Mid-Level Economist/Coordinator (Uzbekistan)

DevTech Systems, Inc. (DevTech) is an international consulting firm dedicated to development, with 39 years of experience providing advisory services and technical assistance to government, private sector, and civil society stakeholders in more than 100 countries. DevTech core practice areas include: Monitoring Evaluation, Research and Learning; Data Solutions; Public Financial Management and Fiscal Sustainability; and Education, Gender, and Youth.

At DevTech, we care deeply about doing work that leads to positive change in the world. We value diverse perspectives and are committed to an inclusive work environment. We encourage each person to learn, develop, and meet their professional potential. We rethink and evolve how we do things to grow and improve our company.

The Indo-Pacific Opportunity Program (IPOP) is a 4-year, regional activity in the Indo-Pacific region designed to address the Public Financial Management (PFM) objectives under the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS). It aims to create inclusive and sustainable economic growth, encourage regional cooperation, promote good governance, and improve the management of institutions. IPOP focuses on improving the macroeconomic policy and trade environment in the target countries. It also aims to strengthen democratic institutions to oversee PFM and implement sustainable infrastructure projects. IPOP is designed to contribute to four intermediate results:

• Improve trade and investment policy and capacity;
• Strengthen ability to implement sustainable and high-quality infrastructure projects
• Improve macroeconomic and fiscal policy; and
• Strengthen democratic systems to oversee PFM

Specific Tasks

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Conduct data collection on the pharmaceutical industry, industrial policy, and market needs and trends for KSMs and APIs in your country. Use web sources, databases, reports, and academic papers to gather relevant and reliable information. Document the sources and methods used in the data collection process.
• Connect and organize meetings with relevant stakeholders such as MOH officials, manufacturers, regulators, funders, and civil society on the challenges and opportunities for KSMs and APIs production in your country. Use a questionnaire to collect information from the key informants and share their responses with the project team. Schedule our interactions with the government and industry leaders and facilitate our communication and collaboration.
• Create a database where possible of relevant data on the pharmaceutical industry, industrial policy, and market needs and trends for KSMs and APIs in your country. Organize, clean, and validate the data collected from various sources. Provide access to the database to the project team and update it regularly.
• Support the project team in conducting data analysis, literature review, stakeholder consultation, report writing, and policy recommendation. Provide local context, insights, feedback, and suggestions to the project team based on the data collection, stakeholder meetings, and database creation. Assist the project team in preparing reports, presentations, and technical briefs.
• Organize a dissemination workshop with relevant stakeholders to present the final report and policy recommendations. Engage the participants in discussing the feasibility, affordability, sustainability, and scalability of the policy recommendations. Provide technical advice to government decision makers on implementing the policy recommendations.
• Assist in project implementation in compliance with USAID (and other USG agencies) rules and regulations, and DevTech’s corporate policies, while collaborating closely with field country consultants and the home office Technical Director.
• Assess pharmaceutical sector incentives in Uzbekistan, benchmarking against global practices and two comparator countries.
• Evaluate trade and tax incentive frameworks, including the derivation of the marginal effective tax rate (METR).
• Analyze trade costs for pharmaceutical firms, both for imports and exports.
• Review regulatory frameworks in target countries, providing recommendations for meeting international standards.
• Research government manufacturing incentives, propose expansions, and negotiate with stakeholders for agreement. Additionally, track and achieve contractual deliverables and attend regular project meetings for effective implementation, providing weekly reports to USAID and contributing to the IPOP Annual report.

Under IPOP, the Diversifying the Asia Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (DAPSC) Activity aims to accomplish the following objectives:

• Improve business readiness and commercial viability of local pharmaceutical industry to attract investment in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
• Develop public and private sector incentives and regulatory improvements to support key starting materials (KSM)/ active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) production.
• Evaluate, propose, and support the implementation of comprehensive incentives, including examining from the perspective of economic growth through public-private collaboration, investment attraction, increasing export potential and motivation for local manufacturers with the focus on API/KSMs.

 Background

Recent trade shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing trade tensions between the US and China have created uncertainty about the future of global trade and initiated a rethinking of global value chains. COVID-19 illustrated the vulnerabilities of global supply chains to exogenous shocks and revealed an excessive reliance on China for supplies. The pandemic exposed the weakness of just-in-time manufacturing and the importance of building more robust and resilient supply chains. 

Qualification Requirements

• University degree in economics, business, statistics, public policy, or a related field.
• A minimum of 10 years of experience with a bachelor’s degree, 7 years with master’s degree and 5 years of experience with PhD supporting the public sector with economic and financial sector reforms and practices.
• Experience evaluating the efficacy of investment and tax incentives, including familiarity with standard analytical approaches (for example, marginal effective tax analysis).
• Experience of the pharmaceutical sector and the associated system of government incentive schemes preferred.
• Excellent communication (written and oral), presentation, management, and interpersonal skills. Experience conducting key informant interviews and stakeholder consultation is a must.
• Experience writing and editing assessments and reports.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy, as well as excellent organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and professionally with remote and in-person co-workers.
• Excellent computer skills and proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (e.g., PowerPoint, Word, and Excel)
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Knowledge of Russian preferred

• Deliverables:

  • Comprehensive overview of industry data, policy insights, and market trends for KSMs and APIs.
  • Document summarizing key points from stakeholder meetings and questionnaire responses.
  • Organized, validated database accessible for analysis and updates, containing relevant industry information.
  • Recommendations for addressing project issues and improving implementation.
  • Documentation of coordination efforts with field teams and home office.
  • Coordinated and finalized technical progress reports.
  • Meeting agendas and minutes capturing discussions and action points.
  • Assist the team lead in drafting the final activity report

   Reporting Requirements

  The Mid-Level Economist/Coordinator will report to the project Team Lead and the DevTech Home Office Technical Director.

NOTE: This job posting should not be construed to imply that the requirements are the exclusive standards of the position nor will it be the sole basis for any subsequent employee evaluations. Incumbents will follow any other instructions and perform any other related duties as may be required by their supervisor. 
 
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (40 and older), physical and mental disability, genetic information (including family medical history) or characteristics, military status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship or alienage, or any other protected status as established by applicable federal, state, or local law.