Deputy Technical Project Lead (M/W)

Job description

The local Deputy Technical Project Lead will be a Kenyan national / have Kenyan residency and work permit.

He/she will be based in Nairobi for a duration of at least twelve (12) months.

He/she will be part of the project team, and will be under the supervision of Expertise France’s project manager.

He/she will be in charge of supporting the Technical Project Lead in the overall project implementation.

As a representative of Expertise France and under the direct supervision of the Technical Project Lead based in Nairobi, will support in the identification of the TA needs considering his/her knowledge of the functioning of the Kenyan administration and expertise on debt management and/or climate finance.

 Thus, he/she will participate to:

• Identification of beneficiaries’ needs and formulation of project work plan during inception phase.
• The preparation and support implementation of the field missions by preparing and monitoring agendas of each mission.
• Support the quality control of the deliverables.
• Support producing and collecting relevant Monitoring and Evaluation data.
• The implementation of the Project activities on a day-to-day basis (including visibility and communication activities).

He/she shall provide a good leadership and coordination for the technical assistance to meet the goals within the contractual time limit, based on the terms of reference, the overall project budget, and the work schedule approved by all the stakeholders.

The local expert will support the follow-up of the Project by reporting on the activities and updating the rolling work program, in close collaboration with the Expertise France Technical Project Lead and the Project Manager.

Support to the implementation of the PFM reforms in Kenya

The Kenyan National Treasury has initiated several Public Finance Management Reform (PFMR) initiatives under the PFM Act and the PFMR strategy 2018-2023.

The Public Finance Management Reforms (PFMR) Strategy aims at building a vision for “A public finance management system that is efficient, effective and equitable for transparency, accountability and improved service delivery for Kenyans”.

The current PFMR strategy has eight priority areas outlining key PFM reforms:

1. Sustainable and predictable fiscal space to deliver government programs;
2. Strategic and transparent spending on public investment and service delivery in line with National and County Policy Commitments;
3. Reliable cash for service delivery and public investment;
4. Value for money in procurement and contract management;
5. Value for money, performance & accountability in staffing for service delivery;
6. Education institutions, health and other service facilities effectively manage public resources;
7. Disciplined financial management and accurate reporting, and;
8. Accountability delivered through audit, oversight and follow up.

AFD has been supporting the implementation of the PFMR Strategy, along with a sectoral budget support – the GESDEK Program – co-financed with the World Bank, using the “Program for results” tool.

AFD’s support has been funded through two means:

• A soft loan in the form of a Sector Budget Support (SBS), of 30 million euros.
• A grant in the form of a Technical assistance support (TA) of 1.5 million euros, managed by Expertise France, the French public agency for international technical assistance.

AFD seeks to continue supporting the Kenyan PFMR Strategy through a Technical assistance support (TA) of additional 1.2 million euros.

The TA support also aim to promote partnerships between Kenyan institutions and their French counterparts – “peer-to-peer exchange program”.

TA is financed through the Fund for Technical Expertise and Experience Transfers (FEXTE), which is exclusively dedicated to technical-cooperation programs and project-preparation studies in developing countries.

This second peer-to-peer exchange program, operated by Expertise France, will aim to provide high-level French expertise to strengthen the implementation of the PFM reforms, and notably on debt management and climate finance.

The main beneficiaries of the TA support within the National Treasury are the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) and the Climate Finance and Green Economy Unit (CF&GEU).  The TA support is focused on three components:

• Component 1: Strengthening and modernising public debt management
• Component 2: Support for greening of public finances
• Component 3: Assuring donor coordination on public financial management

The TA support will be implemented by a project team composed of:

• A Project manager based in Expertise France's head office in Paris;
• A Technical Project Lead based in the PDMO Secretariat, in Nairobi;
• A Project manager from AFD’s Agency in Nairobi.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS :

• University degree in a field relevant to the assignment: Public administration, Finance, project management, economics or any other relevant fields;
• Excellent general knowledge and understanding of the Kenyan public administration, especially public financial institutions;
• Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work as part of a team;
• Excellent report writing skills;
• Good command of computer applications and information technologies (such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Internet browsers);
• Proficiency in English;
• Knowledge of French is an advantage.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE :

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience on PFM in the Kenyan context;
• At least 3 years’ professional experience on Debt Management and/or Climate Finance;
• Experience in similar assignments would be an added value;
• Experience working on international cooperation projects;
• Experience in coordination or supervision of projects within public administrations will be appreciated;

Only shortlisted candidates may then be invited for an interview.

Financial conditions will be negotiated with the selected candidate.

Required Skill Profession

Business Operations Specialists