Description

Background

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Office/Unit/Project Description

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the knowledge frontier organization for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP established the Sustainable Finance

Hub (SFH) in April 2019, aggregating UNDP's existing work and expertise on financing the SDGs. With a focus on Tax for the SDGs, the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative is managed by the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS’s) Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH), with resource persons embedded in the SDG Finance Teams in Amman, Bangkok, Istanbul, Panama, and Pretoria. The UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative has a particular emphasis on linking tax administration and tax and fiscal policies with the broader SDGs. Building on UNDP Country Office portfolios and already existing engagements with Ministries, UNDP will bring a stronger focus on the role of tax and fiscal policy in achieving Agenda 2030.

To achieve this along with the various teams and work streams under the Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH), the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative is seeking a qualified Tax Transparency Expert to coordinate and contribute tax aspects to its portfolio of work on international financial accountability, transparency, and integrity, anti - corruption, beneficial ownership transparency, Automatic Exchange of Information, Country by country reporting, and disclosure of tax information, etc. The Expert will support and equip governments in the global tax transparency agenda, to tackle tax evasion and avoidance, illicit financial flows (IFFs) and other financial crimes and ultimately improve domestic resource mobilization to finance the SDGs. The Technical Specialist – Tax Transparency will report to the Head of Tax for SDGs (Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH).
Duties and Responsibilities

To coordinate and contribute tax aspects to the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative’s portfolio of work on international financial accountability, transparency, and integrity, anti - corruption, beneficial ownership of transparency, Automatic Exchange of Information, Country by country reporting, and disclosure of tax information, etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Strategic and Multi-stakeholder Engagement:

Coordinate with SFH colleagues and contribute to the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative’s portfolio of work on international financial accountability, transparency, integrity, anti - corruption, beneficial ownership transparency, Automatic Exchange of Information, Country by country reporting, and disclosure of tax information etc., among other relevant work under the Hub.
Work closely with the Regional Programme Specialists to create synergies for country-level focused capacity building initiatives to leverage tax transparency expertise and experience across world regions.
Collaborate with stakeholders and colleagues to implement the strategy for the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative, including promoting South-South cooperation.
Identify potential synergies for the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative within UNDP and other partners working on anti-corruption and tax transparency such as Global Forum, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Open Government Partnership, Open Ownership, civil society and others.

2. Policy and Programme Support:

Monitor global tax policy and administration developments, conclude, and summarise the tax policy trends, and assess key areas of impact on the business, especially for the 2 pillars, tax transparency, public Country-by-Country Reports (CBCR), Cooperative Compliance and other related tax administration trends.
Identifying gaps in existing work done in other fora as they relate to information exchange in developing countries and identifying challenges faced in the implementation of international standards in exchange of information.
Document ambitious good practice and contribute to building best practise in tax transparency i.e., beneficial ownership transparency, Automatic Exchange of Information and Country by country reporting across technical, legislative, regulatory, policy and administrative parameters.
Proposing solutions to address the identified gaps and challenges, including possible new standards and domestic measures; and advising on ways to provide technical support to developing countries to address those challenges.
Engage with UNDP country offices to analyse global and cross-regional contexts, to identify potential synergies between the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative and UNDP’s in-country policy and development work in the context of public finance and taxation for the SDGs.
Liaise with UNDP country offices to engage substantively in expert deployments, including through providing expert advice, helping to formulate appropriate requests for assistance, assisting with briefing of experts before, during and after deployment.
Collaborate on UN’s policy papers/reports on tax transparency.
Develop concept notes for technical workshops/webinars/side-events for UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative.
Develop internal UNDP briefing notes and talking points for Senior Management on international financial accountability, transparency, and integrity, beneficial ownership transparency, etc.

3. Programme Coordination and Project Management:

Help manage UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative programmes related tax transparency as per developed standard operating procedures
Structure and collaboratively map-out emerging trends in international financial accountability, tax transparency, and integrity, anti-corruption, beneficial ownership transparency, etc., synergies with other activities and opportunities across regions and globally.
Support in assessing the transparency of tax administration; including examining anti-corruption governance structures and reporting mechanism
Help in monitoring and reporting emerging trends and developments in Illicit Financial Flows (IFF), including IFF measurement in collaboration with other UN agencies like UNCTAD and other partners.
Support the mobilization and accessing financing sources for building the capacity of tax systems to tackle illicit financial flows through digitalization of tax administrations.
Coordinate the setting up of UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative projects in the different countries as required.
Coordinate evaluation and selection of tax experts and other experts for deployment worldwide, including overseeing their procurement and contracting as per UNDP standard operating procedures.
Manage reporting duties, including project budgeting and cash flow management, and oversee its maintenance as per UNDP standard operating procedures.
Collaborate on evidence collection and lessons-learned from country experiences, including promoting best practice sharing and peer learning through case-studies.
Collaborate on knowledge management between various stakeholders, including experts’ engagement platform.

4. Outreach Engagement

Coordinate communications efforts, including annual report, newsletters, videos, digital platforms engagement, amongst others.
Coordinate the organization of related events, including international conferences, side-events, amongst others.
Represent the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative at international forums, conferences, events on international financial accountability, tax transparency, and integrity, anti - corruption, beneficial ownership of assets, etc., as required.
Perform other duties, as may be required by the Supervisor.

Institutional Arrangement

The Technical Specialist – Tax Transparency will be supervised by the Head of Tax for SDGs.
Will liaise / interact / collaborate / meet with colleagues within the UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative and broader Sustainable Finance Hub.
Will be expected to use his/her own laptop and internet during this assignment.

Competencies
Core
Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Thematic Area Name Definition
Programme and Policy SDG Finance Public Sector Finance (Tax and domestic resource mobilization, public financial management and public expenditure)
Programme and Policy

Governance

Public Sector Reform
Programme and Policy Inclusive Growth Fiscal and SDG financing policy support in view of the socio-economic impact of COVID 19
Business Management Working with Evidence and Data Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making
Business Management Change Management Ability to prepare, support, and help individuals and teams in designing and implementing organizational change
Required Skills and Experience
Min. Education requirements Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in economics, law, political science, public policy, taxation, or related field is required
Min. years of relevant work experience

At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience of working in taxation, international financial accountability, transparency, and integrity for a government, banking, bilateral donor organization or international organization is required.

Required skills

Thorough understanding of tax/fiscal policy, tax administration processes, tax transparency, public finance reforms and management is required.
Strong record in advising international institutions and/or governments on taxation and development and/ or international tax and financial accountability, transparency, and integrity is required.
Excellent understanding of tax transparency issues.
Excellent knowledge of current debates regarding taxation, international financial accountability, tax transparency, and integrity, financing for sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda in developing and transition economies is required
Knowledge in monitoring, reporting and measurement of illicit financial flows
Experience in accessing financing sources for building the capacity of tax systems to tackle illicit financial flows
Proficiency in the use of IT, office applications and digital collaboration tools is required.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

Experience of working in and with developing countries in at least two regions is highly desirable.
Experience of working with UNDP or UN-system on matters related to taxation and fiscal policies is highly desirable.
Demonstrated experience in project management, programme coordination, overseeing the development of knowledge management and organization of high-level events is highly desirable.
Demonstrated experience in writing concept notes, briefing notes, outcome reports, and other communication and analytical inputs is a distinct advantage.
Working knowledge of one or more additional UN languages would be an asset.

Required Language(s)

Fluent in both oral and written English