Job Notice: National Consultant (Civil engineer) at UNDP

UN Women in Cameroon has been working to ensure gender sensitive approach in supporting women and girls in all areas of their lives and to ensuring that the population affected by the different crisis receive the adequate assistance for their resilience and to preventing radicalization and violent extremism. It operates in five priority areas:

• Strengthen women’s leadership and participation;
• Ending violence against women;
• Integrate women into all aspects of peace and security processes;
• Strengthen the economic empowerment of women;
• Place gender equality at the heart of national planning and budgeting processes.

In this regard, UN Women implements throughout the country, projects for economic empowerment, strengthening the protection and resilience of women and girls in both development and humanitarian contexts. These projects sometimes require the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure, requiring specialized expertise in the field of civil engineering.

1. Objectives of the assignment

The objective of this consultancy service is to assist the UN Women Cameroon team in drafting tender dossier for construction/refurbishment works, support with the evaluation of the technical offers, coordination of construction works, monitoring and commissioning of the construction/renovation works in the field.

Specifically, this mission will consist of:

• The development of the required descriptive and quantitative plans for the constructions.
• Compliance with administrative and regulatory procedures related to the types of construction.
• The development of tender documents (DOA).
• Assist the selection of construction firm.
• Monitoring of construction ensuring quality assurance and respect of deadlines.
• Regular production of construction progress reports.
• Advisory support to the implementing partner for gender-sensitive infrastructures.

The UN Women seeks to contract one Consultant (hereinafter “the Consultant”) to provide expert support/technical services in constructions works of Women Empowerment Center, Gender-sensitive marketing sheds, storage warehouses, installation of drinking water boreholes, food processing units, gender-sensitive toilets in schools.

The consultant is expected to work under the supervision of the UN Women Programme manager and in close cooperation with UN Women Operations Manager, the UN Women Procurement Associate and the Local Coordinators from selected institutions for project interventions.

To achieve objectives, the contractor will provide:

1. Review existing documents, ownership status, litigations, designed projects, authorisations, etc.
2. Inspect and evaluate locations to determine the physical and technical conditions of the premises and advise on the works to improve the conditions.
3. Support to contracting planner designer and/or BoQ drafter to establish the volume of work to be done.
4. Review/Develop the detailed technical specifications and Bill of Quantities (BoQ) for the (selected) spaces intended for infrastructure to be part of tender documentation intended for selection designing and construction companies.
5. Support at all procurement stages for contracting construction company.
6. Organize/facilitate a pre-bidding conference/field visit (if required) with potential bidders to clear all technical aspects and related questions.
7. Provide answers to any technical clarification questions submitted by potential bidders.
8. Support procurement process and facilitate technical evaluation of proposals
9. Transmission of the object and documentation to the contractor/construction company, including connections to utilities, and organization of the work process.
10. Supervise and report progress in the implementation of the infrastructure upgrades; supervision will be conducted throughout the complete duration of the contract, including the end of all calculations and possible legal disputes related to the work.
11. Provide written confirmations to the project that milestones under design/construction contracts are achieved, including submission of the final Confirmation of Completion of works (signing and confirmation of works executed, advise UN Women on any changes required by the construction firms.
12. Coordinate technical issues with the responsible parties.
13. Timely reporting to UN Women Cameroon Project Manager.
14. Perform any other assignment related to the tasks.

3. Expected results/Deliverables

The results expected from the Consultant’s service provision per each project is as follows:

4. Organizational setting

The Contractor will work under the direct supervision of the UN Women Project Manager, UN Women Operations Manager and the UN Women procurement Associate for effective achievement of results.

The Contractor will work outside the project office and will participate in all working meetings organized by the Project. The Contractor will be provided with the necessary information, materials, and logistics for the fulfilment of tasks.

5. Payment for provided services

The payment for services provided by the Consultant will be made according to UN rate of payment

6. Confidentiality

Materials provided to the consultant and all proceedings within the consultancy contract shall be regarded as confidential, both during and after the consultancy. Violation of confidentiality requirements may result in immediate termination of contract.

7. Performance evaluation

Consultant’s performance shall be evaluated following such criteria as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

• – Respect for diversity
• – Integrity
• – Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Gender awareness and sensitivity
• Accountability
• Creative problem solving
•  Effective communication
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example

• Master’s degree in civil engineering, architecture or related field is required.
• Be member of National Order of Civil Engineers Cameroon or ONAC
• At least five years of overseeing and/or inspecting construction, infrastructure development or renovation projects in similar context (general construction works, water and sanitation)
• Activity experience within community development programs with a focus on providing socially responsive solutions (accessible/inclusive/women spaces) will be an advantage.
• Work experience with UN Agencies and/or international organizations is a strong advantage
• Good computer skills; User knowledge of specialised soft: Win 2000, AutoCAD, ArhiCAD etc.