Senior Public Finance and Refugee Inclusion Costing Consultant (National/International)

The consultancy aims to generate rigorous and practical evidence on financial requirements, investment gaps, and financing options for sustainable refugee inclusion into essential services and local systems in Ethiopia. The consultant will develop a Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS)-owned investment case for refugee inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Generate rigorous and practical evidence on financial requirements, investment gaps, and financing options for sustainable refugee inclusion into essential services and local systems in Ethiopia.
• Develop a Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS)-owned investment case for refugee inclusion.
• Lead or substantially contribute to multi-sector social service delivery costing, social sector financing, and investment case development.
• Conduct multi-sector social service delivery gap assessments and costing studies, financing-gap analyses, public expenditure reviews, financing strategies and investment cases, fiscal analysis or comparable economic and public finance assignments.
• Work with sector specialists and government counterparts to develop sector-specific assumptions, costing assumptions, and investment scenarios.
• Deliver situation assessments and multi-sector service delivery gap assessments; identify minimum service standards; propose technical options for closing identified gaps; develop concept-level infrastructure packages and indicative bills of quantities (BoQs); estimate capacity, lifecycle costs, operations and maintenance (O&M) plus institutional arrangements; develop financing and implementation scenarios; provide all required inputs to the overall investment case.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in economics, public finance, development economics, health economics or a related field, with demonstrated experience leading or substantially contributing to multi-sector social service delivery costing, social sector financing and investment case development.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in public finance, public service delivery, complex multi-sector social service delivery costing studies covering two or more social sectors at national or sub-national levels, investment case development, social sector financing, development economics, public policy, refugee inclusion, social protection, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience leading or substantially contributing to multi-sector social service delivery gap assessments and costing studies, financing-gap analyses, public expenditure reviews, financing strategies and investment cases, fiscal analysis or comparable economic and public finance assignments.
• Demonstrated ability to work with sector specialists and government counterparts to develop sector-specific assumptions, costing assumptions, and investment scenarios.
• Proven track record in situation assessments and multi-sector service delivery gap assessments; identifying minimum service standards; technical options for closing identified gaps; concept-level infrastructure packages and indicative bills of quantities (BoQs); capacity estimates; lifecycle cost estimates; operations and maintenance (O&M) plus institutional arrangements; financing and implementation scenarios; as well as all the required inputs to the overall investment case; with familiarity of international and national standards (e.g. WHO, Sphere, environmental and public health guidelines).
• Experience in similar humanitarian-development, geographic, refugee, displacement or low-resource and underserved-area contexts is an added advantage.
• Experience working with government institutions, development partners, international organizations or research institutions, and proven experience in similar assignments and contexts.
• Previous experience in Ethiopia, refugee inclusion, social protection, education, health, nutrition, WASH, child protection, livelihoods or related public systems in similar geographic or low-resource contexts is highly desirable.
• Fluency in spoken and written English is required.
• Public finance, multi-sector social service delivery costing or social sector financing expertise.
• Experience with government planning, budgeting, multi-sector service delivery costing, public expenditure and financing gap analysis or investment case development.
• Demonstrated capacity to deliver situation assessments and multi-sector service delivery gap assessments; identifying minimum service standards; technical options for closing identified gaps; concept-level infrastructure packages and indicative bills of quantities (BoQs); capacity estimates; lifecycle cost estimates; operations and maintenance (O&M) plus institutional arrangements; financing and implementation scenarios; as well as all the required inputs to the overall investment case; with familiarity of international and national standards (e.g. WHO, Sphere, environmental and public health guidelines).
• Experience working with administrative and sector data. Ability to work with incomplete datasets and document assumptions transparently.
• Ability to convert sector norms and standards and service delivery models into cost models/credible cost estimates.
• Strong facilitation skills for consultations with multiple government, partners and technical stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Ethiopia public systems, refugee inclusion, WASH, child protection, social protection, education, health, nutrition or livelihoods programming.
• Excellent analysis and writing skills.

Skills

• Public Finance
• Development Economics
• Social Service Delivery Costing
• Investment Case Development
• Financing Gap Analysis
• Public Expenditure Review
• Fiscal Analysis
• Multi-sector Service Delivery Gap Assessment
• Costing Assumptions Development
• Infrastructure Cost Estimation
• Bill of Quantities preparation
• Lifecycle Cost Estimating
• Operations & Maintenance Planning
• Institutional Arrangements Design
• Financing and Implementation Scenarios
• Government planning and budgeting
• Data Analysis with Incomplete Datasets
• Sector Norms and Standards Application
• Multi-Stakeholder Facilitation
• Report Writing

Languages

English