Local Expert to Provide Technical Back-Stopping and In-House Capacity Building Services to Economic Development Policy and Research Department

Background

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) through its Economic Development Policy and Research Department (EDP&RD) is mandated to monitor, assess and communicate Uganda’s economic development policy and its results. One of the functions performed by EDP&RD, in this regard, is economic development management which includes alignment of the national development policy framework with Uganda’s international and regional commitment.

As a party to the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Government of Uganda (GoU) has undertaken to domesticate the SDGs within its policy, planning and programming framework. This commitment will be realized, on the one hand, through enhancements in Government’s approach to some of its current knowledge and policy communication products such as the Sustainable Development Report. On other hand, GoU is open to additional and complementary initiatives suited to its sustainable development agenda. One of such initiatives is the recent undertaking by GoU to explore the development and use of a national Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index alongside the existing national income poverty measurement parameters. This is in acknowledgement of the broader ambition on poverty reduction espoused in the SDGs which now define poverty as having multiple forms, with a target to reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions by 2030.

Government’s effective response to the changed development management context described above requires enhancement of staff analytical and statistical capacity. Equally important is the need to ensure that measures by Government to this end are systemic and not stand alone in design and execution.

Objective of the consultancy:

In light of the above background, MFPED with support from UNDP is seeking to strengthen the internal technical capacity within EDP&RD to accommodate the new context of sustainable development in its economic development management function. MFPED is accordingly seeking to recruit and position a national expert (hereinafter referred to as Policy Research Officer) within EDP&RD to offer broad support in development policy analysis and knowledge management; and to specifically mentor relevant EDP&RD officers in the conduct of MFPED’s role in driving the sustainable development policy agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Commissioner, EDP&RD, the Policy Research Officer is responsible for:

• Conducting policy analysis, using existing datasets, to inform economic development and public investment policy management.
• Supporting the conceptualization and production of EDP&RD’s flagship publications and knowledge products such as the Poverty Status Report and the Sustainable Development Report as guided by the supervisor.
• Undertaking research and policy analysis in support of the National sustainable development policy agenda;
• Contributing to generation of technical inputs for facilitating senior management’s leadership and communication of the National sustainable development agenda
• Mentoring EDP&RD Staff in undertaking the above tasks to ensure growth and sustainability of in house capacity.

Deliverables:

• The Policy Research Officer will be required to provide a monthly progress report towards the scope of work for a period of one calendar year.  In summary, the Officer is expected to have contributed to the production of the Poverty Status Report, the Sustainable Development Report and other knowledge and communication products undertaken by EDP&RD by end of June 2019.

Competencies

• Strong leadership abilities and communication skills;
• Excellent skills in written and oral communication in English are a must;
• Ability to work under minimum supervision and meet timelines;
• Motivated to contribute towards development;
• Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills;
• Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team;
• Flexible and open to learning new experiences;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Fair and impartial treatment of all people.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Economics from a recognized University.

Years of experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant work experience in the development field, preferably in micro-level policy research;
• Proven skills in managing and exploiting large data sets including household surveys, panel surveys and firm-level data;
• Demonstrated ability to contextualize research problems and solutions to Uganda’s context.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Working arrangements:

Institutional Arrangement:

The Commissioner, EDP&RD will be the focal point at the Ministry and responsible for coordination of the assignment, with additional technical guidance from the UNDP’s Strategy and Policy Unit.

Duration of the Work:

The assignment is expected to take a period of one calendar year starting from June 2018 to June 2019 in accordance with the scope of work and indicative period for submission of deliverables above.

Duty Station:

• Kampala.

Price proposal and schedule of payments:

• A monthly payment for a period of one year shall be made upon successful completion of work done and certified by the Commissioner, EDP&RD at Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Cumulative analysis:

The award of the contract shall 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:

Technical criteria weight; - 70%;

Financial criteria weight; - 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points.

Criteria:                                                                

• Relevant degree – 5;
• A minimum of 5 years relevant work experience - 20;
• Relevant experience in working with government, development partners in economic research and development of methodologies – 15;
• Previously published economic-related research engaged in as lead author or contributor – 10;
• Methodology / approach to complete the assignment - 20.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Submission of Application:

The candidate is required to submit an electronic application directly uploaded on the UNDP jobs website with all the requirements as listed here below. Annexes and further information may be downloaded on http://procurement-notices.undp.org no.46286.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document to this website - http://jobs.undp.org no. 78809.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
• Personal CV, 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.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II);
• Annexes 1 and II - may be downloaded from the UNDP Procurement Notices Website -http://procurement-notices.undp.org/ For further clarifications, please contact; janet.anyango@undp.org; moses.lutwama@undp.org;

Interested applicants should submit applications through uploading of all their required documentation in one single pdf document on this website only.