Republic of Moldova

International Lead Consultant: Biodiversity Conservation Planning and GEF Specialist

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00423

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	24 Dec 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	30 Dec 2013
Reference to the project:	Development Effectiveness
Expected Duration of Assignment:	December 2013 - September 2014 - 35 working days (out of which 10 days allocated to 2 missions in the country)
Submission Instructions: Proposal should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online", no later than December 24, 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: silvia.pana-carp@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. Important notice The applicant who has the statute of Government Official / Public Servant, prior to appointment will be asked to submit the following documentation:  a no-objection letter in respect of the applicant received from the government, and; the applicant is certified in writing by the government to be on official leave without pay for the duration of the Individual Contract. A retired government official is not considered in this case a government official, and as such, may be contracted. This Vacancy Announcement is also placed on http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=42454
Supporting Documents: Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The Government of Moldova has requested support from GEF to prepare the medium-sized project “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation into Moldova’s Territorial Planning Policies and Land-Use Practices” intended to remove, in an incremental manner, the existing barriers for mainstreaming biodiversity priorities into district territorial planning policies and land use practices. More specifically, at the national level the project aims to establishing an enabling environment for mainstreaming biodiversity into land use planning, compliance monitoring and enforcement and test at the local level models of biodiversity compatible spatial planning and land-use. Capacity building for successful mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation envisaged by the project shall also ensure proper participatory spatial planning (including conflict resolution).  

The Preparation Grant for the Project “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation into Moldova’s Territorial Planning Policies and Land-Use Practices” shall establish the baseline, collate and analyze the primary and secondary information and outline the GEF increment for the project through a number of relevant studies and stakeholders consultation with a view to further develop the approved project concept into a fully formulated project document.  

The final output of the project preparation phase will be an UNDP-GEF project document and GEF CEO Endorsement request and relevant baseline GEF Tracking tool ready for submission to UNDP and GEF. 

Scope of work

The responsibility of the international lead consultant is to develop the relevant project’s documentation and the Project Document that will be acceptable to the GEF and submit these to GEF review not later than end-August 2014. In doing this, the international consultant will work and guide a team of consultants to be hired to deal with such areas as biodiversity monitoring, land use and pasture management, and forest management. It is envisaged that the international consultant will need to make two missions to Moldova, one at the beginning of 2014 and another one in the second quarter of 2014.

The key products to be delivered are as follows:

1.  A detailed project workplan aligned with the expected project’s outputs and the timeframes (at the start of the assignment)
2. Identification of required experts to complete the assignment and provision of inputs to their TORs (expected tasks, deliverables and timeframes)
3. Preparation of draft GEF Request for CEO Endorsement and draft Project Document
4. A finalized GEF Request for CEO endorsement, UNDP project document, GEF tracking tool which incorporates the comments of all key stakeholders and the GEF Secretariat following their first review of the project (following mission 2).

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualification:

• Advanced university degree in natural resources management, biodiversity conservation, environmental planning, environmental economics and other related areas  

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience in developing projects related to biodiversity conservation and planning
• Recent experience (in last 3 years) of successfully developing a new GEF biodiversity conservation related project document and GEF request for CEO endorsement which was approved by GEF Secretariat 
• Extended coordination and team leading experience
• Experience working with UNDP and/or other international organizations on biodiversity conservation projects 
• Experience working in the Eastern Europe and CIS region

Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities

Language requirements:

• Fluent in written and oral communication in English
• Knowledge of Romanian or/and Russian will be a strong asset

Documents to be included

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

1. Proposal: Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including information on previous similar assignments; 
2. Financial proposal; 
3. Personal CV or P11 including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

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 travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).  

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 does 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 UNDP Moldova and the Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 

Two travel missions are envisaged under this assignment - one at the beginning of 2014 and another one in the second quarter of 2014. 

 

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