International Senior Consultant on Sustainable Cities – Team Leader Project Documentation Preparation

Currently, over 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas consuming over 70 percent of the global energy supply while being responsible for 70 percent of the world wide carbon dioxide emissions.  By 2030, it is expected that 5 billion people worldwide will live in cities. This is mainly caused by people moving from rural to urban areas searching for better economic and employment conditions. Moldova is in line with the global trend of continuously growing urbanization from 47% in 2010 to 60% in 2030. Chisinau, Moldova’s capital and also the largest city whose inhabitants make up over 22% of the total country population, is the largest energy user, emitter of GHGs, and consumer of resources in the country.

Therefore, UNDP and GEF are currently developing a project which aims to create a model for sustainable green cities in Moldova by supporting a shift towards low-emission and resilient urban development and implementing mitigation policies in the most efficient and cost effective manner. This project places specific attention on finding integrated solutions for increasing the involvement of the private sector and promoting the green economy, addressing the private sector as supplier of urban services, provider of innovative technologies and management practices, and implementer of low-emission policies. The five components of the project consist of:

• The establishment of an innovation hub in Chisinau which identifies, develops, and secures financing for innovate green urban development proposals, thus providing support to the following three components;
• Support for integrated urban planning in the area of waste with a focus on developing an integrated waste management strategy for the City of Chisinau including the development, scoping, financing, implementation and operation of a waste-to-energy project;
• Support for integrated urban planning in the area of sustainable transport with a focus on developing and adopting a Sustainable Urban Transport Plan (SUTP), a parking strategy for Chisinau, and an integrated traffic management system (ITMS);
• Support for the energy sector with a focus on developing a national database on energy consumption for all public buildings, an Energy Management Information System (EMIS), and detailed and comprehensive trainings on ESCOs all contributing to catalyze additional investment in energy efficiency;
• The replication of the integrated urban planning approach to at least three other cities with special emphasis on outreach and dissemination of best practice including establishing innovation hubs.

In summary, the project will address the modernization of urban policies, develop integrated urban development plans and methodological guidance by using innovation hubs as the key mechanisms to drive investment and develop innovative approaches for broader citizen engagement through incentive schemes, awareness raising and capacity development targeting the urban population. Priority sectors for technology transfer and accelerated uptake of low-emission technologies, approaches and mitigation options are energy efficiency, transport, and waste management. The private sector will be systematically engaged as a partner since private sector investment mobilized is a key indicator of project success. In addition, dissemination of best practices will be replicated from Chisinau to other towns and cities.

The Consultant will be leading a team of one international and two national consultants and, together with his/her team, he/she will conduct a number of studies and stakeholder consultations with the view to further develop the approved project concept into a fully formulated project document. The final output of this activity will be a UNDP-GEF project document and GEF CEO endorsement template ready for submission to UNDP and GEF including GEF tracking tools, and all co-financing letters.

For detailed information, please refer to the Terms of Reference.

 http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs.

Functioncal Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication skills and ability to work in a team;
• Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities.

Education

• Advanced University degree in economics, energy, engineering, international relations, environmental science, social sciences or a related field.

Experience

• At least 15 years of work experience related to sustainable urban planning and sustainable cities;
• Strong knowledge on international best practice with integrated urban planning, such as with interventions simultaneously addressing energy and/or waste and/or transport related issues;
• Experience with partnerships for urban interventions including successfully developed projects and  resource mobilization for climate finance;
• Strong technical knowledge in preparing UNDP-GEF project documents, GEF tracking tools, obtaining all co-financing letters etc.;
• Prior experience working with international organisations (inducing UNDP) related to urban planning and sustainable cities related topics, particularly in a development context, is an advantage;
• Knowledge of MS Word, Excel and email communication software.

Language:

• Excellent English writing and communication skills.

Important notice:

Aapplicants who have 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.
The detailed Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice can be found at  http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs.