Project Analyst

As a successor to the previous strategic framework in this area, the new Public Finance Management Reform Programme for the period 2021-2025 (PFM RP) was adopted by the Government on Serbia in late June 2021. It complements the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2021-2030 (PAR Strategy) of April 2021 and bases its premises on the conclusions of the recently conducted Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) , the SIGMA  Monitoring Report , the key recommendations of the 2021 EU Progress Report for Serbia  and pillar specific requirements which derive from the EU accession process and set five key medium term reform priorities  which aim to contribute to ensuring effective financing of Government policies through a sound system of public internal financial management and control and a sustainable public debt.

The new PFM Reform Program relies to a great extent on the obligations that Serbia has assumed as part of EU accession negotiations under relevant chapters and even though Public Finance Management Reform is classified in the Fundamental cluster according to the new methodology for EU accession, it extends beyond encompassing several other horizontal issues which include macroeconomic stability, good governance, business environment and transparency. In that sense, it is an overarching framework which fundamentally integrates functional and EU accession requirements under chapters 5 – Public Procurement, 16 – Taxation, 22 – Regional Policy and Structural Instruments, 17 – Economic and Monetary Policy, 29 – Customs Union, 32 – Financial Control and 33 – Financial and Budgetary Provisions. The obligations assumed as part of the accession negotiations as well as the closing benchmarks (where they have been defined to date) will navigate the implementation of the PFM RP and serve as the fundamental source for the verification of the results that are anticipated to be achieved. 

The EU Public Financial Reform (PFM) Facility aims to provide effective technical support and assistance to the beneficiary institutions in Serbia in line with the draft IPA 2021 Action Document in key areas of Chapter 5 - Public Procurement, Chapter - 16 Taxation, Chapter - 29 Customs Union, and Chapter 32 - Financial Control of Serbia’s EU accession negotiations with a focus on strengthening IT systems of Tax and Customs Administration and Public Internal Financial Control issues. 

The overall objective of the PFM Facility Action is to enhance the efficiency of budget execution, public Finance Management and Public Internal Financial Control in line with EU standards and best practices. In order to achieve this objective, a set of focused activities will be defined during the inception phase and will be implemented under the following five outcomes: 

• Outcome 1 - Preconditions for effective exchange of information on Value Added Tax with EU members states met
• Outcome 2 - Operational and administrative capacities of Customs Administration strengthened and interoperability of the Serbian Customs IT system with the EU is ensured
• Outcome 3 - Public sector management and accountability are improved through strengthened Financial Management and Control systems and Internal Audit
• Outcome 4 - Efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of public procurement procedures in Serbia are enhanced
• Outcome 5 - Selected priority areas of public finance management reform supported

UNDP has been actively supporting Public Administration Reform and in particular, Public Finance Management Reform since 2000. The activities increased and intensified over the years as UNDP’s relationships with the institutions which were established after the first democratic elections in Serbia strengthened, coupled with the need to modernize public sector management, and ensure a fully functioning and accountable public finance management system based on the highest international standards, and since 2014, EU accession requirements.

The UNDP CO in Serbia has implemented a total of 37 technical assistance projects in the field of PFM reform from 2004 to date, with an overall budget of 23 million USD. The EU PFM Facility is implemented by the UNDP Public Finance Portfolio of the Good Governance Cluster. 

Considering the points mentioned above and the project document, the UNDP aims to recruit a Project Analyst to support the implementation of the PFM Facility project. 

The Project Analyst will be responsible for coordinating the EU PFM Facility project support team and ensuring smooth day-to-day operations of UNDP-led initiatives that contribute to the PFM reform in Serbia. The Project Analyst provides substantive guidance to the EU PFM Facility support team, thus ensuring that the project implementation produce the results specified in the project documents, to the required standard of quality and within specified constraints of time and cost. The primary responsibilities of the Project Analyst include assisting in the design and execution of project activities, with a strong focus on maintaining high quality, accuracy, and consistency of work. The key responsibilities of the Project Analyst include:

Project Strategy and Planning:

• Collaborate closely with the entire project team to identify, prepare, implement, review, and adjust overall project implementation strategies, plans, and resource allocation.

Project Coordination:

• Coordinate and synchronize the actions of the PFM support team with UNDP Serbia's public finance portfolio to ensure efficient project delivery.
• Coordinate the hiring processes and facilitate procurements for the PFM Facility project, ensuring adherence to UNDP guidelines and regulations.

Financial Management: 

• Oversee the management of financial resources, including the implementation of budget revisions and conducting operational and substantive analyses to identify and resolve financial issues.
• Coordinate the preparation of comprehensive reports on program implementation, resource utilization, and provide guidance on maintaining an internal expenditures control system, ensuring timely monitoring and execution of corrective actions when required.
• Manage administrative activities in Quantum software and ensure the proper control of supporting documents for actions and payments.

Partnership and Relationship Management: 

• Contribute to the creation of strategic partnerships by supporting the PFM Facility Project Manager in managing relationships with project beneficiaries for effective and timely project implementation.

Team Leadership and Development: 

• Lead and manage the administration team, fostering a culture of learning and knowledge sharing within the team.

Additional Support: 

Undertake any other duties as required to support the successful execution of the project.

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Analyst will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the manager in charge of the PFM Facility. 
 

• Business Management-Project Management             
  • Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
• Business Direction & Strategy-Strategic Thinking
  • Ability to develop effective strategies and priority plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.
  • Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
• Business Direction & Strategy-System Thinking
  • Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
• Partnership management -Strategic engagement     
  • Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives .
• Digital & Innovation -Digital transformation design  
  • Practical and strategic skills in digital transformation for governments and organizations. 
• Ethics-Ethical Implications of Policy Development
  • Consult on the ethical implications within all policy development and standard setting.