Capacity Building Specialist for Reform Agenda, Economic Criteria, and Foreign Direct Investments - retainer position

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Capacity Building Specialist will provide expert, analytical, and capacity building support to the Ministry for European Affairs (MEA) and other relevant national institutions in relation to the implementation of the Reform Agenda and Growth Plan, particularly focusing on economic governance, investment climate reforms, and foreign direct investments (FDI) attraction and facilitation.

The Specialist will:

• Provide tailored expertise to support the alignment with EU’s economic criteria and support the relevant reforms and the design of specific policy measures.

• Strengthen the capacity of public administration to formulate, coordinate, and implement reforms related to the business environment, competitiveness, trade, financial sector, and investment facilitation.

• Support the integration of FDI-related priorities into the broader reform and accession framework, including monitoring tools and indicators for measuring impact.

• Provide expert advice and technical input to MEA  and relevant stakeholders on designing, prioritizing, and implementing the economic components of the Reform Agenda.

• Prepare policy papers, draft reforms, and contribute to action plans, methodologies, and analysis relevant to economic governance and investment policy.

• Develop recommendations and tools to support the attraction, facilitation, and retention of FDI in line with EU best practices.

• Map institutional responsibilities and coordinate across relevant ministries/agencies to align reform efforts in the areas of business climate, trade, and market regulation.

• Design and deliver targeted capacity building sessions for public administration on economic governance, investment promotion, and implementation monitoring.

• Provide feedback on proposed legislative and regulatory reforms to ensure coherence with EU accession requirements and economic criteria.

• Identify opportunities for synergy with existing or planned donor-supported programs in the economic and investment domain

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA) - retainer
Contract level: LICA 10 (ICS 10)
Contract duration: Up to 60 working days during a period of one year

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.