Strategic Communications Consultant

The UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) is UNDP’s Global Policy Centre for policy development and applied research with an overarching focus on democratic governance and peacebuilding in crisis, conflict and transitional contexts. The OGC is one of six Global Policy Centres and sits within the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), UNDP. Drawing on UNDP’s expertise in human development, democratic governance and conflict prevention OGC engages with Norwegian, Nordic and partners from the South in undertaking applied research and developing policy options and tools for governance support and peacebuilding in crisis, conflict and transitional environments, in order to find practical solutions on the ground.

The OGC has been in existence since 2002. The centre’s objective is to be established as an;

• source of knowledge that influences policy and practice in governance and peacebuilding;
• contributor to policy formulation and programming to processes of transition from crisis and conflict toward more peaceful, just and inclusive societies; and
• contributor to SDG 16 measurement and learning.

OGC’s target audience for communication and advocacy include UNDP internally (primarily Country Offices), research and policy community (academia and civil society) as well as decision-makers.

Effective and impactful communication is essential to the work of the Centre. Past reviews of the work of the Centre have identified several communications related issues which need to be addressed through:

• Better overall visibility of the centre.
• Better communication of OGC’s work to ensure it reaches the different intended audiences.
• Strategic use of media, social media, micro-messaging and communication of knowledge products produced by the Centre.

  Institutional Arrangement / Reporting Relationships   

  The consultant will overall report to UNDP OGC Director a.i., while working closely with the OGC Communications Team.

  Duration of Work  

  The consultant will be contracted for a period of 20 working days.

  Office and equipment

  The consultant will be responsible for meeting his/her own office facilities needed for work.

  Payment

  Payment will be issued to the consultant upon receipt of satisfactory finished deliverable.

  Travel

  The consultancy is homebased, however a trip to Oslo might be necessary. In the event of this, the business unit and the consultant will agree on the manner in which travel costs, including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses, are to be reimbursed prior to the travel.

  Application Process

  The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

   Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all documents in one file):

• Updated P11/CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment. Indicate available start date.
• IMPORTANT: Please provide links to any samples of relevant work, including writing samples

           Step 2: Only applicants who attain a score of 70% and above on the technical evaluation will be requested to submit a financial proposal.

    Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial proposals must be all inclusive and must be expressed on the basis of “an all-inclusive lumpsum amount” in USD.
• Payment (pre-agreed lumpsum amount) will be done upon receipt of the FINAL satisfactory finished deliverable product.

The term ‘all inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are factored into the final daily fee submitted in the proposal.

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

Criteria for selection of individual consultant for award of contract:

Through a desk review of applications, a short-listing will be done to identify those candidates who meet the criteria of education and relevant years of experience.

The combine scoring method will be used to evaluate proposals.

Combined scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighted a maximum of 70%,  combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores). Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores).

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive / compliant / acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Proposal (70 Points) 70% weight

Technical proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Proven ability to develop and implement forward looking communication and advocacy strategies based on organisational needs and priorities (25  points);
• Experience with working in the areas of communications and advocacy relevant to the scope of work (25 points);
• Familiarity with latest uses of social media to create visibility and drive outreach and communications (10 points);
• Some understanding of democratic governance and sustainable development issues (10 points)

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 of the obtainable points of 70 points (70%) in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

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

The consultant will develop a forward-looking Communication and Advocacy Strategy, including an implementation plan, with the overall goal of ensuring more effective and effective and impactful communication and knowledge sharing towards selected target audiences and stakeholders. In developing the strategy, the consultant will: 

• Review and evaluate target audiences based on the objectives of OGC’s work.
• Assess ways in which OGC’s website, social media channels and related communication platforms can be best leveraged for meeting communication needs targeting different audiences.
• Identify effective ways of disseminate knowledge products (existing and new) and support uptake and learning, produced by OGC’s.
• Identify strategic activities by OGC (e.g. events, advisory work, research) that can contribute to strategic messaging around OGCs objectives.
• Identify how to best coordinate and streamline the various communications and advocacy efforts of OGC.
• Identify clear goals for the strategy and ways of evaluating progress. 
• Prepare final Communication and Advocacy Strategy, including implementation plan.

Expected Outputs and Deliverable

• A Communications and Advocacy Strategy (no more than 20 – 25 pages), including implementation plan, reflecting the key issues outlined above.
• Clear recommendations aimed at strengthening OGC’s communications, advocacy and outreach.

Approach and Methods

The development of the Communications and Advocacy Strategy and implementation plan will be based on relevant documentation, including OGC’s current communications framework, workplans, and past reviews, as well as face-to-face or telephone/video interviews with OGC staff, other UNDP offices, Norwegian government officials, and key stakeholders including academia and civil society.

Functional Competencies

• Excellent communication skills in English;
• Experience in advocacy and communications planning;
• Knowledge of social media and its uses for organisations to create visibility and influence;
• Demonstrated ability to organise and structure information;
• Demonstrated knowledge of reviewing organisational communications and knowledge needs and priorities and developing communications strategies;
• Some understanding of democratic governance and sustainable development.

 Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP, and partner organizations:
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Education

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism or other relevant field, or Bachelor’s degree and two additional years of relevant work experience in lieu of an advanced degree.

Professional Experience

• A minimum of 5-7 years of professional experience in communications, journalism, advocacy, knowledge management, with a demonstrated track record of successfully managing processes and projects in a complex environment.
• Proven experience in developing and implementing communication strategies, preferable with the UN/UNDP, Government, and national and international NGOs.
• Experience with successful advocacy campaigns, digital communications, and outreach to diverse global and national audiences.
• Understanding of the UN/UNDP is an asset.
• Experience with advocacy and knowledge of key stakeholders in the Norwegian and Nordic context is an asset.

 Language

• Fluency in English, both written and oral is required.
• Working knowledge of a Nordic language would be an asset.