Background
Moldova has experienced sustained economic growth over the past two decades, driven largely by remittance-fueled consumption, which has improved living standards and reduced poverty. However, recent global challengesโsuch as the pandemic, energy crisis, and the war in Ukraineโhave highlighted the need to enhance economic resilience and diversify the economy.
Building on UNDP-SDCโs previous work in local economic development, the first phase (2023-2024) of the Resilient and Inclusive Markets in Moldova (PRIM) project established micro-clusters in rural tourism, horticulture, and livestock, strengthening local economies, creating jobs, and improving community engagement. It also supported legislative reforms that benefited the business environment through significant annual savings for SMEs.
The second phase (2025-2029) seeks to further Moldovaโs economic transformation by scaling up the clustering approach, expanding SMART specialization, developing value chains, and attracting investments at the micro-regional level. It will promote inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth, supporting SMEs and vocational training, especially for local populations, returning migrants, and refugees.
As part of Outcome 1, the project focuses on strengthening policy and legal frameworks to create an enabling environment that fosters inclusive growth, SME development, and decent employment. This involves policy reforms supporting the scaling of successful models, improving support services, and fostering a coherent policy environment aligned with national strategies.
Outcome 2 aims to enhance the resilience of economic actors, including small farmers, to shocks such as regional conflicts or climate change. This will be achieved by further developing value chains, attracting investments, and supporting innovative approaches to micro-cluster SMART specialization, ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth.
To implement key activities under Outcome 1, the project is collaborating closely with the Economic Council to support the reform process. This includes assisting in the selection of proposals from the business community, mobilizing expertise for drafting legal amendments, and strengthening the capacity of the regulatory review system.
A significant component of this effort is the Regulatory Mapping Activity, which involves developing sector-specific maps to identify regulatory burdens across key economic sectors. This provides a baseline for targeted deregulation efforts, aiming to generate substantial savings and promote a more streamlined business environment.
The Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Secretariat, part of the Economic Council, plays a crucial role in this process. Composed of expert professionals, the Secretariat provides impartial, high-quality assessments of draft regulations, ensuring reforms are well-founded and reduce unnecessary burdens. The experts are paid by donors to guarantee their independence, prevent conflicts of interest, and attract highly qualified specialists who can contribute to effective regulatory reform.
This partnership aims to ensure that reforms are targeted, practical, and contribute to a more predictable, efficient, and business-friendly environmentโlaying a strong foundation for Moldovaโs sustainable economic growth.
In this context, the project is looking to contract a Project Specialist who will support the continuation and strengthening of the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) process, the scrutiny of draft regulations, identification of regulatory burdens across key economic sectors and support other efforts relevant to the above-mentioned processes.ย
Duties and Responsibilities
The main objectives of the Project Specialist on Regulatory Reforms and Business Environment are to facilitate the review of regulatory proposals and provide technical assistance in streamlining existing regulations, focusing on issues identified by the business community, especially MSMEs. The overall goal is to foster policy measures that improve the business environment, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, and enhance the competitiveness of Moldovan products in EU and other markets.
In particular, the Specialist's tasks will include, but are not limited to:
Supporting the Working Group on regulation of business activity in reviewing and analyzing RIA reports for compliance with the RIA methodology and ensuring draft regulations aligning with principles of good regulation and previous RIA assessments. Conducting detailed scrutiny of draft normative acts of relevant public institutions, assessing their conformity with existing laws related to regulation and with prior RIA documentation. Engaging in policy dialogue with the business community, private sector experts, and business associations to identify bottlenecks and challenges. Analyzing proposals collected from consultations, identifying key problems and their root causes, and prioritizing issues for regulatory impact analysis. Drafting policy proposals, legal amendments, and accompanying documents to address key problems, ensuring they are well-grounded, clear, and feasible. Participating in stakeholder meetings to promote draft amendments, gather feedback, and facilitate consultations for the approval of regulatory reforms. Preparing opinions on RIA reports and draft regulations and supporting the development of reform packages based on validated proposals. Producing drafts of regulatory amendments, accompanying explanatory notes, impact assessments, and consultation reports, supporting their presentation to the relevant decision-making bodies. Contributing to the development of a comprehensive deregulation package, including legal amendments, impact assessments, and consultation documentation, ensuring alignment with the needs of MSMEs and feedback from stakeholders such as UNDPโs SME beneficiaries. Integrating gender equality considerations and mainstreaming gender perspectives where contextually appropriate. Supporting the development of UNDP reports and contributing to project communications, visibility, and advocacy efforts. Participating in knowledge-sharing networks and communities of practice related to the project area of focus, to enhance learning and exchange of best practices.The specialist will work closely with the involved government bodies, private sector representatives, UNDP and other stakeholders throughout all stages of the reform process, supporting the creation of a more efficient, transparent, and business-friendly regulatory environment in Moldova.
Institutional Arrangement
The Project Specialist will work under the guidance of the Project Manager and in strong collaboration with the State Chancellery, Ministry of Economy and Economic Development and other relevant stakeholders. The specialist will work with physical presence at the State Chancelleryโs office.
Competencies
Core
Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact ย
Think Innovatively:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems ย
Learn Continuously:ย LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiencesย
Adapt with Agility:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands ย
Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater resultsย
Engage and Partner:ย LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaborationย
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:ย LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivityย
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Business Direction & Strategy - Strategic Thinking:ย
Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDPโs 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:ย
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 systemBusiness Development - Knowledge Facilitation: ย ย ย ย
Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externallyBusiness Management -ย Project Management:ย
Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goalsBusiness Management -ย Communication:
Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audienceย Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channelsBusiness Development - Knowledge Generation: ย ย ย ย ย
Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to stated need.ยPartnership management -ย 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.Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, or a related field. A first-level university degree (bachelorโs degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.Experience:ย
At least 5 years (with a master's degree) or 7 years (with a bachelor's degree) of professional experience in economic policy analysis, regulatory reform, and improving the business environment. Demonstrated experience in conducting Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA) and supporting legislative reforms.Required skills:
Strong analytical skills, with proficiency in MS Excel and data analysis tools. Proven ability to collaborate effectively with government agencies, the private sector, and international partners.Desired skills:
Knowledge and experience in report writing and policy proposal development skills.ย Experience liaising with development agencies, including UN agencies, governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, and international organizations. Knowledge and experience in data analysis, data modeling, impact assessments, and social and economic policy design are advantageous.Required language(s):
Fluency in English and Romanian is required. Knowledge of one or more minority languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Romani, Gagauzian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and sign language, is an asset.ยProfessional Certificates:
Additional training and/or certification in economic analysis, economics, poverty analysis, data modelling, or other relevant topics would be an advantage.ยEqual opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.ย
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.ย
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.ย We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
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