Pakistan: Senior National Research Consultant (AOTP)

1. BACKGROUND:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office for Pakistan (COPAK) is tasked with assisting Pakistan through its Country Programme (CP) 2010-15 with a focus on needs related to control of illicit trafficking of drugs and precursors, border management, criminal justice, drug demand reduction and HIV/AIDS control. In addition to other initiatives, various capacity building activities under this Programme (illicit trafficking and border management) have been started to technically support law enforcement agencies(LEAs) for enhancing their core capacity through the provision of foundational/specialist training and equipment. One such initiative relates to the development of a Customs Research Unit (CRU) at Directorate General of Training and Research (DGTR), Karachi with an aim to build research skills among the officers and staff of Pakistan Customs and conduct different research studies on topics of professional and technical competence in the fields of drugs control.

In order to react in a strategic manner UNODC Pakistan requires the services of a Senior National Research Consultant to supervise UNODC research activities in Pakistan Customs and provide support to research team during the course of data collection, compilation and report preparation.

The Senior National Research Consultant will report to the AOTP Programme Manager in Vienna who will be the supervisor of the project.

2. MAIN OBJECTIVES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK.

Assignment objectives:

The Senior National Research Consultant will be based in the Pakistan Customs’ Directorate General Training & Research (DGTR) facility in Karachi. Together with AOTP staff in Islamabad and in collaboration with the Coordinator designated by the DGTR, he will be responsible for accomplishing the tasks, deliverables and targets set by the AOTP Programme Manager and COPAK. The incumbent will be tasked to chalk out research proposals on key drug related issues in Pakistan. He will be responsible to work out the research methodology, develop data collection tools like questionnaires, survey forms, etc and monitor the on-going research activities in Customs Research Unit. He will also be responsible for successful completion of research studies from data collection, feeding, synthesis, analysis and subsequently compilation of final publication of research report. He will be required to fulfil the project deliverables within specified time-lines. He will remain in close liaison with the research team and the DGTR designated coordinator in providing or arranging requisite training and guidance to the members of research team. He will work out the training needs of the research team and subsequently plan and design training programmes and training material to enhance their research capabilities. The Senior National Research Consultant will report to the AOTP Programme Manager in Vienna who will supervise this project. The management of COPAK will be advised on identified needs and issues that UNODC should address.

Expected Deliverables:

The incumbent will work closely with AOTP staff in Islamabad and DGTR designated coordinator in Karachi, to produce research reports on specific drug-related topics, quarterly newsletters and any other reports related to drug control in Pakistan. The Senior National Research Consultant will be responsible for discussing the progress of the project and its output with the Programme Manager located in Vienna.

The Senior National Research Consultant will be required to deliver the following.

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

I. Academic Qualifications:

· Masters degree in Social Science, Economics, Political Science, Public Administration or similarly relevant discipline.

II. Years of experience:

· 10 years of professional experience with at least 3 years of relevant drug related research experience in Pakistan working on topics related to UNODC’s mandates. Working experience with any UNODC project will be preferable.

III. Competencies:

· Knowledge of the region’s drug related problems and particularly trafficking of Afghan opiates to Gulf countries, Africa, Europe and USA via air, land and maritime channels, knowledge of political, socio-economic and cultural dynamics is required.

· Capacity to advise and manage research related studies.

· Capacity to review documents and conduct interviews as part of background research.

· Capacity to produce scientific research products.

· Ability to analyse needs and formulate draft recommendations on appropriate responses for colleagues and management.

· Ability to produce concise reports and presentations.

· Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Working knowledge of Urdu and Pashto/Sindhi would be an advantage.

· Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines. Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.

· Experience working with government authorities. Experience working with UN is an asset.

· Ability to evaluate analytically and impartially.

· Knowledge of politico-strategic issues related to Pakistan and/or other countries in the region is an asset.

· Knowledge and experience with customs of Pakistan is an asset.

· Knowledge of different softwares like SPSS, ArcGIS, MS Excel, MS Access will be preferrable.

4. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

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

(i) Explaining why he/she is the most suitable for the project.

(ii) Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable)

5. 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 should include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

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 Consultant 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 National Research Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

EVALUATION

Senior National research Consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

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

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

** Technical Criteria weight; [70% ]*

** Financial Criteria weight; [30% ]*

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 60 point would be considered for the Final Evaluation

Criteria*****Weight Max. PointTechnical Competencies 70Masters degree in Social Science, Economics, Political Science, Public Administration or similarly relevant discipline.2010 years of professional experience with at least 3 years of relevant drug related research experience in Pakistan working on topics related to UNODC’s mandates. Working experience with any UNODC project will be preferable.20* Knowledge of the region’s political, socio-economic and cultural dynamics.

Capacity to review documents and conduct interviews as part of background research.

Ability analysis needs and formulate draft recommendations on appropriate responses for colleagues and management. Ability to produce concise and reports and presentations. 15 Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Working knowledge of Urdu and Pashto would be an advantage. Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines. Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks. Ability to evaluate analytically and impartially.

Experience working with government authorities. 15 Financial (Lower Offer/Offer*100 Total Score Technical score 70 + 30 Financial*Weight per Technical Competence Weak: Below 70% The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a WEAK capacity for the analyzed competence Satisfactory : 70-75% The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a SATISFACTORYcapacity for the analyzed competence Good: 76-85% The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a GOODcapacity for the analyzed competence Very Good: 86-95% The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a VERY GOOD capacity for the analyzed competence Outstanding: 96-100% The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a **OUTSTANDING*capacity for the analyzed competence

Proposal should be submitted by email to hr.pakistan@unodc.org no later than 13 December 2014

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to the address or e-mail at shahid.zareen.khattak@unodc.org. UNODC Country Office Pakistan will respond in writing or 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 officers.