Procurement and Supply Chain Management (PSM) Support Consultant

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life, as envisaged by 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are on the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan and help countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development, as described in the HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: Connecting the Dots, leverages UNDP’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development.

First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Sustainable Development Goals.

Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of the law and legal environments in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property law to lower the cost of medicines and diagnostics. UNDP also works to empower and include marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with HIV. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to municipal action on SDGs, sustainable responses for Health and HIV such as improving sustainability of AIDS financing, sustainable health procurement, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for key populations.

Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multi-sectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time.

UNDP’s Partnership with the Global Fund

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on SDG 3 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding. UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time. There is a dedicated team who provides support to Country Offices implementing Global Fund grants (GFHIST).

Health procurement and supply chain management support, an integral part of development solutions and support services that UNDP provides for the implementation of large and complex health programmes, contribute to the equitable delivery of essential services.

The national and international health landscapes are rapidly changing. New health initiatives are emerging, particularly in relation to non-communicable diseases, which bring to light pressing challenges linked to health systems strengthening including, health procurement and supply chain management. These opportunities go beyond UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund and require a new modus operandi to optimize UNDP’s investments into global health. In addition, UNDP needs to continue to expand opportunities for partnerships with key stakeholders on health procurement including with UNICEF, UNFPA and UNOPS/GDF but also on supporting the development of national supply chains with additional partners such as GAVI, WHO, WFP and The Global Fund.

Under the guidance of the Senior Health PSM Advisor (Geneva), the PSM Support Consultant will assist in providing the advisory and coordination support to the PSM Specialists, UNDP Country Offices (COs), governments in managing the health procurement and supply chain services for large-scale and complex health and development projects and in maintaining relations with partners on PSM aspects.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Health PSM Advisor (Geneva), the PSM Support Consultant is responsible for assisting within the Global Fund Health Implementation Support Team (GFHIST), the Senior Health PSM Advisor. Specifically, the PSM Support Consultant will support knowledge management activities, including the collation of results, communication materials, case studies, support to training activities and production of guidance materials/tools for use by Country Offices. The Consultant will assist the Senior Health PSM Advisor in the management of the PSM human resources and all activities related to the workplan and budgeting development and monitoring. The Consultant will also support the Senior Health PSM Advisor in the management of partnerships with various health partners and UNDP’s engagement with various inter-agency groups including organizations of meetings.

The PSM Support Consultant will perform all activities in compliance with UNDP’s Financial Rules and Regulations, Policies and Operating Procedures and other applicable guidelines including:

Provide support to the Senior Health PSM Advisor for team management and activities reporting:

• Support the day-to-day activities ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of the GFHIST PSM team;
• Contribute to the monitoring of implementation progress of activities and key event schedules according to the PSM workplan objectives and deadlines including monitoring of financial resources and accounting to ensure accuracy and reliability of reports;
• Contribute to the development and monitoring of key procurement and supply chain programme results and sets of performance indicators and report on progress;
• Contribute to the preparation and submission of progress reports, annual report and any other required analytic or technical reports;
• Collaborate in developing the terms of reference for consultants used at headquarter level;
• Assist in the identification and deployment of consultants from the Health PSM roster matching the demands and available expertise and monitor progress and deliverables;
• Develop and maintain tools to support the management of the PSM team(list of events, summary of leaves, country distribution list, share point PSM documents, internal SOPs);
• Prepare the minutes of teleconferences and internal meetings;
• Support with organizing internal/external meetings and travels;
• Support the preparation of PSM presentations and communication documents.

Provide support to the GFHIST PSM team and more specifically the PSM Specialists:

• Provide support to the PSM specialists during grant negotiation and grant making processes, as needed;
• Provide support to the PSM specialists in tracking the preparation, monitoring and implementation of key documents such as List of Health Products, Procurement Plans and Quality Assurance Plans;
• Compile annual PSM recommendations provided by the Office of Audit and Investigation and Global Fund (OSDV, field visits etc.) to support discussion between PSM Specialists and with auditors;
• Compile information on PSM activities at country level and develop case studies, when needed.

Support effective communication, information sharing and knowledge management on procurement and supply chain activities with PSM Specialists, COs staff and partners:

• Support in the collation of PSM results, PSM costs, communication materials and case studies;
• Support various training activities including webinars and workshops including material preparation;
• Undertake logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for external meetings, events and workshops;
• Assist in development of guidance materials and tools and provision of the regular updates on procurement tools, methods, guidelines and approaches relevant to procurement and supply chain management via the relevant UNDP knowledge network;
• Contribute to developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships across the different UNDP departments/units;
• Facilitate the communication of the Senior Health PSM Advisor with PSM partners and support the preparation of documents and standard presentations for UNDP contribution in inter-agency meetings;
• When necessary, undertake research on specific PSM topics and compile information for sharing with the PSM network.

Any other PSM related tasks as requested by the Senior Health PSM Advisor.

Expected Deliverables:

• Dashboard to monitor progress on PSM activities;
• Draft analytic and technical progress reports;
• Development of management tools for Senior Health PSM Advisor;
• Drafting of PSM presentations and communication documents;
• Tracking sheets of the preparation, monitoring and implementation of key documents such as List of Health Products, Procurement Plans and Quality Assurance Plans;
• Tracking sheets of PSM audit recommendations;
• Guidance materials and tools relevant to procurement and supply chain management via the relevant UNDP knowledge network
• Facilitate relations with partners.

Reporting:

The PSM Support Consultant shall report to the Senior Health Procurement Advisor? (Geneva) for any queries and assistance on a day-to-day basis.

Travel:

In the case of unforeseen travel, 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 covered and paid for by UNDP. The fare will always be “most direct, most economical” and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert.

Evaluation:

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and competencies specified below through a desk review or an interview process. Applicants will be evaluated based on acumulative analysis method that combines the results of technical and financial evaluation results.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (maximum 70 points):

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in health projects – 15 points
• Experience in working with developing countries – 10 points
• Experience of UN or UNDP procurement policies and procedures – 15 points
• Complimentary qualifications in public health, pharmacy, procurement or medicine – 10 points
• A second UN language French, Spanish or Russian – 10 points
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of web-based management system – 10 points

Financial Evaluation Criteria (maximum 30 points):

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

Timeframe:

The consultant’s 120-day assignment will be UNDP Geneva based and conducted over the period 3 December 2018 to 31 May 2019.

Payment:

• The consultant will be paid as a daily rate (based on the number of days worked);
• Payments will be based on the Certificate of Payments that will be submitted on a monthly basis;
• Time Sheet will be attached and verified by the direct supervisor; and
• Final tranche upon performance evaluation from the direct supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’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.

Functional:

• Systematic, organizational, analytical skills, thorough and attention to details;
• Demonstrated ability to think fast in a logical and organized manner;
• Highly proficient in the use of IT;
• Excellent negotiation, communication and networking skills;
• Excellent multi-tasking abilities and ability to remain calm and work under pressure.

Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.

Partnership building and team work:

• Client oriented and assists in identifying solutions to problems;
• Demonstrated well developed people management skills;
• Strong ability to work with teams; creating an enabling environment and supporting colleagues;
• Demonstrated flexibility in a multi-cultural environment.

Communications and Advocacy:

• Demonstrated ability to write clearly and convincingly;
• Good research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
• Excellent capacity to communicate clearly and concisely;
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Health or related field.
• Complimentary qualifications in public health, pharmacy, procurement or medicine an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in health projects;
• Experience in working with developing countries is desirable;
• Experience of UN or UNDP procurement policies and procedures is desirable;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of web-based management system.

Language:

• Excellent oral and written English.
• A second UN language is desirable and more particularly French, Spanish or Russian.

Application Submission Process:

Please upload the following documents:

• Signed and Updated Personal History Form (P11).
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability indicating an all-inclusive daily fee in USD.The financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. living expenses, fees, health insurance, vaccination costs, visa costs, travel to duty station costs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged costs except travel costs for missions, must be included in the financial proposal.

Please note that our system only takes one attachment. Therefore, kindly scan all your documents into a single PDF file to upload.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

ANNEX 1- INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS is provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf