Procurement Notices

Consultancy Title

Telecommunication Expert

Project Name

Enhancing Disaster and Climate Resilience through improved Disaster Preparedness and Infrastructure (EDCR)

Duty Station

Based in Fiji

Type of Contract- Individual Consultant Long Term Agreement (IC - LTA)

Duration of the Contract

• Contract period: 6 months
• Number of working days: up to maximum of 20 days within 6-month period
• Start date:  July 2022
• End date: December 2022

Consultancy Proposal (CV & Financial proposal Template) should be sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 7th July 2022 (Fiji Time) clearly stating the title & reference of consultancy applied for. Any proposals received after this date/time will not be accepted. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to vimal.pilay@undp.org. UNDP will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants. Incomplete, late and joint proposals will not be considered and only offers for which there is further interest will be contacted. Failure to submit your application as stated as per the application submission guide (Procurement Notice) on the above link will be considered incomplete and therefore application will not be considered.

NOTE:

If the selected/successful Candidate is over 65 years of age and required to travel outside his home country; He/She will be required provide a full medical report at their expense prior to issuance to contract. Contract will only be issued when Proposed candidate is deemed medically fit to undertake the assignment.

Background

The Enhancing Disaster and Climate Resilience through Improved Disaster Preparedness and Infrastructure (EDCR) projects aims to improve the capacity for preparedness and mitigation to man-made, geo-physical and climate related hazards and to climate change impact. This initiative will be implemented in three countries: The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and Republic of Palau. The project will respond to Outcome 1 of the UN Pacific Strategy 2018 – 2022: By 2022, people and ecosystems in the Pacific are more resilient to the impacts of climate change, climate variability and disasters; and environmental protection is strengthened.

In line with the overall outcome, the overall project goal is to effectively address the consequences of, and responses to, geo-physical and climate-related hazards to protect lives, sustain livelihoods, preserve the environment and safeguard the economy. The outcome will be achieved through 3 expected outputs:

1. Strengthened Disaster Communication and Climate and Tsunami Monitoring Systems, to be implemented in FSM, RMI and Palau.
2. Enhanced National and State Disaster preparedness capacity, to be implemented in FSM, RMI and Palau.
3. Enhanced Community Disaster and Climate Resilience through improved water and food resource management and inclusive livelihood diversification, to be implemented in FSM and Palau.

The project will be implemented by the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji under the UNDP Direct Implementation Modality (DIM) and will be part of the Resilient and Sustainable Development team.

LTA CONTRACTING MODALITY AND CALL-OFF MECHANISM

• An LTA is a mutual arrangement between UNDP and the individual to provide the required services at established fee or provisions. The LTA will be established for 6 months. UNDP reserves the right to rescind the agreement during that period should performance of the consultant(s) not meet its requirements.
• It is expected the consultant(s) to be engaged for maximum 20 working days within the  6 months period
• UNDP does not warrant that any quantity of services shall be contracted during the term of this Agreement. A specific Term of Reference (TOR) outlining the deliverables shall be provided, and an Individual Contract would be issued to the consultant, detailing the time frame.
• Once the LTA is signed, if there is a specific service required, the focal person in the UNDP hiring unit would contact the Consultant(s) and upon positive confirmation in the availability for the assignment, acceptance of the Term of reference, cost and travel arrangement, UNDP will issue an Individual Contract. Price in the order will be based on daily fee included in the LTA.  After contract has been agreed between the two parties, no further costs would be reimbursed by UNDP unless there is prior written authorization by UNDP.
• Once the services are completed and have been approved by the hiring unit, the Consultant(s) will provide the following for payment purposes:
  • a) complete invoice indicating the completed deliverables.
  • b) supporting documentation (bills/vouchers) for reimbursements of travel costs if applicable;
  • c) copy of the UNDP contract for the consultancy.

Payments will be made upon satisfactory achieved deliverables under each assignment and submission of time sheet in accordance with number of days worked. Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant(s).

Scope of work/Expected Output

The overall responsibilities of the assignment are to: 

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the EDCR Project Manager, the telecommunication expert will provide technical support and guidance to the relevant government stakeholders and project management team for the activities related to the disaster communication listed below.

The scope of work is outlined below:

• Resolve technical/operability issues during installation and post installation by coordinating between conterparts and suppliers;
• Respond technical queries during installation and post installation from the counterparts related to the activity listed above;
• Build capacity of government counterparts in installation and maintenance of emergency telecommunications listed above including radio configuration and programming supports;
• Consolidate warranty information, list of suppliers/manufactures, and training manuals;
• Provide recommendations on the future Operation & Maintenance of the above activities; and
• Carry out any other technical assignments as requested by the Project Manager.

Resources Provided

The consultant is expected to provide their own laptop and communications equipment.

Supervision/Reporting

The Consultant will report to EDCR Project Manager, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji

All reports should be provided in electronic versions in English language, with the detailed description of the summary of capacity development activities held, lessons learned, challenges, recommendations for sustainable operation and attachment of training materials used

Requirement for Qualifications & Experience

Minimum diploma in a relevant area such as Telecommunication, Computer Science, Engineering, Disaster Management;

• Four years of relevant and progressive professional experience in telecommunication (e.g. installation of radio equipment, training in telecom management, maintenance of telecom equipment, etc);
• Experience in training national entities in operation and maintenance of telecommunication equipment
• Experience in the usage of ICOM HF radios
• Experience in the ICT set up for the Emergency Operation Centre
• Experience in an international setting with the UN or with international organization
• Experience working with government counterparts building national capacities
• Fluency in English

Functional Competencies

• Experienced in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders
• Ability to coach, mentor, motivate and develop staff and encourage good performance
• Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development
• Good interpersonal skills with experience of networking with partners at all levels
• Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor work of others, ability to make timely decisions
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, and age sensitivity and adaptability and capacity to work effectively in a multicultural environment.

Proposal Requirements

Daily Fee

The IC shall quote an all-inclusive daily fee for this consultancy work. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately.

Payments

Payments shall be done monthly and based on the completion of the deliverable, and upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a time sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

General Notes on Financial Offer

• UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the Consultant wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using his/her own resources.
• In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Payment Schedule (if required)

Fees to be paid based on monthly invoice submitted by consultant with progress report of outputs certified by UNDP.

Consultancy fee and living allowance to be paid based on satisfactory completion of outputs and certification by UNDP.

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically, and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may 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 weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where:
  • Technical criteria are valued at 70%
  • Financial criteria are valued at 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment.

Top three (3) ranked candidates will be selected for this LTA consultancy

Technical Criteria for Evaluation

Proposal Submission

Proposal Submission

Offerors must send the following documents.

• CV including names/contacts of at least 3 referees.
• A cover letter indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy
• Completed template for confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal (either in FJD or USD)

Individuals applying for this consultancy will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs.

In general, UNDP shall 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

Statement of Medical Fitness for Work.

For an Individual Contractor who is of 62 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided. However, this is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts

Where there is no UN office nor a UN Medical Doctor present in the location of the Individual Contractor prior to commencing the travel, either for repatriation or duty travel, the Individual Contractor may choose his/her own preferred physician to obtain the required medical clearance.

Selected Candidate will be required to submit a proof of medical insurance prior to issuance of contract

Security Clearance.

The Consultant should undertake the Basic Security in the Field (BSIF) training and Advanced Security in the Field (ASIF) tests prior to travelling. These requirements apply for all Consultants, attracted individually or through the Employer.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Consultancy Proposal (CV & Financial proposal Template) should be sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 7th July 2022 (Fiji Time)

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to vimal.pillay@undp.org

Women candidates are encouraged to apply.