Hydrological Engineer to support the project “Promotion of climate change and disaster risk reduction solutions in the water and civil protection sectors for enhanced rural resilience”..

Vacancy Number: Pr19/01838

Location:Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline: 17 May 2019, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:
23 May 2019, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:Individual Contract
Starting date: 24 May 2019
Reference to the project:
Expected Duration of Assignment:May 2019 - November 2020
Submission Instructions:

Proposals should be submitted by email, no later than 17 May 2019.

Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: cristina.cotofana@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.

Supporting Documents:
Individual Consultant Procurement Notice
Terms of Reference
OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT
UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract



Background

Considering its economic structure and geographic features, Moldova is highly vulnerable to climate change and is exposed to disasters due to hydrometeorological phenomena and natural hazards.  While drought and floods are among top hydro-meteorological hazards caused by extreme weather and climate events, due to the current and projected abnormal high temperatures leading to water scarcity, the incidence of forest fires is increasingly posing a threat to natural ecosystems, the agricultural system and human settlements.

Such high exposure is due to the country’s dependence on rain-fed agricultural production which is tied to climate, making it the most vulnerable of all economic sectors. This is primarily due to the shortage of water for agricultural needs and limited resources and capacities to plan and put in place water storage facilities for irrigation needs in rural communities of Moldova, especially, since climate projections show larger rainfall events in the future, which could supply such facilities.

Climate scenarios also indicate the country is strongly trending towards becoming more arid. Unfortunately, rural communities experience a capacity deficit in terms of fire prevention, preparedness and timely response, mainly due to the liquidation of over 400 equipped and capacitated firefighting units. It resulted in increased response time and lower awareness of fire risks by the rural population, subsequently leading to considerable increase in loss of life, property and affected ecosystems. It is widely accepted that rural women are disproportionately affected by fires due to them being mostly engaged in cooking in unsafe cook stoves and collection of firewood in ecosystems that might be at high risk of fires.

Against this background, the project aims to increase resilience and adaptive capacities of rural communities to climate change and disasters through improved water storage infrastructures and disasters risk reduction measures. The project is supporting implementation of climate-smart water management solutions for agriculture, flood management, fire prevention and expansion of community-based rescue/firefighting teams in rural communities of Moldova with the purpose of reducing the exposure and vulnerability of the rural communities to climate change and disaster risks. The project will be implemented over a period of 36 months and the activities are clustered around 2 major outputs intended to produce impact in 5 districts of Moldova, in the Central (Hincesti, Criuleni and Ungheni districts) and Southern (Leova and Cantemir) regions

Scope of work

The overall objective of the assignment is to provide technical backstopping and to support the project team to put in place proper water storage infrastructures in 5 districts of Moldova, more specifically, in Hincesti, Criuleni, Ungheni, Leova and Cantemir.    

The consultant will collaborate closely with the core team of national consultants and will be contracted to: (1) provide support to the technical analysis of the water infrastructures at the site level, (2) design technically sound reservoirs and ensure their structural integrity; (3) provide guidance on obtaining the required construction and operation authorizations and permits for the basins; and, (4) prepare cost estimates for the selected reservoirs.

 

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

  • University degree in civil engineering.

 Experience and knowledge:

  • At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in water engineering, including planning, design and construction of small-scale infrastructure.
  • Knowledge of Republic of Moldova water resources management and legislative requirements for water catchment/harvesting requirements, ground and surface water quantity and quality analysis.
  • Fluency in Romanian, Russian and English languages.

Documents to be included

  1. Proposal:
  • Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including experience in similar assignments;
  • Providing a brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item and a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable);
  1. Financial proposal (in USD), specifying a fee per day and total requested amount including all related costs, e.g. fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls etc.;

      3. Duly filled in and signed Personal History Form (P11).

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 costs, accommodation costs, communication, and number of anticipated working days).  

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

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 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.