PFM and Evaluation Specialist

About the role

Purpose and Scope of Job

The expert will develop a Theory of Change for PFM reform in Ethiopia which assists the Government to identify the key PFM reform areas (out of the strategy) that would benefit from UK support with clear justifications (i.e. where the UK has a comparative advantage and what is technically and politically feasible).

Position in programme

Reports to: Team Leader and Project Manager

Responsible for: Output 2 of the project

Duties and Responsibilities

Operational management and strategic direction

• Contribute to the strategic direction of the programme through regular reporting on progress of MEL interventions, to the TL and PM, through formal and informal project coordination mechanisms
• Carry out tasks as requested by the Project Leader
• Make field visits as required

Leadership and management of personnel

• Participate in regular team and project management meetings, to ensure ongoing alignment of work under its components with the wider programme
• Provide guidance and support to the other team members
• Develop strong working relationships with CA Team Leader, Programme Manager and others on programme delivery and operational issues.

External relationship management

• Proactively build and maintain positive, productive working relationships with stakeholders
• Represent Crown Agents and the programme with a high degree of professionalism

Monitoring and reporting

• Actively contribute to ongoing monitoring and learning on the programme, ensuring collection of data from interventions, and holding component leads accountable for the timely data collection for monitoring and reporting on project performance
• Working with and through the Component Leads, maintain up-to-date knowledge of political economy developments relevant to the programme, feeding these back to the TL and PM on an ongoing basis
• Actively consider gender, equality and inclusion impacts of all interventions, to ensure the ‘Do No Harm’ requirement is met as a minimum, and that interventions are contributing to increasing gender equality wherever possible
• Provide a weekly email update on the programme activities and relevant developments to both the client and Crown Agents

Technical delivery

• Detailed MEL framework
• Determine suitable monitoring arrangements for all actions in the project’s workplan
• Consider how and when progress will be evaluated
• Agree on suitable reflection points
• Document MEL framework
• Review of development partner PFM programming, plans and capabilities in Ethiopia
• Desk review of DP PFM programme documents
• Consultations with DPs active on PFM in Ethiopia
• Drafting of concise note on findings, including perceived comparative advantage of BE
• Incorporation of BE feedback and finalisation
• Analysis of Ethiopia’s new PFM strategy
• Mapping of strategy actions against results of 2.1 to identify gaps in support
• Presentation of findings to BE
• Incorporation of BE feedback and finalisation
• Theory of change development
• Brainstorming workshop
• Drafting of theory of change
• Presentation of theory of change to BE
• Incorporation of BE feedback and finalisation

Indicative LoE: 4 to 6 months, (remotely/in Addis Ababa). This may be extended depending on GoE’s readiness and other stakeholders’ timelines.

About you

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Skills and Knowledge

• Strong leadership, management and communication skills, including of experienced technical specialists
• Proven ability to navigate complex political situations and effectively manage senior government relationships (able to work alongside key stakeholders to deliver support to the GoE)
• Expert technical understanding of MEL in developing country governments, specifically in relation to PFM

Personal Qualities

• Highly driven
• Politically astute
• Flexible and responsive
• Professionally credible
• Culturally sensitive
• Loyal and committed to the project

Experience

• Minimum Ten (10) years professional experience in the field of PFM and reform particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Minimum Five (5) years of experience in Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) related work
• Proven experience in developing development policies and strategies for reform programs
• Solid knowledge of Theory of Change
• Mastery of basic software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access).

Qualification(s)

• Fluent written and spoken French English
• Hold at least a master’s degree in Economics, Management, Finance and Control or other relevant discipline

About us

Project Background

The Supporting Ethiopia’s Transition (SET) Programme was designed to pilot targeted interventions to support the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) in priority areas for democratic transition, testing our commitment to reform and appetite for donor engagement. This would support Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) to identify new areas of programming to support governance reform in Ethiopia, while also responding to immediate needs. In a recent addendum to the Business Case, the SET programme identified Public Financial Management (PFM) as a key area of institutional reform. In February 2021, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) wrote to the World Bank requesting technical assistance to support the preparation of a new PFM Reform Strategy.

The World Bank undertook the 2019 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment for the federal Government of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa city administration and five regional sates (2018-2020) with the support of the European Union, UNICEF, Irish Aid, The British Embassy in Addis Ababa (BE) and UN Women. In addition, the Ethiopia PEFA Climate Report is almost finalized and due to be published. The PEFA Secretariat, together with the World Bank, BE and the EU have held discussions with the Government of Ethiopia Ministry of Finance (MoF) to support the preparation of a new PFM Reform Strategy through piloting the application of the PEFA Handbook, Volume IV: Using PEFA to Support Public Financial Management Improvement. The mission will commence from FY 2022 and the PFM reform priorities, actions identified technical assistance needs identified during this exercise will be used by GoE authorities to inform dialogue with donors and other external stakeholders.

The PEFA Secretariat’s methodology in providing assistance under Volume IV supports the government in reviewing the findings of the PEFA assessments. However, more support is needed to help the GoE in prioritizing actions to address weaknesses identified in the PEFA assessment, and in guiding the process to develop the GoE’s new PFM Reform Strategy. Under the SET programme, the BE has set aside resources to provide strategic support to PFM reform to the Government of Ethiopia, and has agreed that supporting the preparation of a prioritized strategy and action plan is key to defining and supporting the implementation future PFM reform.

Project Deliverables include:

Two outputs that support improved PFM in GoE:

• Output 1: A new GoE PFM Reform Strategy and corresponding engagement including workshops (will be delivered alongside other partners’ support, such as the World Bank, PFM Donor Working Group (DWG) and PEFA Secretariat); and
• Output 2: A Theory of Change that identifies strategic PFM reforms that would benefit from UK support where FCDO Ethiopia has a comparative advantage (which will identify potential technical assistance options for the UK to support (both policy and programmatic) that meet GoE’s next generation of PFM reform priorities).