Cardno - Senior Adviser (Budget Policy) - PROSPERA

⁠⁠⁠Prospera is seeking to engage a full-time position of a Senior Adviser (Budget Policy) to support Spending Team developing and improving fiscal policies and strategies. The Senior Adviser will lead a team that will work closely with counterparts to undertake economic analysis to improve medium-term fiscal policy, aggregate budget allocations, and ensure budget transparency.

About Cardno
We are a global provider of integrated professional services which enrich the physical and social environment for the communities in which we live and work. Our team of multidisciplinary specialists has more than 70 years’ experience in designing, developing and delivering sustainable projects and community advancement programs.

Cardno ID (International Development) has extensive experience managing a number of donor-funded programs in the Asia Pacific region. We engage in international development as a holistic, multidisciplinary and integrated process. Strengthened by our geographic and market diversity, we are committed to providing innovative and integrated solutions that create opportunities for significant, lasting change in emerging economies. Collaborating with multilateral and bilateral donors, private clients, governments and communities to develop sustainable solutions to complex challenges, we work with local counterparts to achieve meaningful impact.

Overview of the Role:
Prospera is seeking to engage a full-time position of a Senior Adviser (Budget Policy) to support Spending Team developing and improving fiscal policies and strategies. The Senior Adviser will lead a team that will work closely with counterparts to undertake economic analysis to improve medium-term fiscal policy, aggregate budget allocations, and ensure budget transparency. In particular, a key focus of the Senior Adviser will be to manage and contribute to spending reviews which aim to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of government spending and to provide advice on how to improve the quality of spending in future.

About the Program:
Prospera is a partnership facility between the Government of Australia (through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and the Government of Indonesia. It aims to foster strong, sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Indonesia.

About the Role:
The Senior Adviser (Budget Policy) will report to Lead Adviser Spending. The remuneration will be set according to DFAT Remuneration Framework (ARF) Discipline Group D, Job Level 3, open for international talents and to be based in Jakarta (currently WFH). The remuneration level at which the Senior Adviser is engaged will be based on the successful candidate's relevant skills and experience.

Responsibilities and duties:
The position is required to:
• Lead a team of economists and research officers to develop and implement a work program to support GoI counterparts to improve the fiscal policy and quality of spending.
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of government expenditure at the aggregate level and in selected priority areas (such as, health and social protection). Providing advice as to how spending can be reallocated to improve the effectiveness/efficiency and overall quality of spending.
• Supporting analysis to the GoI for high frequency requests on research, analytics, planning and policy advice (including rapid policy assessments of issues arising to address the impacts of Covid-19).
• Identify how to use spending, revenue and financing policy to return to the 3% of GDP budget deficit ceiling in medium term in conjunction with Prospera’s Revenue, and Economics, Finance and Inclusion Teams.
• Advise and assist counterparts with medium-term macro-fiscal analysis in conjunction with Prospera’s Economics, Finance and Inclusion team. Monitor and analyse macro-fiscal conditions and assist with the preparation of Prospera’s macro-fiscal projections. In particular, the team will work with counterparts to develop procedures to ensure that the medium-term expenditure framework (bottom-up program expenditure estimates) is consistent with the medium-term fiscal framework (top down resource envelope).
• Advise and assist the Directorate-General of Fiscal Balance (Ministry of Finance) on improving local government budget data as an enabler for improving policymaking on regional transfers.
• Prepare briefs for a range of internal and external stakeholders on the fiscal outlook and the implications for GoI policies and the broader economic outlook.

About You:
It is expected that the position will meet the following qualifications:
• Postgraduate degree in a relevant field such as economics, public financial management, or public policy.
• At least 10 years’ experience in, and significant technical knowledge of, fiscal and/or public policy.
• Strong financial, economic, and public policy analysis skills, including experience, or at least familiarity, with a range of economic analytical frameworks, including various kinds of econometric techniques, and other tools that could be deployed to support the GoI’s agenda.
• Significant experience leading research projects and policy development on a range of topics relating to fiscal and/or public policy.
• Experience working in Indonesia desirable, including strong networks in the Indonesian infrastructure sector.
• Demonstrated experience in the production of clear deliverables and policy advice to senior levels of government, and a wide range of other stakeholders, to drive policy change.
• Ability to develop strategies, approaches, and work plans for development partner assistance.