.
Phase 2:
Based on the approved branding proposal:
- Develop and produce the SDG-Climate Facility brand including the logo, the color palette, typography, graphics, and imagery in both English and Arabic;
- Produce the branding manual;
- Design SDG-Climate Facility website based on the design option approved by UNDP team;
- Provide brand reputation management for a period of 12 months starting from the date of successful delivery of the services above.
EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
Estimated number of workdays/deliverables
Targeted Due Dates
Review and Approvals Required
Deliverable 1:
Branding approach presentation including the brand strategy, workplan and key milestones.
Up to 12 workdays from contract signature date
Within 3 weeks from contract signature date
Communication Specialist
CTA – Regional Project Manager
Deliverable 2:
SDG-Climate Facility brand including the logo, color palette, typography, graphics, imagery (in English and Arabic), and the brand manual
Up to 30 workdays following satisfactory completion of Deliverable 1
Within 1.5 months from contract signature date
Deliverable 3:
Website design, and provision of inputs to the web development ToR
Up to 18 workdays following satisfactory completion of Deliverable 2
Within 3 months from contract signature date
Competencies
A) Corporate:
- Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’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.
B) Functional
- Proven technical and intellectual skills in understanding and interpreting communication needs.
- Demonstrated entrepreneurial abilities and demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner.
- Background knowledge about the SDGs, United Nations and UNDP.
- Good teamwork and interpersonal skills.
- Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure.
- Excellent drafting and formulation skills.
- Excellent computer skills especially in software packages relevant to the required tasks
C) Leadership
- Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership.
- Demonstrated intellectual leadership and ability to integrate communication and marketing products into event objectives and vision.
D) Managing Relationships
- Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic partnerships.
- Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in communication, management, business administration, marketing, or other relevant areas.
Work experience:
- A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in digital and visual design, video animation, infographics, and printed material;
- Minimum of five (05) years in communication, marketing, sales, business administration and experience in working on the Sustainable Development Goals;
- Proven track record working at strategic and advisory communication and marketing roles;
- Demonstrated experience in creating brand and identity profiles for reputable entities;
- Demonstrated experience in creating innovative and interactive digital experiences;
- Previous working experience with the United Nations is a plus;
- Previous working experience in the Arab States/MENA is a plus.
Language Requirements:
- Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required.?****
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
- The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS).
- S/He shall perform tasks under the direct supervision of the Communication Specialist, and the overall guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor/Project Manager of the SDG Climate Facility regional project.
- The supervision of the Regional Hub Manager will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section.
- The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers, and UN colleagues.
- The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment to monitor progress.
- The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNDP-RBAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly.
- Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews, or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.
DURATION OF THE WORK
The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be up to sixty (60) working days over a period of three (3) calendar months from contract signature date.
DUTY STATION
Home-based assignment.
TRAVEL PLAN
If unforeseen travel outside the consultant home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).
SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS
The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder, noting that the maximum number of working days for this assignment shouldn’t exceed three (03) calendar months.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
Estimated number of workdays/deliverables
Targeted Due Dates
Schedule of Payments
Deliverable 1:
Branding approach presentation including the brand strategy, workplan and key milestones.
Up to 12 workdays from contract signature date
Within 3 weeks from contract signature date
After satisfactory completion of deliverable(s) one (01) and submission of duly certified Certification of Payment (CoP) up to 30% of total contract amount
Deliverable 2:
SDG-Climate Facility brand including the logo, color palette, typography, graphics, imagery (in English and Arabic), and the brand manual
Up to 30 workdays following satisfactory completion of Deliverable 1
Within 1.5 months from contract signature date
After satisfactory completion of deliverable(s) one (02) and submission of duly certified Certification of Payment (CoP) up to 30% of total contract amount
Deliverable 3:
Website design, and provision of inputs to the web development ToR
Up to 18 workdays following satisfactory completion of Deliverable 2
Within 3 months from contract signature date
After satisfactory completion of deliverable(s) one (03) and submission of duly certified Certification of Payment (CoP) up to 40% of total contract amount
RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER
Interested individual consultants must submit documents under points 1-4 to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit these documents, the application will not be considered.
- Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
- 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 at least three (3) professional references;
- Brief Description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for this assignment;
- Technical Proposal detailing how they will approach the assignment, prioritizing activities to meet the deliverables as set above in the most efficient and effective manner, including a portfolio of communication products developed by the applicant for events/entities of similar size and complexities. The portfolio could be submitted in the form of a document with links to the products with a descriptive paragraph on each product;
- Financial Proposal: When the financial proposal is requested it should indicate the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. 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 UNDP 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 UNDP.
Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive
Interested candidates shall submit required documents to Job Advertisement Website (https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) as one document not later than 26th of November 2021
Interested candidates can find Procurement Notice, Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and P11
templates on the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFERS
This selection criteria will follow the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%, using the following evaluation criteria
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:
Step I: Screening and Shortlisting:
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.
Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum requirements will progress to the pool for shortlisting:
- Criteria A: Bachelor’s degree in communication, management, business administration, marketing, or other relevant areas;
- Criteria B: Minimum of five (05) years in communication, marketing, sales, business administration and experience in working on the Sustainable Development Goals; and
- Criteria C: Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required.
Step II: Technical Review
Shortlisted candidates will undergo a technical evaluation and a submission of a proposal to tackle the assignment.
Technical Evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):
- Criteria A: Bachelor’s degree in communication, management, business administration, marketing, or other relevant areas; (10 points).
- Criteria B: A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in digital and visual design, video animation, infographics, and printed material; (10 points).
- Minimum of five (05) years in communication, marketing, sales, business administration and experience in working on the Sustainable Development Goals; (10 points).
- Criteria C: Proven track record working at strategic and advisory communication and marketing roles; (10 points).
- Criteria D: Demonstrated experience in creating brand and identity profiles in addition to innovative and interactive digital experiences; (10 points).
- Criteria E: Demonstrated experience in creating innovative and interactive digital experiences; (15 points).
- Criteria F Technical proposal; (20 points).
- Criteria G: Previous working experience with the United Nations; (10 points).
- Criteria H: Previous working experience in the Arab States/MENA; (05 points)
Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation
For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, 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: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.
Step III: Final Evaluation
The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria weight: [70%]
Financial Criteria weight: [30%]
Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.