Service Center Page, Jobs

International Consultant/Communications adviser to the Speaker’s office.

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00386

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	10 Oct 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Nov 2013
Reference to the project:	Programme for Improving the Quality of Moldovan Democracy through Parliamentary Support
Expected Duration of Assignment:	4 months
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 10 October 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: sergiu.galitchi@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=40574
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Mr. Sergiu Galitchi.

Background

During the last two years the Parliament of Moldova has been very active in developing its organizational setup in order to improve the legislative process and have prompt reaction to changes and priorities of the society. In this regard, important internal regulations and policies were approved, the document flow optimized, the capacities of staffers increased.

Following several elections and political crisis, Parliament's image was seriously affected. According to the last opinion polls, the perception of trust in parliament is slowly but steadily decreasing, from 29.5% in 2010 to 12% in 2013. Lack of adequate working conditions (parliament’s main building is still under reconstruction) affects parliament’s capacity to efficiently communicate too.

In this context, it is essential to foster good communication mechanisms and to improve the information channels within the Parliament, on the one hand, and between Parliament and CSOs, media, academia, private sector and citizens, on the other hand. The Moldovan Parliament approved a 4-year Communication Strategy in 2011 and its implementation is (although slowly) ongoing.  Recently, the Parliament of Moldova elected a new Speaker. The Speaker represents the institution and is overall responsible to communicate about important political issues and legal changes which affect the society. Therefore, he and his office need extra support for establishing an efficient, systematic and continuous process of interaction with different stakeholders. This will increase the transparency of the institution, will bring Parliament closer to citizens, and finally, will build the confidence of civil society in Parliament.

In this regards UNDP Democracy programme is seeking to hire a full-time qualified professional for a period up to 4 months, who will contribute to a better communication of parliament and advice on how to improve its image.

Scope of work

The Communications adviser will assist the Parliament, in particular the Speaker of Parliament and his office in shaping and developing dynamic communications, raising parliament’s public profile and establishing a systematic and continuous process of interaction with different stakeholders.

The Communications adviser will conduct comprehensive research and analysis of information (i.e. country’s European integration agenda and other related reforms), gathering and developing information from a variety of sources such as reports, interviews, research on trends and developments, electronic and print media, preparing and delivering to speaker’s office an effective communication for the dissemination to the key audience. The adviser will also assist in implementing Parliament’s Communication Strategy by advising on and executing communications activities, coaching and where needed provide training to parliamentary staffers on communications techniques and tools.

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

Requirements for experience

I.    Academic Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in communications, journalism media studies, international affairs or any other appropriate field;

II.   Years of experience:

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience such as a spokesperson / public relations specialist, preferably for a national or international public administration of an EU Member State or an EU Institution;
• Working experience in public relations field, media, providing high level communication services to EU governments or to candidate countries;
• Experience in developing and implementing Communication/PR Strategies;
• Experience of coaching and conducting participatory trainings, workshops, and presentations on internal and external communication;
• Experience in covering political, parliamentary, social or economic issues;
• Experience in working with parliament, government and/or international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset);

III.  Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of social media tools;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively orally and in writing, draft report, solve problems, manage PR projects/ events, organize and meet expected results, adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
• Outstanding drafting and communication skills;
• Fluency in English. Fluency in Romanian or German would be a strong asset;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools.

Documents to be included

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

• Cover letter, explaining why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
• Financial proposal (in USD);
• Personal CV including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained, and at least 3 references, or the duly filled Personal History Form (P11).

Financial proposal

The financial proposal will specify the daily lump-sum fee (which is equal to: the daily fee plus the expenses for stay in the duty station), while the travel expenses (cost for 1 round trip air-ticket (Economy Class only)) must be quoted in a separate line item. The payments to the Individual Consultant are made based on the number of days worked. The consultant shall stay minimum of 18 working days per month in the duty station.

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 case of unforeseeable travel for the business purpose, 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.