VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Issued on 30 April 2025 

Functional Title: Regional/National Transport Expert on Project Implementation in Chisinau, Moldova
Duty Station of Assignment: Chisinau / Home office
Type of Contract: Individual Contract (Consultancy Assignment)
Duration of Assignment: 100 working days over the period May 2025–March 2026
Closing Date for Applications: 11 May 2025

BACKGROUND
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is mandated by the UN-General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-Habitat works with varied partners including cities, central governments, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

As cities around the world rapidly urbanising, they are increasingly facing urban mobility challenges key among them traffic congestion, pollution and road traffic crashes. The transport sector also significantly contributes to global energy related carbon emissions. Public transport comprising efficient bus systems, trams, metros and non-motorised mobility such as walking, and cycling are emerging an ideal mix to curb the growing urban transport challenges and meet the transport needs of citizens. UN-Habitat collaborates with governments at city, regional and national levels on development and implementation of policy, guides and tools for sustainable urban mobility; provides technical support for development of effective transport systems and supports knowledge, advocacy and capacity building.

UN-Habitat is the lead implementing agency for the Project on: “Building back safe, sustainable and resilient transport and urban mobility systems in Western Balkan and Central Asian landlocked developing regions”. This initiative is funded by the 15th tranche of the United Nations Development Account with the primary objective to strengthen the capacity of local and national governments within the Western Balkan, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regions in sustainable urban mobility planning. The focus is on establishing durable, long-term investment strategies that improve accessibility and connectivity for all while concurrently addressing climate emissions and reducing road fatalities. Specifically, this project aims to support three cities in Western Balkans and Eastern Europe – Chisinau in Moldova, Kragujevac in Serbia, Vushtrri in Kosovo^[1] – and two cities in Central Asia – Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Almaty in Kazakhstan – the focus is on establishing durable, long-term investment strategies that improve accessibility and connectivity for all while concurrently addressing climate emissions and reducing road fatalities.

Along with UN-Habitat, this project is co-implemented with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

GENERAL SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The Regional/National Transport Expert will work under the overall supervision of the Programme Management Officer, Urban Mobility of UN-Habitat. The Regional/National Transport Consultant will work in close collaboration with the International Experts – Sustainable Urban Plan Expert (SUMP Expert) and Transport Data and Planning (Transport Data Expert) – to coordinate and implement the project and  engage in day-to-day communication with the local stakeholders for the project to support the City of Chisinau to review/update the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan to make it aligned with General Urban Plan (GUP) for the City Center and the transport circulation scheme from the Zonal Urban Plan Center (the heritage status of Historical Nucleus). This would include undertaking activities regarding capacity building and training activities, data gathering and analytic works, stakeholder engagements through Workshops, drafting of reports and documents under guidance of UN-Habitat members and International Experts and collaboration with local stakeholders, taking into account the following parameters:

1.On capacity building and training activities
1.1. Assessing the level of skills and experiences for collecting and utilizing transport data, and urban mobility planning in the relevant team in the City of Chisinau;
1.2. Plan and implement capacity building and training activities according to the identified future human resources requirements while ensuring alignment to the City’s priorities;
2.On data gathering and analysis
2.1. Gathering information and reviewing/analysing the current mobility situation of motorized (private vehicles, freight, and public transport) and non-motorized (pedestrian and cycling) transport network, physical condition, accessibility, efficiency, safety, and congestion;
2.2. Reviewing the legal framework (central and local strategies, plans etc.) and make sure that these are taken into account for implementing an efficient mobility strategy at study area level;
2.3. Coordinate and compare the datasets and findings with the team that develops the Zonal Urban Plan for the City Center and General Urban Plan.
2.4. Integrate spatial and transport data from General Urban Plan and Zonal Urban Plan to update the current SUMP data.
2.5. Assess the transport data gaps/inconsistencies through literature review and consultation with the key stakeholders.
2.6. Coordinate the transport data collection and analysis through a co-development approach, where city officials would work alongside the International and Regional/National Experts in the data collection;

3.On facilitating stakeholder engagements through Workshops
3.1. Provide technical inputs to validate and refining/ strengthening the SUMP vision, strategy, and priority measures and actions through participatory process, engaging with key stakeholders at the local and national level;
3.2. Consulting the final proposal for the updated urban mobility plan with the groups of interest;
3.3. Support in identifying key decision-makers, private sector, investors and various transport operators to explore opportunities on collaboration for the planning process and operationalization of the plan.

4.On drafting of reports and documents 
4.1. Documenting the data gathering and analytic works, capacity building and training activities, and stakeholder engagements to review/update the current sustainable urban mobility plan for the City of Chisinau that integrates findings from transport data gathering and analysis from GUP and ZUP, consulted goals and objectives, priority actions and plan of activities with proposed budgeting and investment, and monitoring frameworks. The produced documents must be consistent with the first part of the Strategy of Sustainable Socio-Economic and Spatial Development Strategy, and the Zonal Urban Plan for the City Center.
4.2 Update the SUMP document to incorporate the findings from the data review/analysis and stakeholder engagement activities, where required.

The consultancy is expected to ensure very close collaboration and coordination with the project teams developing Zonal Urban Plan and General Urban Plan for the data collection/analysis/review and stakeholder engagement activities.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The objective of the assignment is to support the efforts of UN-Habitat under the above-mentioned project to strengthen local and national capacity on long-term, sustainable urban mobility planning and robust investment decisions towards public transport, walking and cycling, with co-benefits in terms of improved urban air quality and resilience. This would be achieved through the following two Outcomes.

Outcome 1 Strengthened capacity of local governments to plan for sustainable, resilient and low carbon mobility systems based on evidence- and data-based planning approaches and  in alignment with international best practice methodologies
Outcome.2 Improved planning frameworks for informing investment decisions for urban land use and mobility planning

The two Outcomes shall be achieved through 4 activity components described in the table below:

METHODOLOGY
The methodology of conducting the four activities regarding capacity building and training activities, data gathering and analytic works, facilitating stakeholder engagements through Workshops and updating sustainable urban mobility plan are as outlined below:

1-1) Training and Capacity Building

• Capacity assessment: Under guidance from the International Experts, conduct surveys and provide inputs for Training Needs Assessment.
• Training module development: Support the development of training modules, materials and operational practices by providing inputs from local contexts and needs, and translation/interpretation of the training workshop series.
• Implementation of online and in-person training series: Coordinating with the UN-Habitat team and International Experts, organise and facilitate the online and/or in-person trainings for the municipal structures (DGMU, DGAURF, MILL, CHISINAUPROIECT) and other organizations identified during the work process.

 1-2) Data Gathering and analysis

• Analysis of the land-use and mobility: In collaboration between various municipal departments and coordinating with the International Consultants, lead the data collection, review and analysis of demographics and trends, overview of existing infrastructure and services, review of existing city plans and socio-economic data, existing and proposed land use, street inventory, vehicle and NMT cordon counts, public transport surveys, parking surveys and air quality monitoring. The consultant will coordinate and compare the datasets and findings with the team that develops the Zonal Urban Plan for the City Center and General Urban Plan.
• Survey Design: Under the guidance of UN-Habitat team and the International Experts, collaboratively define objectives, methodologies, and sampling plans for surveys to support strategic transport goals. With consultation with the team in the City, co-develop a detailed survey plans and refine a survey form according to contextual relevance and unique needs of  the City, including the translation of the survey form.
• Team Formation and Survey Management: In collaboration with UN-Habitat team and under the guidance of International Experts, coordinate the survey teams with defined roles, and manage the implementation of data collection survey at the field.
• Reporting and visualisation: Under the guidance of the International Experts, summarize and visualize mobility data (Center for traffic monitoring, PUA, RTEC and police) for insights into travel patterns and policy recommendations.

 2-1) Review/Update the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan through participatory process •

• Detailed work plan for the project implementation: Under the guidance of UN-Habitat and International Experts, create the detailed workplan outlining the project scope, activities and a timeline to be implemented for updating mobility plan under close collaboration with the
• Future vision: Under the guidance of UN-Habitat and International Experts, organise a participatory exercise to update a long-term vision for transport, infrastructure, and mobility service development for the entire functional urban area, covering all modes and forms of transport, if needed. Specific attention to include the voices of those in vulnerable situations such as women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
• Priority measures: Based on the data collection, analysis and review of existing plans, and ongoing general urban plan and zonal urban plan decisions, discuss and update the selected priority measures to be tackled, if needed. In addition, under the guidance of UN-Habitat and SUMP Expert, facilitate a participatory exercise for citizens and stakeholders to discuss priority measures and actions.
• Review Budget and Finance Plan: Coordinate with the City in developing a budget plan for the proposed measures in the SUMP with financial requirements and timelines.
• Documentation and reporting: The produced documents must be consistent with the first part of the Strategy of Sustainable Socio-Economic and Spatial Development Strategy, and the Zonal Urban Plan for the City Center.

 2-2) Support for the operationalisation of the Plan

• Coordination mechanism set up: In collaboration with the SUMP Expert, propose the setting of a coordination mechanisms that would facilitate multidisciplinary coordination between transport and land-use planning, environmental protection, social inclusion, gender equity, economic development, safety, health, education, and information
• Operationalisation and monitoring: In collaboration with the SUMP Expert, propose and consult with the cities the institutional framework illustrating respective responsibilities of the  different agencies involved in implementing the Plan and methodologies for monitoring the

Collaboration with the National Expert on Transport Planning and Roles

The National Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement Expert will work in close collaboration with the National Expert – Transport Planning Expert on the above mentioned activities. The below table shows the expected roles and responsibilities:

REGIONAL/NATIONAL TRANSPORT EXPERT TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Duration: The start of the consultancy is scheduled for June 2025 and the last deliverable must be submitted by 15 March 2026.
Reporting: The Regional/National Transport Expert will work under the overall supervision of the Programme  Management Officer, Urban Mobility of UN-Habitat.
Duty Station: The Regional/National Transport Expert shall provide service from Chisinau and home office.
Coordination: The Regional/National Transport Expert will work in close collaboration with the International Experts – Sustainable Urban Plan Expert (SUMP Expert) and Transport Data and Planning (Transport  Data Expert).

Work plan/Activities – Tenative Implementation Schedule for the International Expert for Transport Data and Planning
This consultancy should include but not be limited to the following list of activities.

FINAL DELIVERABLES
During the assignment, the consultant will deliver the following documents.

The exact timing of the deliveries will be determined during the course of the assignments.

DUTY STATION
The work shall be performed on-site in Chisinau and from the home office.

PROGRESS CONTROLS AND PAYMENT INSTALLMENTS
The fees will be paid in four installments upon completion and acceptance of the outputs as specified, in line with the Final Deliverables.

COMPETENCIES 

• Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter. Good research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
• Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills; ability to persuade people with varying points of view and to present information in a concise and accurate manner, ability to clearly communicate links between the organizations. Promotes a learning and knowledge shared environment. Excellent mentoring and training skills.
• Planning and Organizing: Proven ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work and that of others. Ability to work under pressure and uses time efficiently. Identifies priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required.
• Management and coordination: Skills for co-implementing the activities with International consultants, counterpart organisations, or other entities such as NGOs, academic institutions, and Community-Based Organisations.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Solicits input by valuing others ideas and expertise and is willing to learn from others.
• Functional Competencies: Preferably a minimum of five years’ experience in the field of transport engineering/planning, civil engineering, or an urban-sector discipline, particularly in SUMP development and transport data collection and analysis. Experience in conducting travel demand and supply analysis, including but not limited to: designing of transport surveys, transport data collection, transport demand data analysis, transport demand forecasting, and transport modelling. Having already led an external expert team on one or several projects in the transport and urban mobility planning or urban transport data collection and survey is an asset.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE

• Advanced University degree (Masters and/or higher degree) in Transportation Planning or Engineering, Economics, Urban or Regional Planning or related fields with knowledge on sustainable urban transportation and mobility issues or a first degree with the relevant combination of professional and academic qualifications is required;
• At least 5 years of practical working experience in the fields of transport or urban planning, mobility, sustainable development, combined with demonstrated knowledge and experience of conducting transport demand analysis working with national and local governments is required;
• Familiarity with the framework, tools, and guidelines of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan provided by EU and other relevant organisations is an advantage;
• Substantial experience in transport modelling procedures and knowledge and fluency in modelling tools is desirable;
• Substantial experience in participatory planning in urban development or transport planning and knowledge and fluency in participatory planning tools is desirable;
• Demonstrated ability to design, tailor, and facilitate workshops, focus group meetings, and training sessions.
• Ability to work in a team and to undertake initiative to ensure smooth relations and open communication within the team and with partners;
• Experience of working in the relevant cities in Moldova or countries of Eastern Europe is an advantage;
• Excellent analytical and communication skills.
• Good interpersonal skills, previous exposure to cross cultural environments is advantageous.
• It is essential that the candidate be able to meet deadlines for reporting and all project work.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• Excellent proficiency in spoken and written English; knowledge of local languages will be considered an advantage.
• Fluency (reading, writing and speaking) in Romanian and English is required.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• Knowledge of UN policies and procedures is an advantage;
• Express enthusiasm and willingness to share experiences and transfer knowledge
• Take responsibility and make sure tasks are fully completed
• Be sensitive to gender issues and issues of concern to vulnerable groups
• Be flexible and prepared to pursue goals through teamwork
• The incumbent should be available for the suggested schedule.

HOW TO APPLY

 Interested candidates must submit to the email address: unhabitat-kosovo.office@un.org  the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
·         Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
·          Completion of a CV in P11 Form which can be downloaded at  https://bit.ly/4adZ5ot
The CV shall include information on the past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.
·         Financial Proposal. The form for the financial proposal can be downloaded at  https://bit.ly/42eReoM

Deadline for applications: 11 May 2025 

UN-Habitat does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org