Feasibility Study Preparation Expert

General Background

Based on a long-standing partnership and UNDP previous experience in implementing large and medium-size EU funded urban upgrading and infrastructure projects in the northern part of Cyprus, the European Commission requested UNDP to continue supporting this type of infrastructure projects through the establishment of a new instrument called “Local Infrastructure Facility”.

The Facility will help identify, screen, mature, prepare for tender, and implement local infrastructure investments, targeting the funding on competitive basis to ensure best value for money and providing support also to those communities with a lower technical and administrative capacity. This will in turn result in a greater positive impact on the standard of living of local populations and increase the visibility of EU interventions in the priority areas.

Specifically, the UNDP LIF Project intends under its second output to conduct feasibilities to enable the beneficiaries, the LIF project and its counterparts to make investment decisions based on evidence.

One of the identified feasibility studies concerns the improvement of public services within the boundaries of the Nicosia walled city in the Turkish Cypriot community. The local community would like to define the potential investments needed to improve the provision of public services and to justify these.

The objective of the assignment is to prepare the terms of reference for the feasibility study for the improvement of public services within northern part of the Nicosia walled city.

Under the overall direction of the Senior Programme Manager and direct supervision of the LIF Project Manager, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will be responsible to set the objectives of the feasibility study, its scope, the expected outputs and their subsequent activities. The expert will also define the approach in broad lines, schedules of outputs, the key performance indicators and the minimum requirements for the service provider to conduct the feasibility study. Following the approval of the ToR by the beneficiary, the expert will assist UNDP LIF team during the procurement of the services for the elaboration of the Feasibility Study services. During the preparation of the feasibility study by the selected service provider, the expert will provide technical advice in reviewing the content of the documents prepared by the service provider and the progress of the assignment.

More concretely, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will be expected to perform the following tasks. Prior to starting the implementation of the assignment, the expert will submit a detailed workplan to UNDP LIF Project Manager for approval.

Given the current situation for international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the assignment will be home based. All participative meetings will be organised through online platforms like Zoom and Teams. UNDP LIF will organise simultaneous translation if needed during these meetings.

Task 1 – Preliminary works

Under this task, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will:

• Identify the various stakeholders that have interest in the preparation of the feasibility study;
• Organise participative meetings with the identified stakeholders to identify the objective and scope of the feasibility study; and
• Familiarise him/herself with existing plans like master plans, development plans.
• Submit a short report to UNDP on the findings and results from the preliminary work.

It is envisaged that the level of effort under Task 1 will not exceed 10 working days.

Task 2 – Definition of the objective, scope, outputs and activities

The Feasibility Study Preparation Expert is expected to:

• Define the objective, scope, outputs and activities based on the results from task 1;
• Present and discuss them during a participative meeting comprised of all interested parties;
• Revise the objective, scope, outputs and activities based on the conclusions reached during the participative meeting;
• Submit the revised objective, scope, outputs and activities for approval to the key stakeholders.

It is envisaged that the level of effort under Task 2 will not exceed 8 working days.

Task 3 – Preparation of terms of reference

Under this task and based on the results from the task 2, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will:

• Prepare draft inputs for the following sections of the terms of reference according to a format that will be provided by UNDP

• Specific background information;
• Specific objective;
• Scope, outputs and tasks;
• Approach and methodology;
• Deliverables and Schedules/Expected Outputs;
• Key Performance Indicators and Service Level;
• Expected duration of the contract/assignment;
• Professional Qualifications of the Successful Contractor and its key personnel.
• Submit the draft inputs for review and comments to UNDP
• Revise the draft inputs according to comments provided by UNDP
• Submit inputs for final review and approval by UNDP

It is envisaged that the level of effort under Task 3 will not exceed 8 working days.

Task 4 – Technical support during procurement process

The Feasibility Study Preparation Expert is expected to provide technical advice to the LIF team at the following stages of the procurement process:

• Preparation of the Request for Proposal documents with a special emphasis on setting the eligibility criteria for the previous experience and key personnel;
• Technical evaluation of proposals, especially in terms of the evaluation of the proposed methodology.

It is envisaged that the level of effort under Task 4 will not exceed 7 working days

Task 5 – Technical support during the Feasibility Study elaboration

Under this task, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will:

• Participate during workshops and discussions organised by the service provider conducting the feasibility study;
• Provide technical advice to the LIF project manager as to the quality of the deliverables submitted by the service provider;
• Prepare short monthly report on the progress of the feasibility study elaboration.

It is envisaged that the level of effort under Task 5 will not exceed 23 working days.

Following the completion of the assignment, the Feasibility Study Preparation Expert will submit a final report of his assignment.

Schedules of assignment(tentative) and deliverables

Deliverables shall be submitted in one hard copy and one digital version.

Duration: The start date of the assignment is expected in March 2021. The expected date of completion is July 2022.

Functional Competencies:

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

• Researches best practices and poses new, more effective ways of doing things;

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands the main processes and methods of work regarding to the position;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;

Promoting Organizational Development

• Demonstrates ability to identify problems and proposes solutions;

Client Orientation

• Reports to internal and external clients in a timely and appropriate fashion;
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external clients;

Promoting Accountability

• Prepares timely inputs to reports

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrate cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Have good management skills;
• Good communication (written and spoken) and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work well under pressure;
• Acting as a team player and facilitating teamwork;
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;
• Respond positively to critical feedback.

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant area such as spatial planning and economics, environmental economics, town planning or management, or related fields assessed as suitable to carry out the appointment.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of postgraduate professional experience
• At least 5 years of experience in urban planning
• At least 5 years of experience and track record in consulting work: (1) Qualitative: conducting and recording in-depth interviews, focus groups, developing questionnaires, analysis and formulating recommendations and (2) Quantitative Work on Feasibility Studies of similar nature
• Experience in designing complex ToR is an asset
• Experience of the Cyprus context will be an asset

Language Requirements:

• Excellent English skills (both written and verbal) is required.

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

• CV or Personal History (P11): Applicants are required to submit CV or a P11 Form. The UNDP P11 Form can be downloaded from: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

• Reference; Contact details of 3 references
• Financial Proposal:  Applicants are requested to submit an output based financial proposal in Euro (Please refer to ToR for more detailed information) the outputs are listed below which should be detailed as follows:

The financial proposal shall cover all expenditures including fees, health insurance, vaccination, international (all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel) or local travel (place of residence to office and office to place of residence), cost of living and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services. Leave benefits (annual, sick, paternity, maternity) are not applicable to Individual Contractors and absent days including weekends and office holidays are not payable.

Logistics of the Assignment:

The Consultant shall arrange her/his own travel and accommodation. Please note that the consultant will need to provide his/her own laptop and other relevant equipment for working purposes.

Evaluation / Selection Process: All applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies set above. Candidates fully meeting the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

Technical Criteria (CV review and interviews) – 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points

CV review: 20 points:

• Educational qualification as defined in the ToR (10 points)
• Experience as defined in the ToR (10 points)

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV review (who will score at least 14 points) will be eligible to be invited for an interview/desk review.

Desk review/Interview: 50 points

• Relevant work experience in Feasibility Studies of similar nature – 10
• Experience in urban planning – 10
• Experience and track record in research work, (1) Qualitative: conducting and recording in-depth interviews, focus groups, developing questionnaires, analysis and formulating recommendations and (2) Quantitative Work on Feasibility Studies of similar nature – 15
• Experience in designing complex ToR – 10
• Experience of the Cyprus context – 5

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points from the desk review/interview (35 out of 50) will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30]. 

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal.

Payment Term: Payments upon approval of each output, and payment certificate form by UNDP LIF Project Manager.