UNICEF Zambia Country Office is seeking for a qualified International Consultant to support the production and timely dissemination of high quality programme documents and communications – including but not limited to correspondence, progress notes, and records of meetings – and the project document including description of actions, results framework and related budget.

The advertisement  is posted on UNICEF Zambia website;  http://www.unicef.org/zambia/5384_10485.htm.

The interested consultant is encouraged to apply ONLINE by visiting; http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=498463.  

The deadline for submitting the application is 26 August 2016.

Terms of Reference

Summary

Background:

USAID in Zambia intends to collaborate with UNICEF on strengthening Government and NGO capacity to deliver services and case management to vulnerable children and adolescents (VCA) in 14 districts. The programme is for four years with a significant budget.

The consultancy will support the production and timely dissemination of high quality programme documents and communications – including but not limited to correspondence, progress notes, and records of meetings – and the project document including description of actions, results framework and related budget. The project document will be in line with UNICEF and USAID requirements

Justification:

The partnership with USAID in Zambia is emerging and significant. UNICEF needs to deliver a quality, well thought through and complex project document in a short period of time. Due to the scale of the VCA programme, the size of the budget, the complexity and rigour needed for developing the proposal and the number of internal and external interactions to be documented, a full-time documenting, report writing and budget officer is needed to support the UNICEF Zambia Chief of Child Protection, the UNICEF Task Force on the USAID partnership and GRZ in developing the documents related to the partnership.   

Objectives/Target:

The consultancy will support the production and timely dissemination of high quality programme documents and communications – including but not limited to correspondence, progress notes, and records of meetings – and the project document including description of actions, results framework and related budget. The project document will be in line with UNICEF and USAID requirements.

Specific Tasks

The consultant will be required to complete the following tasks:

• Manage process of development of the project document

• Manage the inter-sectoral inputs from sections within UNICEF, the relevant line ministries and other relevant partners

• Provide quality control and editorial support, including editing and rewriting documents as needed and ensuring all content is factual and grammatically correct

• Develop project budget in line with USAID and UNICEF requirements

• Liaise with UNICEF HQ on requirements related to USAID partnerships

• Support day-to-day tracking and documentation of meetings and progress updates collected from internal and external meetings related to the VCA project

• Maintain document archive and filing system

Expected Deliverables

The following deliverables are to be submitted in accordance to approved quality assurance and clearance processes through the UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition Section who is the approved ZCO MDGi Project Coordinator.

Payment Schedule

Monthly payment upon submission of satisfactory monthly progress reports.

Performance indicators for evaluation:

• High quality outputs;

• Results driven;

• Meets deadlines;

• Collaborative and team player.

Qualification/Specialized knowledge and Experience:

• University degree in the social sciences, journalism or related field, a master’s degree is an asset;

• High level of fluency in written and spoken English  and advanced user level competency of MS Office suite are prerequisite

• Demonstrate experiences in working with government partners, UN agencies, NGO’s and donors,; having worked with USAID is an asset

• Three to five years of experience with UNICEF or other international organizations on complex programmes, with focus on proposal development, technical writing, editing and budgeting is an asset;

• Proven documentation, knowledge management and budgeting skills;

• Proven ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form; specific skills in report writing and editing;

• Ability to research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information;

• Excellent teamwork skills;

• Computer skills, including internet navigation, and various office applications especially Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel required.

General Conditions of Service and Ethical Considerations:

The following general conditions shall apply.

• Workplace: UNICEF Lusaka;

• Applicable DSA for field trips;

• Not entitled to any payments during days off and sick leave;

• Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 22 working days and fees are prorated accordingly. Will not be paid for weekends or public holidays;

• Not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement;

• No work may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant.

• Will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.