Extended deadline - Senior Structural Reform Expert for USAID/Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity (MISRA)

Position:                       Senior Structural Reform Expert

Program:                      USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity (MISRA)

Location:                      Chisinau, Moldova

Period of Performance: August 2022 – April 2027

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates offers a wide range of services in regulatory reform, rule of law and governance. Jacobs, Cordova & Associates have designed the world’s largest and most innovative regulatory reform projects aimed at changing the market incentives that drive business behavior in highly regulated environments.

Project Background:

The USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity Program (MISRA) seeks to support Moldova’s economic recovery, advance the Government of Moldova’s economic Action Plan, strengthen public economic governance institutions, improve the trade and investment enabling environment, and accelerate financial sector reforms and inclusiveness.

MISRA is implemented by Nathan Associates Inc. Jacobs, Cordova & Associates is a subcontractor of Nathan Associates Inc. for implementation of MISRA.

Under MISRA’s Component 2: Pursue structural reforms to improve trade and investment enabling environment MISRA will focus on support the Government of Moldova (GoM) to streamline its regulatory and operational practices to improve trade and the business environment for job creation, investment, sustainable growth and to pursue a quick economic recovery.

Responsibilities and Tasks

The Senior Structural Reform Exprt will be responsible for the following, but not limited to:

• Develop a baseline model for measuring the cost to move goods across the borders/corridors selected by the project, including determination of the components of total logistics costs and definitions of cost components;
• Analyse linkages with the baseline model and reported analyses for measuring the time to move goods across borders/corridors, which will be conducted in parallel with this statement of work;
• Develop a methodology and plan for collecting cost data and work with the team to conduct and report on the baseline analysis of cost data;
• Identify hidden costs which have not been previously applied in corridor studies in the region and estimate the total logistics costs;
• Conduct quantitative analysis of the economic costs of inefficiency and variability in the transport/logistics system, and develop prioritized recommendations to substantially reduce these economic costs;
• Analyze linkage between different trade facilitation strategies and their possible impact on total logistics costs, to guide policy dialogue;
• Review the consolidated analyses and in collaboration with the MISRA team and USAID, develop a methodology to support sustainable corridor performance monitoring within the region.
• Develop and present a strategic framework that assists with identification of the optimal corridors/s to conduct corridor monitoring. The strategic framework shall include description of capacity building activities surrounding use of the corridor performance monitoring methodology be end-user or host institution/s, and ensure analytical findings can be used to generate “roadmap” or advocacy documents.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

N/A

Reporting:

The Senior Structural Reform Expert will report to the Component 2 Lead – Structural Reforms.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in relevant field as a minimum;
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in supply chain logistics, cross border management, and trade facilitation strategies and technical assistance;
• Demonstrated knowledge of technical supply chain and transport logistics and trade facilitation issues;
• Familiarity working with monitoring and evaluation data collection and systems essential; and
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills. Fluency in English. Strong analytical and communication capabilities.

Desired Skills and Qualifications (if applicable):

• Strong networks with Government of Moldova government ministries and agencies (e.g., Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Ministry of Finance, etc.);
• Experience working with USAID and/or other international donor organizations preferred.

How to apply:

If you meet all the minimum requirements above and you would like to apply for this position, send a cover letter (one page maximum) and a CV (two pages maximum) to Moldovajobs@nathaninc.com with “Applying for Senior Structural Reform Expert” in the subject line. Please apply by July 31, 2022. If applying to multiple positions, please send a separate email for each position. Only long-listed candidates will be contacted and invited for test/interview.