ThaiNGO

Background

UNDP supports countries around the world to formulate strategies and policies that promote human development, reduce inequality and poverty, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To advance these aims, UNDP provides technical policy advice and programming tools to help address critical and inter-linked sustainable development challenges such as inequality, climate change, and natural disaster. In that regard, a network of expertise across the SDGs, within and beyond UNDP, has been established to influence, shape and activate platforms for intersectional collaboration for complex, multi-faceted, and ‘frontier’ issues in sustainable development. In particular, SDG Integration teams are being formed to curate and coordinate support on SDG implementation on the ground and ensure that UNDP’s offers/integration services are informed by the experiences with implementation on the ground and by the broader debates and analytical advances on SDG implementation.

At the country level, UNDP Offices work closely with government counterparts and other national and subnational stakeholders to support the introduction of integrated, inclusive and sustainable development policies that are aligned with the national context. National Economists based in UNDP country offices across the Asia-Pacific region contribute to this work, including through support to policy dialogue with government officials and other partners, assistance in programme development, and production of research and analysis. These colleagues also collaborate and share experiences and practices across countries inside and outside the Asia-Pacific region. At the core of this support is a focus on complex problems that relate to multiple thematic/SDG areas in defining their complexity, scalability, entry points as well as the integration of policy, data and analytics, innovation, and finance.

In line with the above, UNDP Thailand is recruiting a Development Economist to help contribute to its current and planned programme in line with its Country Programme Document (CPD) for Thailand (2017-2021). The Development Economist will support the country office by providing economic analysis and policy advice to management and government counterparts that favor inclusive development, including the integration of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs into national and subnational plans and activities. S/he will also be responsible for helping develop activities aimed at enhancing UNDP’s programmatic support. The Development Economist is also expected to contribute to knowledge generation through research and analysis and to represent UNDP as required in policy discussions.  S/he will also engage very closely with the SDG Integration Team at the regional and headquarters level in view of supporting the coordination of multi-disciplinary engagement and collaboration across the SDGs, both internally within UNDP Country Office and externally.

The Development Economist will be based full-time in the UNDP Thailand country office. Domestic and international travel may be required. S/he will work closely with the programme and operations teams in the country office, Thailand Social Innovation Platform (TSIP) partners, UNDP’s Regional Innovation Centre (RIC), the SDG Integration Advisors at regional and global level, colleagues in the Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH) as well as with UN agencies operating in Thailand. S/he will also collaborate with the Asia-Pacific regional network of country economists, including regular engagement with regional economic advisors based in Bangkok and Beijing. S/he is also expected to develop and maintain a network of colleagues across development partner agencies, government institutions, the private sector, and civil society.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the Resident Representative, the Development Economist will be primarily responsible for the following work streams:

1. Provision of support to UNDP country office management, including to help strengthen programme development and implementation.

• Assist UNDP country office management with preparation, implementation, review and evaluation of country programmes and strategies, including the forthcoming mid-term review of the CPD and related work linked to the UN Partnership Assistance Framework for Thailand (UNPAF – 2017-2021);
• Active participation and substantive contribution to UNPAF Results Group, in particular the Data and Partnership Results Group;
• Support UNDP country office teams to better understand the needs of Thailand for the country to achieve its development objectives including the 2030 Agenda and relevance of UNDP to respond to these needs;
• Support UNDP country office teams to review their portfolios through an economic lens and support economic-related work that forge and strengthen linkages between UNDP’s social, economic and environmental work;
• Collaborate across UNDP teams, including ensuring linkages and identification/conceptualisation of new areas of programming responsive to Thailand’s development needs;
• Collaborate and actively engage with TSIP partners in view of strengthening the Social Enterprise and Social Impact Investment ecosystem in Thailand;
• Support UNDP’s contribution towards leveraging financing for development and the SDGs in Thailand, including in the process of localizing the SDGs at sub-national level, building on UNDP’s ongoing programme (including climate and biodiversity financing).

 2. Provision of technical policy advice to national government counterparts and other partners in line with UNDP’s SDG Integration offer in support of the 2030 Agenda and the introduction of sustainable and inclusive economic policies.

• Support and facilitate policy dialogue on sustainable development issues and their integrated nature with government officials, development partners, civil society, and the private sector;
• Deliver SDG integration services in supporting intersectional policy advice and integration capabilities for development planning and policy formulation at the national, sub-national and local levels;
• Support the identification and analysis of policy interventions that can impact multiple development goals and targets at the same time;
• Support monitoring and reporting of progress related to SDGs and other national development frameworks.

 3.  Support development of evidence-based research and data analysis with regard to current and emerging development trends

• Provide policy-oriented research in the form of short briefs and analyses on economic trends and develop policy positions for UNDP on topical issues including Thailand’s ASEAN economic priorities (including on AI, digital economy, Belt and Road Initiative and circular economy);
• Support the publication of related policy briefs or other analytical outputs;
• Provide analytical insights to the Thailand National Human Development Report 2019 focusing on inequality and leave no one behind as well as support formulation of related programmatic interventions.

 4. Representation, advocacy, and partner engagement to support UNDP’s institutional positioning and advance its mandate.

• Develop and/or strengthen partnerships with UN agencies, IFIs, bilateral development agencies, private sector entities, and civil society;
• Represent UNDP country office in relevant forums, conferences, or workshops, including to present research or programmatic results;
• Support UNDP resource mobilization, such as through project pipeline development or identification and engagement of potential partners;
• Contribute to national, regional, and global knowledge networks and communities of practice.

 5. Contribution to UNDP’s work across the Asia-Pacific region, including collaboration with the regional economist network and analysis of priority regional thematic areas.

• Participate actively in the UNDP Asia-Pacific regional network of economists, including through attending regional meetings (in-person and/or virtual), sharing relevant experiences, and conducting peer reviews;
• Substantively contribute as possible to UNDP regional knowledge products and development of programming offers in regional priority areas (e.g., inequality, future of work, innovative financing);
• Enhance UNDP’s understanding and design of new approaches to sustainable development across the region by acting as a regional thematic lead where possible.

Expected Output and Deliverables

Specific deliverables will be outlined in quarterly workplans to be agreed between the Resident Representative and the National Economist in line with the functions highlighted above.

Institutional Arrangement

The National Economist works under direct supervision of the Resident Representative with matrix reporting to Regional Economic Advisor at Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH).

Duration of the Work

The expected starting date is 1 July 2019. The initial contract will be issued for 1 year ending on 30 June 2020 with the maximum 261 working days during the 12-month contract period.

Duty Station

The National Economist will be based full-time in UNDP Thailand. Official travel may be required and will be agreed in advance. Travel costs will be covered by UNDP in reference to UNDP Procurement Policy – Individual Contractor.

The consultant will be tasked as a Development Economist to provide economic analysis and policy advice to management of UNDP Thailand and government counterparts that will integrated into inclusive development, including the integration of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs into national and subnational plans and activities so the consultant is required to work closely with Management, Programme staff, Policy Advisor from BRH included attending various meetings and workshops therefore full time presence in the office is needed.

Competencies

A. Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

 B. Functional Competencies:

(i)  Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Shares knowledge and experience and contributes to UNDP Practice Areas and actively works towards continuing personal learning and development;
• Ability to provide top quality policy advice services on economic issues;
• In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues.

(ii)  Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
• Ability to apply economic theory to the specific country context, carry out high-quality economic research.

 (iii) Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback;
• Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation;
• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics or equivalent.

Experience

• 7 years of relevant development experience at the national or international level;
• Extensive experience in research and policy-level analysis;
• Direct experience providing technical advice to government officials;
• Experience in designing, monitoring and evaluating development projects;
• Experience using computers and office software packages, including programmes for statistical analysis of data;
• Knowledge of the SDGs and their application at the national level.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English is required.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

In the event of travel as part of this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP shall 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

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on Cumulative analysis.

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%). The technical score will be assessed through both a written test and interview panel. The financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex III.
• Personal 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.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex III.

**Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and only the successful candidate will be notified.

ANNEXES

Annex I Development Economist - Thailand
Annex II General Terms and Conditions for Contracts Individual Consultants
Annex III Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability

Annex IV - Procurement Notice - Development Economist

All documents can be downloaded at: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=56382