Public Financial Management (PFM) Advisor, State2State at DAI

POSITION DESCRIPTION

• The PFM Advisor will have a secondary technical role of activity coordination of PFM Specialists, and STTA PFM/IGR consultants, across seven State2State partner states. Instrumental to successful coordination will be the facilitation of timely and quality communication ensuring that the PFM Specialists properly plan for and are responsive to their position deliverables.
• The PFM Advisor will travel to state offices to engage with stakeholders and State2State teams, working closely with state government structures through which technical assistance is closely coordinated.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the leadership of the PFM Technical Director, the PFM Advisor will work together with the PFM Specialists, other Field Offices teams, and main office technical staff and provide technical leadership to PFM technical assistance and advisory services provided to beneficiary states. This support will include new perspectives and approaches that are aligned with good practices and cross-cutting lenses such as gender, equity, and social inclusion (GESI), and conflict management.

The prospective areas of technical assistance and advisory services that will be managed and or overseen by the PFM Advisor include, but are not limited to, the following:

Budget Planning, Administration and Execution:

• Planning and preparation of budgets that are comprehensive, realistic, credible, and clearly link policies with proposed expenditures;
• Developing and implementing multi-year planning frameworks such as Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Medium-Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) in Education, Health, and WASH;
• Developing annual procurement plans in key sectors of Education, Health, and WASH to foster greater transparency, reduce risk, and support service delivery efficiency.
• Planning and management of procurement and expenditure processes to ensure that a higher portion of the budget is executed during the fiscal year; and
• Monitoring adjustments and reporting on the achievement of the purposes for which the budget was approved, through timely in-year (monthly and quarterly) budget performance reports.

Budget Transparency:

• Developing systems to release draft budgets, approved budgets, and regular within-year (monthly or quarterly, not just annual) expenditure reports in a format conducive to public understanding and analysis; so citizens can monitor not only what has been allocated but also what has actually been spent in the key sectors of Health, Education, and WASH.

Procurement:

• Supporting the state in the development or updating of Fiscal Responsibility and Public Procurement legislation with a focus on soft skills in the areas of policies and strategies for the effective implementation of these laws.

Auditing

• Assisting the Offices of Auditors General for State and Local Government to improve the quality and quantity of its performance and financial audits with a focus on Health, Education, and WASH spending/programs. This may require aligning state efforts with policies and reforms undertaken by the Auditor General of the Federation and other best practices promoted by International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

Internal Controls

• Improving the quality and functioning of systems of internal controls in Central Internal Audit Control (CIAD) department/office, including the full adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the National Chart of Accounts (NCOA). This is to ensure fewer opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse of public funds, and a reduced chance of negative audit findings; and eventually promote appropriate use of funds leading to improved allocation and expenditure in key sectors of Health, Education, and WASH.
• Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM)
• Increasing DRM, particularly tax revenues, through the development of Revenue Enhancement/Expansion Strategy, and appropriate policies and a roadmap for implementation of the Strategy; and
• Encouraging the State Governments and LGAs to spend a significant portion of these increased revenues on the target social service sectors of Health, Education, and WASH.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Strengthening and improving the capacity of government (State and LGAs) to monitor and evaluate both their financial management, procurement and audit functions and the magnitude of impact of resulting improvements to service delivery.
• Conduct bi-annual PFM assessments across 7 pillars and 64 indicators using State2State PFM Assessment Tool and conduct other thematic assessments as required; prepare reports, identify gaps, and make recommendations.
• Debt Management
• Strengthening and improving the capacity of government (State Debt Management Agency/Department/Office/Unit) to analyze, report, publish, and improve the debt position of the State ensuring adherence to Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Laws, and using the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA)-Debt Management Strategy (DMS), Arrears Clearance Framework (ACF), internal domestic expenditure arrears database, etc.;
• Supporting in carrying out debt sustainability analysis;
• Supporting the monitoring debt position to ensure it is within debt sustainability limit.

Cash/Treasury Management

• Supporting in the development of cash disbursement plan/budget profile.
• Other responsibilities not explicitly detailed herein but relevant to the position.

With guidance from the Technical Director PFM, this role will mentor stakeholders. The role will collaborate on Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Assessment and PFM intervention design, and support implementation, and other activities as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as economics, political science, social sciences, law, finance/accounting, and development studies. Master’s is preferred.
• Ten (10) years of experience in PFM activities, with previous experience in the successful implementation of international development activities.
• Experience working with state government officials and understanding local governance issues related to public financial management and broad-based resource allocation.
• Experience with USAID or other donor-funded projects focused on governance and public financial management focused on education, health, and WASH.
• Record of accomplishment of effective training, capacity building and coaching skills, networking, interpersonal skills, creative problem solving, conflict, and ethical management skills..
• Strong skill set in reporting, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Good team player and highly organized with strong planning, coordinating and time management skills.
• Strong leadership skills with demonstrated experience managing teams.
• Previous experience working in Nigeria is preferred.
• Fluency in English with excellent oral and written communication skills.