Individual Consultant: Digital Communications Strategist (full-time consultant), BERA/CG

Background

The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) leads and supports the organization in cultivating, building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances that are essential for advancing and successfully achieving the mission of UNDP. Within BERA, the Communications Group leads and manages external communications through strategy, media, digital communications, marketing, branding and global storytelling. The Digital & Online team within the Communications Group is responsible for implementing a comprehensive digital strategy, including UNDP’s multi-lingual corporate web site in three languages (English, French, Spanish) and Country Office sites and partner sites; and all aspects of digital media channels with cutting-edge multi-media and social media approaches, products, services, and platforms, including increased attention to mobile platforms.

The Digital Communications Strategist is part of the Digital & Online Communications team and will be supervised by the Team Manager.  Primarily tasked with optimizing social media worldwide, the Digital Communications Strategist will follow a process of continual improvements: review communication objectives; understand global audience behavior; evaluate effectiveness of the current portfolio of platforms; test new approaches; enhance the user experience and journey; and support the evolution of practice throughout UNDP’s global network of digital communications personnel.  The Digital Communications Strategist will also be a key member of cross-sectional teams to plan and implement major communication campaigns and projects.

Duties and Responsibilities

Manage the strategic growth of global audiences through social media

• Working closely with the Manger, Digital and Online, to determine digital communication goals for reach and engagement through social media
• Develop, implement and evaluate social media plans for major communication projects and campaigns as set forth by the Communications Group’s senior management team
• Ensure the proper and selective use of social media for audience development
• Drive paid advertising campaigns across social media

Continually optimize UNDP’s social media system

• Repeatedly evaluate effectiveness of UNDP’s global portfolio of social media platforms
• Test new and emerging approaches to digital communications
• Systematically modify the composition and use of social media to ensure better user experience and journey
• Recommend and deploy social media tools for strategic and efficient planning and management

Collaborate and facilitate process to create and distribute digital content and assets to achieve global communication objectives

• With communication objectives in mind, work with web editors and communication focal points at headquarters to determine, negotiate and maintain a 12-month editorial calendar for digital communications
• Along with digital editorial, production and technical teams, develop creative content across all digital platforms to build awareness and engagement and achieve strategic priorities
• Seek opportunities and partnerships to promote UNDP and its priorities through social media

Strengthen global practice of digital communications

• Advise personnel at global, regional and local levels on standards and best practices for UNDP digital communications, including social media strategy and content development.
• Provide trainings (both virtual and in-person) and assets to teach skills, impart knowledge and inform on guidelines for effective digital communications especially through social media
• Build capacity of digital communications at all levels through knowledge sharing
• Continually stay informed on latest social media technologies and practices to ensure effectiveness of UNDP’s digital communication network

Perform other duties as needed to ensure the healthy functioning of UNDP’s digital communications ecosystem

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Innovation
  • Ability to make new and useful ideas work
• Leadership
  • Ability to persuade others to follow
• People Management
  • Ability to improve performance and satisfaction
• Communication
  • Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform
• Delivery
  • Ability to get things done
  • Ability to multi-task
  • Ability to prioritize

Technical/Functional:

Primary:

• Digital Communications
  • Knowledge of popular digital platforms, modalities and techniques in web, social media and mobile communications
  • Ability to apply and adapt digital innovations toward communication objectives
• Public Engagement
  • Ability to engage UNDP’s constitutes and encourage action
• Strategic Planning
  • Ability to make decisions that align with strategy, vision, and mission
• Public Relations
  • Ability to manage the spread of information between the UNDP and the public

Secondary:

• Knowledge Management
  • Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge
• Partnerships
  • Ability to engage with other agencies and forge productive working relationships
• Marketing

Ability to communicate the value of a product or service

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Advanced degree in relevant field of communications, journalism, arts, social science, or related field.
• First degree acceptable with an additional two years of experience in relevant field.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of work experience required in the field of digital communications, media, marketing, or other relevant field.
• Demonstrated track record of results-based strategic planning and management of digital campaigns, preferably in a social cause-related role.
• Outstanding skills in communications, and understanding of media, multimedia and social media required. 
• Experience with digital analytics and other social media tools for efficient management of digital communications is required.
• Understanding of international development; international relations; or environmental and/or other relevant issues strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive within a complex multicultural and multinational environment strongly preferred.

Language

• Fluency in English is required; fluency in another UN language is an asset

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• Online application with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.
• A two-page methodology on how the Offeror will conduct the work including a Work Plan and approach in delivering the required outputs within the assignment period.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 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.
• If the 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 a 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.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being 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 weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):

• Relevant experience in digital communications, media, marketing, or other relevant field.  (Maximum pints: 220 points)
• Depth and range of relevant experience in strategic planning. (Maximum pints: 190 points)
• Demonstrated ability in creating engaging content for social media.  (Maximum pints: 130 points
• Demonstrated experience in a social mission-drive organization. (Maximum pints: 50 points)
• Interview.  (Maximum pints: 110 points)

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three/four shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of _Digital Online Manager_________ and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template                                             

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.

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