Republic of Moldova

National communication consultant to support Moldova Social Innovation Lab (MiLab) in the new media, branding and engagement activities

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01468

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	16 Jan 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Feb 2017
Reference to the project:	Moldova Social Innovation Hub
Expected Duration of Assignment:	11months, February – December 2017, up to 12working days per month (with possibility of extension)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 16 January, 2017. The United Nations Development Programme is committed to diversity and inclusion. Women, persons from vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, refugees and other noncitizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, as well as persons from other underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

There is a fast shift taking place in the realm of public policy and development program design around the world. Rise of democracy, spread of new technologies and knowledge, but also shrinking resources of the public and development organizations in the face of increased complexity and interconnectedness of the social challenges, mean that design and implementation of public policies and development programs has seized to be under the exclusive remit of the selected few.

Along with the opening up of the public policy space, the rise of civic activism have changed the way the Governments approach public policy development, service delivery and engage with the citizens. These trends put the Governments under increased scrutiny, leading to more transparency and accountability. Moldovan Government has also sought to ensure more openness and transparency in interaction with public, including through implementation of E-transformation agenda and setting up the on-line Aid Management Platform (AMP). The Government has increasingly looked to tap into expertise and solutions from other sectors and wants to move towards ‘networked governance’ solutions to the issues it faces daily.

UNDP Moldova itself, through MiLab, has supported national counterparts in embarking on several innovative projects that seek to apply new approaches to engage with citizens and enable people to contribute stronger to the country’s development. Some previous examples include: gaming for youth employment; applying behavioral insights for TB treatment; EduSoft Hackathon, etc.

 

MiLab acts as a multilateral platform serving to engage actors from different sectors (public, private, non-profit, etc.) to seek and experiment with innovative approaches to the society’s problems. MiLab’s work is closely aligned with the Government’s priorities and structured around three key service lines:

1. Supporting the national action plan on the modernization of public services — together with the E-Government Center and State Chancellery, helping public servants use design thinking in re-engineering public services;

 

2. Promoting evidence-based policy-making by supporting use of RCTs and alternative data for policy design and evaluation;

 

3. Supporting Government’s engagement with citizens around strategic policy priorities through collective intelligence.

Scope of work

The national consultant is expected to provide support to various MiLab interventions as it regards communication, outreach, various visibility activities and capacity building undertakings through:

• Evaluating the MiLab branding and communication strategy and updating it for the objectives and goals identified jointly with project team for 2017;
• Ensuring the development and implementation of specific communication plans for MiLab in general and each intervention under implementation in 2017;
• Developing effective new media campaigns and ensuring efficient dissemination of results achieved within each intervention through tailored written and audio materials, v/blogs, social media, among others;
• Consultant shall ensure monitoring and evaluation of the communication and outreach activities through monthly brief narrative reports to MiLab team;
• Strictly observing UNDP standards and practices related to communication and visibility efforts; all developed materials shall be adapted / translated into Romanian/English/Russian depending on the specific requests from the Project team.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

I. Education:

• Degree in journalism, public relations, social sciences or related areas. Additional training and certification in communication/new media is an asset.

II. Years of experience:

• At least three (3) years of progressively responsible experience is required in communications, including as public relations specialist, social media account manager or communications consultant;
• Experience in developing communication/public relations or branding strategies and action plans;
• Working experience in the field of media, public relations and/or communications advisory services within international organizations would be an advantage;
• Proven experience of developing and conducting online campaigns and building social media presence (please include a portfolio of campaigns/ accounts managed).

III. Competencies:

• Proven understanding of online media and new communication trends is a strong asset;
• Very good knowledge of office software packages, ability of handling web-based and social media platforms;
• Fluency in both oral and written Romanian and English is a must;
• Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language is an asset;
• Excellent writing skills.
• Ability to think creatively, to develop and implement innovative solutions in a challenging environment;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate with various stakeholders and present ideas clearly and effectively.

IV. Personal qualities:

• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
• Excellent organizational and administrative skills;
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills;
• Responsibility;
• Creativity;
• Flexibility.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal:

    (i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for this position;

    (ii) Portfolio with samples of:

•   written media materials (press releases, articles for online media portals or blog articles)
•   evidence of developing and conducting online campaigns or social media accounts managed

2. Financial proposal in USD;

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and the contact details of at least 3 reference persons;

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per work day (8 hours). The payments will fall in monthly installments and are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. 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.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

Disclaimer In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

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