Senior Urban Planning Designer - Hiring Fast

We are searching for a hardworking Senior Urban Planning Designer to join our incredible team at United Nations Development Programme in Riyadh.
Growing your career as a Full Time Senior Urban Planning Designer is an incredible opportunity to develop productive skills.
If you are strong in adaptability, cooperation and have the right drive for the job, then apply for the position of Senior Urban Planning Designer at United Nations Development Programme today!

Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 23-Jan-2023

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is undergoing major transformational economic and social change, driven by Saudi Vision 2030, which is aimed at reducing the county’s reliance on oil revenues and government spending.Launched in 2016, Saudi Vision 2030 is founded on three pillars — 1) A vibrant society; 2) A thriving economy; and 3) An ambitious nation — that draws on the nation’s intrinsic strengths. Key to its success is creating high-performing, accountable government at all levels; attracting private sector investment; nurturing an entrepreneurial environment; and ensuring employment opportunities for the country’s young population.

Through the Spatial Planning and Visual Appeal program, MOMRAH aims to achieve a number of Vision 2030 goals, which are defined by two tracks built on three building blocks. The first track is the spatial planning track, which involves a multilevel set of spatial policies and tools that determine the future spatial territorial structure. This is accomplished through a formal planning process where land, infrastructure and services demands guide the allocation of suitable land, incorporating specific organizational forms and hierarchies of tools to define spatial interdependencies at the local, regional, and national levels, enabling decentralized but coordinated action. The second track is improving visual appeal in cities which is highly dependent on a steady urban planning and urban design foundation. It involves shaping of space with a focus on enhancing the experience of the urban landscape. Also, it goes beyond the function of planning and design, as it entails the combination of social, economic, and environmental dimensions that influence the arrangement, appearance, and function of buildings and places. 

Drawing on its extensive international expertise, this project will be implemented by UNDP jointly with UN-Habitat and has been designed to support and deliver six initiatives within the Spatial Planning and Visual Appeal Program established by MoMRAH with specific focus on the following outcomes:

• The Regional Plans, Local Plans and Urban Codes under MoMRAH’s jurisdiction are efficiently and effectively delivered following international best practices.
• The Public Realm Program is activated, setting the grounds for effective public realm developments.
• Local planning departments are empowered and enabled through a new Operating Model for Planning Departments.
• The municipal system is improved and restructured, updating settlements boundaries, revising classification and categorization of Saudi human settlements and optimizing service delivery towards efficiency and sustainability.
• The Saudi Planning framework is restructured, planning tools are redefined, updated and improved in line with the new classification and categorization.
• The existing MoMRAH Urban Design Studio is upscaled in a fully-fledged Urban Lab and capacitated to spearhead and innovative device tools and projects-based satellite Labs in support of MoMRAH mission.

The project will provide a strategic framework for UNDP and UN-Habitat to provide substantive technical assistance, advisory, and quality assurance services to the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing (MoMRAH) to deliver on its six initiatives of the Spatial Planning and Visual Appeal Program mandate, and in particular perform its functions more efficiently and effectively in the six initiatives that are the focus of this project. The project will capitalize on UNDP and UN-Habitat’s institutional and human capacity strengthening expertise and experience, and its strategic role as a central and impartial knowledge provider, builder of capacities, partnership broker, and facilitator of exchanges at country, regional and global levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

The specific responsibilities of the Senior Urban Designer will be as follows:

• Prepare a report illustrating the inclusivity of the neighbourhoods in the public realm activation programme
• Coordinate with the CTA regarding other elements of the public realm programme
• Ensure that the report integrates the work done by UDS

Estimated Duration to Complete

Review and Approvals Required (Indicate designation of person who will review output and confirm acceptance)

Submission of the Social Inclusivity report

20 days

Approved by the CTA in coordination with UNDP Programme Analyst

Institutional Arrangement

The expert will be reporting to the CTA of the MoMRAH project and UNDP focal person. A detailed work plan for the expert’s duties and responsibilities will be formulated by the MoMRAH.

Duration of the Work

• The expected duration of work is 20 days, with the possibility of an extension.
• The anticipated starting date of the assignment is 20th of January 2023. And the expected date of full completion of all tasks under this assignment is 10th February 2023.

Duty Station

• The assignment will be In Country Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He/ She will be embedded within the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing (MoMRAH)
• If unforeseen travel outside the consultant’s home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).
• Note : A written approval from UNDP and relevant authorities will be required to facilitate the consultant's travel to any locations than stated on this TOR on official missions where necessary.

Working Arrangements:

• All mission travels must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor.
• United Nations Development of Safe and Security – BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to the commencement of travel.
• The Consultant is responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director.
• The consultant is also required to comply with the UN security directives.
• The consultant is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP.
• The consultant will be responsible for submitting his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies.
• The consultant is responsible for required health and life insurance related to work or travel.
• The consultant is expected to have his/her own Laptop/Computer.
• Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
• Ability to identify beneficiaries’ needs and to match them with appropriate solutions;
• Shares knowledge and experience and provides helpful feedback and advice;
• Excellent communication and interview skills (with groups and individuals);
• Excellent interpersonal skills and is able to negotiate with diplomacy and tact;
• Focuses on results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
• Strong time management and deadline sensitive abilities;
• Remains calm, in control and works well under pressure;

Required Skills and Experience

• Academic Qualifications
  • Master’s degree in urban planning/urban design, public policies, social sciences, or other related field

Years of experience

• Minimum 10 years of experience in coordinating projects and hands-on experience in the design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.Proven experience in the public realm and national guidelines activities Knowledge and working experience in the KSA context and/or GCC countries
• Proven experience in producing reports.
• Comprehensive knowledge of multiple scales of Urban Planning and public realm activation.
• Experience in Planning for Government entities or similar activities
• Experience working with United Nations or International entities is an asset. 

Language Requirements:

Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills in English language .

• Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

All proposals must be expressed in a lump sum amount. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the Proposal.

Payments shall be made to the individual contractor upon successful completion and certification by UNDP that services have been satisfactorily performed, based upon the actual number of working days.

Schedule of Payments:

Payment shall be made as a deliverables-based lump sum payment, to be paid in instalments. The schedule of payment will be distributed upon satisfactory submission of the deliverables listed in the table herein

Estimated Duration to Complete

Review and Approvals Required

Payment Percentage

Submission of the Social Inclusivity report

20 days

Approved by CTA and UNDP Programme Analyst

100%

• Recommended Presentation of Offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation. The following documents may be requested:

• Duly accomplished  Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability  using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11 , indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Financial Proposal  that indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the Proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under the Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial Proposal submitted to UNDP.
• Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Applicants are shortlisted based on the Required Skills and Experience stated in the TOR.

The selection of the best offer from the shortlisted candidates will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70% and combined with the price offer, which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Technical Criteria (CV review and Desk Review/Interview optional) – maximum 70 points. Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV desk review (who will score at least 49 points) will be considered for the next evaluation stage, i.e. financial evaluation.

Applications will be first screened, and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

Requirements

Criteria

Max 10 points

Education

• Master’s degree in urban planning/urban design, public policies, social sciences, or a related field

20

Relevant professional experience

• At least 10 year experiences in Coordinating projects and hands-on experience in the design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.

20

• Proven experience in the public realm and national guidelines activities

20

Work experience in similar contexts

• Working Experience in Saudi Ministries or Royal Commissions in Saudi Arabia 

10

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Weight Per Technical Competence

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated an OUTSTANDING capacity for the analyzed competence.

4 (Very good): 86% - 95%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a VERY GOOD capacity for the analyzed competence

3 (Good): 76% - 85% T

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a GOOD capacity for the analyzed competence.

2 (Satisfactory): 70% - 75% T

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a SATISFACTORY capacity for the analyzed competence.

1 (Weak): Below 70%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a WEAK capacity for the analyzed competence.

• Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II)

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables. The financial Proposal should include all relevant costs (consultancy fees, all envisaged travel costs, living allowances, etc.).

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal

The following formula will be used to evaluate the financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest-priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

• Instructions for on-line submissions

Step 1: Please prepare all required documents electronically.

Step 2: Combine all documents in  ONE SINGLE FILE  (preferably in PDF however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs links

Step 3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

Given the volume of applications that UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.

UNDP reserves the right to reject any incomplete applications.

Please be informed that we don’t accept applications submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit an application via UNDP Jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP Jobsite system. Please note that UNDP Jobsite system allows only one uploading of application documents, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your online application submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows you to upload a maximum of one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email View email address on click.appcast.io with a copy to View email address on click.appcast.io the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 3 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted on the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain updates related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks .

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

• Annexes to the TOR

Existing literature or documents that will help Offerors better understand the project situation and the work required should be provided as annexe/es to the TOR, especially if such literature or documents are not confidential.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact the eRecruit Helpdesk .

Benefits of working as a Senior Urban Planning Designer in Riyadh:

● Company offers great benefits
● Opportunities to grow
● Attractive package