Average salary : up to US$120,000/annum plus allowances based on relevant qualifications and work experiences
1. Organizational Context
The Department of Policy at the Ministry of Finance is the leading national policy-making, planning and program in the country. The Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), the national plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for Afghanistan provides direction and foundation for the development activities in Afghanistan. It has three pillars namely security, governance and socio-economic development covering about 17 sectors. In July 2009, the Government reviewed first year of the implementation of ANDS and found that progress was limited in the absence of clearly defined priorities. It was realised that there was a need for prioritization of ANDS in view of the limited resources and implementation capacity within the government. The Government outlined its ANDS prioritization plan at the London Conference through a framework to “cluster” ministries in the same or related sectors and development of National Priority Programs. The goal of the Cluster mechanism is to increase collaboration between Ministries, remove over-lapping and duplication and to develop and implement a clear, prioritized agenda aimed at addressing the key development challenges of the sector. Each cluster is having a certain number of National Priority Programs (NPPs), The Kabul Conference approved the concepts of these NPPs and directed the Government to report progress on the implementation of these NPPs every 100 days. The concept notes of the National Priority Programs are being developed into full-fledged proposals with situation analysis, identification of gaps, interventions needed and their details, implementation plan for 3 years, implementation constraints and plan to overcome them, budget and costing. These programs need to be worked upon continuously to improve their costing at the appropriate levels, integrate them with the national budget structure, organising funding, etc. The Policy Department has an ANDS Directorate, that is responsible for all mentioned above. The Civilian Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) is an Afghan government program that aims to create stronger government institutions with more effective structures, efficient processes and skilled personnel. It assists Afghan government organizations to implement capacity development and performance improvement programs by providing them with skilled international technical experts and capacity development advisors. On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, CTAP is now seeking to fill the position of Policy Research Advisor to work in the Policy Executive General Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, under the supervision of the Director General of Executive Policy Affairs. This position is open to international passport holders only: Afghan expatriates and nationals of regional countries are especially encouraged to apply.
2. Position
2.1 Nature and Scope of Assignment
This assignment involves supporting a government-led capacity development program within Ministry of Finance and Policy Executive General Directorate. The successful candidate will provide technical advice, management support and capacity inputs to facilitate the Director of Policy Analysis Department (PAD) under the supervision of the Director General Policy Execution to create a vibrant policy research infrastructure backed by competent resources and plans. The successful applicant will be expected to work with and through his/her Afghan national counterpart, and to progressively transfer skills and responsibilities to them. This position does not involve management or line responsibilities.
2.2 Duties and Responsibilities
Working with the [Director General of Executive Policy Affairs] as counterpart, with assistance from the CTAP Capacity Development team and other relevant staff and advisors, the Policy Research Advisor will:
• Provide assistance in drafting a six-month action plan for development of a directorate of policy research along with list of policy papers and documents to be prepared in consultation with the counterpart;
• Assist the Director of Policy Analysis Directorate (PAD) in designing Policy Guidebook, manual, methodologies and procedures.
• Assist Director of PAD to select and arrange appropriate resources for policy research.
• Prepare a capacity building plan for PAD and implement it.
• Prepare Plan for Capacity Building for policy research, which will be implemented by the Policy Department of the MoF in different ministries.
• Prepare a Policy for promoting policy research in the government.
• Building capacity of PAD to convert research into policy options on which decision-making can take place.
• Coordination with other stakeholders in government, United Nations and its Agencies, international community, non-government sector, etc. to assist policy research in PAD.
• Prepare a Plan to identify sources of information and obtain regular information and documents from different ministries, agencies, organizations, academia, etc. to keep PAD updated to facilitate research.
• Assist in actual research and development of policy alternatives at national level, different sectors and specific ministries.
• Support in the Benchmarking process for different pillars and sectors for various purposes including important conferences and events.
• Coordinate with the cluster managers and teams to provide policy inputs into their planning in different NPPs and sectors.
• Coordinate with other CTAP and international advisors for policy research in respective sectors.
• Support the Director General (DG) to establish a mechanism to bring all policy units of MoF under a single umbrella.
• Work on the preparation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Reports.
• Plan for future course of action for ANDS.
• Carry out other capacity relevant tasks,
• Carry out any other task assigned by the Director (PAD) or DG or Deputy Minister (Policy).
2.3 Deliverables
The deliverables of the Policy Research Advisor are:
• Six-month action plan for development of the directorate for policy research along with list of policy papers and documents prepared in consultation with the counterpart;
• Policy Guidebook, manual, methodologies and procedures developed.
• Capacity building plan for PAD developed.
• A department able to identify sources of information and obtain regular information and documents from different ministries, agencies, organizations, academia, etc.
• Benchmarking process for different pillars and sectors for various purposes including important conferences and events put in place.
• Plan for future course of action for ANDS developed.
• Establishment of a standard assessment/evaluation system of policies and programs at the mid-term and impact level developed.
2.4 Skills, Experience and Qualifications Required
The successful candidate should have the following skills, experience and qualifications:
• Master degree in policy development and analysis, business administration, Economics, public administration or any other related field, management and administration;
• Minimum 7 years experience in policy development and analysis; preferably in public services.
• Good understanding of Afghanistan National Development priorities;
• Having excellent command of English language and knowledge of local languages is an advantage;
• Having excellent command of common Microsoft Office programs;
• Having excellent communication and interpersonal experience;
• Having prior experience of working in a post conflict country;
Afghan expatriates and nationals of countries in Afghanistan’s region are especially preferred for this position.
Afghan expatriates who currently hold MCP Employment Contract are not eligible to apply for CTAP Positions.
How to apply:
Application should be completed online via www.ctapafghanistan.org only short listed candidates whose background and experiences corresponds to the above criteria will be contacted for further consideration. CTAP is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Closing Date: Saturday, 24 March 2012
