Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for the Engagement of the Individual Consultants as Rebuttal Reviewers - 3 years (Req # 559068)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, hope

The UNICEF Division of Human Resources (DHR) has reshaped its vision to enhance a people-centric approach as an enabler of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2022-25. The Global Human Resources (HR) Delivery Model places people at its center and looks at HR services from the individual staff member experience. It includes elements such as well-being, culture, policy frameworks, and tailored, people-centric solutions for workplace situations. It is founded on the UNICEF values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability & Sustainability.

The People Experience approach recognizes the psychology of work, staff physical and mental well-being, and respectful relationships as critical to the recruitment, engagement, development, and retention of staff. For the organization, this approach offers clear advantages: increased commitment, improved performance, and less counterproductive behaviors.

For the individual staff member, it offers greater work-life balance and satisfaction, increased motivation/engagement, and better work relationships.

The model is targeted to enable a more dynamic, empowered, and competent workforce to deliver optimally for every child. It balances the needs of its workforce and those of the organization to attract and retain the right talent thereby making UNICEF the employer of choice.

Purpose:

DHR has introduced several concrete initiatives to bring about transformational changes, including the engagement of external reviewers for performance rebuttal cases to ensure neutrality, objectivity, and efficiency.

In this regard, DHR seeks to contract a home-based consultant to review performance rebuttal requests, through the various available virtual platforms, as and when rebuttal cases are submitted by UNICEF staff members, based on an agreed fee. The contract may be up to three years in duration and drawn upon as needs for rebuttals arise.

The consultant will work primarily with an HR Manager in the People Relations team, DHR. A dedicated team member will liaise and coordinate with the consultant in facilitating the rebuttal process. The consultant’s work will be monitored and evaluated by DHR.

Objective:

In keeping with the UNICEF HR delivery model of ensuring people-centric service delivery, the Long-Term Agreement will facilitate an efficient and objective review of the rebuttals as and when received in support of enhancing better staff engagement and relations.

Key Tasks:

Under the overall guidance of the HR Manager, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Review and assess rebuttal requests assigned in a timely manner,
• Review relevant documents submitted by the staff member and supervisor involved; and if necessary, collect further information/documentation,
• Conduct interview(s) with staff member, supervisor, and any other relevant parties,
• Prepare a rebuttal report with findings and recommendations on the case to submit to the Director DHR,
• Advise the HR Director on the observations made on performance management-related practices and/or other concerns in the cases reviewed,
• Suggest any changes/adjustments to UNICEF policy/process based on rebuttal review experience, and possibly with reference to other organizations’ policies and practices,
• Support DHR in preparing other report(s) on rebuttal, and documenting good practices and lessons learned in the rebuttal process,

• At the request of DHR, provide support to reviewing informal cases,

  Deliverables:

• A rebuttal report covering the case background, review process, analysis of information, and recommendations to be submitted to DHR normally within 15 calendar days from receipt of rebuttal documents. The report should cover at minimum, the case background, review process, analysis of information and documentation collected/reviewed, and recommendations about the performance rating(s) and related comments (if any),

• Submit a summary of the good practices and lessons learned, where applicable,
• Inputs and contributions to DHR report(s) on rebuttals (if required),
• Advice to HR Director on practices and/or concerns observed in specific cases, • Suggestions on changes to the performance management policy/process,
• A brief report on support provided to ad-hoc/informal cases (if any).

Duration of LTA:

The Long-Term Agreement will be for a duration of three years. The services of the consultants selected under the LTA may also be made available to other UN agencies.

Qualifications and Experience of Successful Candidate

• Advanced degree in Human Resources Management (HRM), Psychology, Business Administration, Law, Public Administration, or a relevant social sciences field. A first university degree and additional 5 years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of an advanced degree,
• Recognized professional certification in HRM is highly desirable,

• Three years of extensive experience in dealing with sensitive and confidential issues in people management.

  Other skills

• Strong organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication in English and/or French and/or Spanish and/or Arabic.
• Good judgment, high sense of responsibility, tact, and discretion.
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to work in a multicultural environment.

Payment Schedule

The LTA to be signed will have a fixed fee rate for three years. However, UNICEF does not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the LTA as this will depend on forthcoming needs.

The consultant is expected to provide a quotation for the services he/she will provide during the application.

Contracts Created Against The LTA.

Whenever rebuttal reviews are required, details of the rebuttal will be presented according to the availability of the LTA holder.

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior commencement of work.

Payment will be made after the completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance.

How To Apply:

The application is to be submitted through the online portal and should contain three separate attachments:

1. A Cover letter explaining suitability for the position (to be uploaded online under the “Cover Letter” tab)
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online under the “Resume” tab)
3. A financial proposal. Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/or 00", under the fee-related questions in the online application form.

Without all the above 3 documents, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and may not be considered further.

Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.

Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.

Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.

Persons from all gender, ethnicity, and religious background meeting the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds including persons living with disabilities to apply.

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.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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.