Revenue Co-ordination and Reporting Advisor

Average salary up to US$120,000.00/annum plus allowances based on relevant qualifications and work experiences 1. Organizational Context

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responsible for the collection of domestic and customs revenue, and the organization and control of public expenditure including the management of the budget. One of its broad goals is to mobilize revenue. Given the relatively low level of domestic revenue generation in Afghanistan, mobilizing progressively more revenue over time is a critical role of MoF. This requires not only a properly functioning tax administration, but also a sound revenue policy as well as sound revenue reporting, analysis and forecasting. In all of these fields the DGRP plays an important role.

The mission of the Directorate-General Revenue Planning (DGRP), as laid down in its strategic plan, is to effectively, timely and accurately collect, assess, analyze and present to MoF management and the citizens of Afghanistan information on past, present and short term future revenue performance and its underlying causes, with respect to both domestic revenue and customs revenue. Its main activities include:

• Revenue analysis, based on an annual work plan; • Revenue reporting to MoF management and other stakeholders; this includes the preparation of the revenue part of the government financial statement (the qatciah), and maintaining the classification of revenue codes in the Chart of Accounts (CoA); • Revenue forecasting and the annual revenue target allocation to the revenue collecting agencies with consideration of macroeconomic indicators; and • Systematic monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the revenue collecting agencies against their target.

DGRP is reporting to the Deputy Minister of Finance for Revenue and Customs. DGRP’s organisation structure presently has two directorates, the Directorate of Revenue Forecasting and Analysis, and the Directorate of Monitoring and Evaluation of the Implementation of Revenue Plans (formerly called “Revenue Coordination”). The former Planning Directorate became a Directorate-General independent from Afghanistan Revenue Department in March 2013. The objective of this reform was to ensure independence and greater objectivity for Revenue Planning with respect to the formulation of targets as well as monitoring and evaluation of the performance of revenue collecting entities.

The Civilian Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) is an Afghan government program that aims to create stronger government institutions with more effective structures, efficient processes and skilled personnel. It assists Afghan government organizations to implement capacity development and performance improvement programs by providing them with skilled international technical experts and capacity development advisors.

On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, CTAP is now seeking to fill the position of Revenue Planning Advisor to work in the Ministry of Finance under the management of the Directorate-General Revenue Planning. This position is open to international passport holders only: Afghan expatriates (with international passport) and nationals of regional countries are especially encouraged to apply.

1. Position 2.1 Nature and Scope of Assignment

This assignment involves supporting a government-led capacity development program within Ministry of Finance. Under the supervision of the Directorate-General Revenue Planning, the successful candidate will provide technical advice, and inputs required to allow the Directorate-General Revenue Planning to achieve the target of establishment of effective units in charge of revenue policy and revenue analysis. The successful applicant will be expected to work with and through his/her Afghan national counterparts, and to progressively transfer skills, expertise and knowledge to them. This position does not involve any type of management or line responsibilities under any circumstance.

2.2 Duties and Responsibilities

The Revenue Co-ordination and Reporting Advisor is expected to perform the following tasks, whilst working in close coordination with the Director-General of Revenue Planning and the rest of the Directorate-General team as counterparts, and with other relevant MoF directors, relevant advisors at the Ministry of Finance, and with assistance from the CTAP capacity development team.

• Conduct a comprehensive situation analysis in all of the relevant areas in order to identity capacity gaps and devise adequate methodology to fill the identified gaps in each area; • Conduct Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of the national staff and draft a Training Plan based on the TNA; • Contribute in review of Afghanistan’s past tax policies as an input for new tax policies. • Contribute in study of Afghanistan’s tax base and unused revenue potential with practical recommendations. • Support for maintenance and further upgrading of the Revenue Trend Analysis System (RTAS). • Support for the further rollout of AFMIS. Support for the maintenance and annual updating of the revenue part of the Chart of Accounts (CoA). This includes the provision of elaborate definitions of all revenue object codes. • Set up and implement a work plan for continuous training on the above subjects. • Provide practical training concerning computer packages and templates used for revenue analysis and forecasting including MS Excel. • Assist in drafting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the above subjects. • Review job descriptions in these fields. • Assist and train counterparts in the implementation of GRDP’s Strategic Plan.

2.3 Deliverables:

The deliverables of the Revenue Co-ordination and Reporting Advisor are:

• Develop an Inception Report based on situation analysis; the report must contain identified gaps in the system and human capacity, capacity development methodology to fill these gaps and work plan to achieve it; • Training Need Assessment (TNA) of the national staff and Training Plan based on the TNA in all the relevant areas developed; • Afghanistan’s past tax policies fully reviewed and necessary inputs and recommendations provided; • Standard operating procedure for revenue reconciliation developed • Chart of Accounts containing elaborated descriptions for each object code in place. • DGRP relevant staff well trained in the revenue analysis and forecasting • Training materials suitable for future induction training of new DGRP staff developed;

2.4 Skills, Experience and Qualifications Required

The successful candidate should have the following education, experience, skills and other qualifications.

• Master’s Degree or PhD) in economics, statistics or another field relevant to the position; • At least 8 years of international experience as a manager or advisor • Hands-on knowledge of macro-economic and revenue forecasting, analysis and reporting. • Practical experience in developing macro-economic models; • Practical experience in public finance management; • Strong analytical and reporting skills; • Competence in the use of MS Office and statistical and econometric packages such as SPSS, E-Views, etc. • Demonstrated understanding of capacity building approaches in setting up training programs, preferably in the area of macroeconomic policy and forecasting; • Previous experience in less-developed, insecure or post-conflict environments is a plus • Skills in Dari and/or Pashto will be a plus;

How to apply:

Submission Guidelines The application form should be completed online via www.ctapafghanistan.org. Only short listed candidates whose background and experiences corresponds to the above criteria will be contacted for further consideration. CTAP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified females are highly encouraged to apply for CTAP positions