Republic of Moldova

International Communications Consultant to the President’s Office

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00392

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	17 Oct 2013, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	24 Oct 2013
Reference to the project:	United Nations Development Programme Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	25 days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" link no later than 17 October 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: veaceslav.palade@undp.org. UNDP will respond 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 applicants. This Announcement is also placed on http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=40849
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Given the emerging political, economic development, and administrative issues and reforms in the country, including EU-Moldova Association Agreement negotiation processes, and discussions on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) agenda, as well as other international dialogues on supporting and sustaining national human development, the Office of the President has approached UNDP Moldova for a number of support initiatives, particularly in strengthening the capacity of the Office and its staff members and officials in various aspects of its substantive, technical, and legal operations.   Following this request, UNDP Moldova developed a project entitled “Capacity Development of the President of the Republic of Moldova’s Office” to support the Office of the President’s capacity needs in a more systematic manner. 

The Office of the President is a public authority that ensures organizational, legal, informational and technical support of the activity of the President. It includes eight Advisors (political appointees) covering diverse sectors - legal, defence and security, foreign policy and European integration, social development, economy, culture, science and education, agriculture and industry,  reintegration of the country, and public relations. The Advisors are supported by the staff of the Office (civil servants) managed by the Secretary General of the Office of the President.

In the context of lasting political crisis and further risks linked to the fragility of the ruling coalition in the Parliament and the Government, after the President of the Republic of Moldova was elected in March 2012 by the Parliament, it was found difficult to implement these functions in the most effective and efficient manner, while at the same time public confidence in the office is reducing (Public opinion polls: while in April 2012, immediately after the election of the President, 28% of respondents had trust or some trust in this institution , in April 2013 this indicator was down to 13% ).

In this context, it is essential to foster good communication mechanisms and to improve the information channels within the President’s Office, on the one hand, and between the Office and CSOs, media, academia, private sector and citizens, on the other hand. The President of Moldova his Office need extra support for establishing an efficient, systematic and continuous process of interaction with different stakeholders. This will increase the transparency of the institution, will bring President’s institution closer to citizens, and finally, will build the confidence of civil society in it.

In this regards UNDP is seeking to hire a full-time qualified professional for a period up to 25 working days, who will contribute to a better communication of the President’s Office and advice on how to improve its image.

Scope of work

The expected output for the Communications consultant’s assignment is to provide strategic advice to the President of RM and its Office on internal and external communication with specific focus on the development and initial support for implementation of the President’s Office Communication Strategy, country’s European integration agenda and related reforms. The Consultant will also coach Office’s staffers on how to communicate effectively.

The Communications consultant will ensure a high level of analytical support, facilitating the communication and cooperation with the President and other stakeholders. The assignment shall be carried out in close cooperation and supervision from the Spokesperson and Press Service of the President of Moldova.

To achieve the stated objectives, the Communications consultant will be responsible for:

•  Provision of support for the drafting the President’s Office Communication Strategy (2014-2015);
• Assessment of the effectiveness of existing communications means, procedures used by Office, identify gaps and provide recommendations on strengthening internal and external channels to spread the information within the Office and outside of it (e.g. intranet, newsletters, illustrated magazines, etc.);
• Provision of support for implementation of press monitoring mechanisms and contribute to their replication in the communication practice;
• Provision of guidance and support to Spokesperson/Press Service in collating and re-writing technical and official documents in a media-friendly and informative manner;
• Coaching the relevant staffers on how to develop and maintain contact with key journalists on President’s matters;
• Coaching Office’s relevant staffers on writing and editing press releases, briefing papers and speeches;
• Contributing to the content of the President’s Office website by providing text, photos and audio-visual materials;
• Supporting the establishing of an efficient and structured communication system with the , Parliament, Government, other national institutions, the national media, business associations and with international partners;
• Contribute to the day-to-day transfer of experience to and capacity building of the Office relevant staffers in the planning and organization of communications and public relations events;
• Supporting development and updating of outreach strategy guidelines, templates and checklists and work with the support team to produce communication event guidelines and tools;
• Development of a final reports on the performed activities;
• Any other duties that may be assigned by the President’s Spokesperson;
• Training course in communication for the President.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master degree in Communication’s Studies or other relevant field;

 Years of experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in provision of communications advisory services (Working experience in governmental institutions is an asset);

 Knowledge and competencies:

• Deep knowledge and abilities to implement the most advanced communication systems and tools used by public authorities;
• Experience in working with national authorities, international organizations and civil society;
• Strong knowledge of the functioning of Presidency and the relevant processes;
• Strong communication and drafting skills;
• Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and to present ideas clearly and effectively;
• Fluency in English, good command of Romanian will be a strong asset.

Documents to be included

(i) Cover letter: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;

(ii) Financial proposal;

(iii) Personal CV/P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contacts for at least 3 reference persons.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fees, taxes, travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel outside of Chisinau is not planned. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. It is envisaged that the Consultant will travel to /from Moldova only once and will be located in Moldova at least 20 out of the total of 25 working days.  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.

Notice UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website. UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.