Call for Experts - Technical Assistance Facility for Iraq (TAFFI 2.0) and Iraq Catalytic Economic Diversification Programme (ICED)

Call for Experts – Short-term Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance Facility for Iraq (TAFFI 2.0)

BACKGROUND

Adam Smith International is a global advisory company that works locally to transform lives by making economies stronger, societies more stable, and governments more effective. We work on behalf of governments, foundations and companies that share our ambition to take on the big challenges facing the world. We have a distinguished track record in Iraq, where we have been implementing programmes for several clients since 2005.

The Technical Assistance Facility for Iraq 2.0 (TAFFI 2.0) is a 3-year programme that started in May 2024 and running until March 2027. The Iraq Catalytic Economic Diversification (ICED) Programme is short-term, running between December 2024 and March 2025. Both programme’s are a continuation to TAFFI 1.0, which was also implemented by ASI from 2021 to April 2024. Both programmes aim to work with the British Embassy in Baghdad and the British Consulate in Erbil to provide technical assistance to the Federal Government of Iraq (GOI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) respectively.

In this new phase, TAFFI 2.0 will support anti-corruption efforts, serious and organised crime (SOC), improve cybersecurity capacities and support defence and security reform initiatives. ICED will support economic governance, Public Finance Management and civil service reform, and enhancing service delivery. Both programmes will scope the needs and offer support to selected government institutions, advising them on their strategies, policies, processes and adherence to international standards. The support is designed to be strategic, catalytic and sustainable and can often involve coordination with other donors and implementing partners.

Adam Smith Internationalis seeking to supplement our existing pool of technical consultants across diverse technical areas to respond to the programme’s needs and invites applications from relevant candidates. The programme will require a significant breadth and depth of expertise across the following areas:

• Illicit finance: Experience in tackling corruption through the provision of technical assistance to government departments, including support in the development of anti-corruption legislation and in the improvement of financial investigations capabilities of key government agencies, and the implementation and development of anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing software.

• Cybersecurity: Experience in identifying, preventing, and mitigating cyber threats, including knowledge of advanced persistent threats, malware, ransomware, and network intrusions. Strong understanding of international cybersecurity frameworks and best practice, and their implementation, such as NIST, ISO/IEC 27001, and CIS Controls, as well as designing models for cybersecurity capacity building which considers local contexts. Expertise in cyber legislation, including the legislation of cybercrimes, is desirable but not mandatory.

• Serious and organised crime: Experience working with law enforcement agencies and relevant ministries to curb serious and organised crime. Strong background in criminal justice, intelligence analysis or international law enforcement cooperation.

• Defence and Security: Experience working with the military and defence sectors to support their policy development, reform of their processes, and improvement of their capabilities.

• Economic Governance: Experience working with governance and public administration authorities to support reforms to Public Financial Management, Civil Service, and Service Delivery.

Job requirements

We will give special consideration to applications that, on top of relevant experience on the above technical areas, can demonstrate some or all following assets:

• Experience working in Iraq and/or knowledge of the current political context in Iraq.

• Experience working with senior levels of government to provide advice and expertise on the reform of policies, procedures and structures.

• Experience designing and providing training, mentoring and/or expert capacity-building to senior government officials.

• Relevant experience within the British Government in at least one of the technical areas mentioned above.

• Experience working on an FCDO-funded project overseas and/or on a technical assistance facility/fund.

• A deep understanding of UK policy priorities on the technical areas mentioned and knowledge of relevant international networks, best practices and policies to which TAFFI could contribute.

• Cross-cutting expertise or knowledge of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) within an FCDO programme.

• Arabic language skills are desirable but not a requirement.

We particularly welcome applications from Iraqi nationals and consultants from the Middle East with suitable expertise in the above-mentioned areas. We also encourage women and members of traditionally marginalised and vulnerable groups to apply.

Applications will be assessed, contacted, and issued scopes of work on a rolling basis depending on programme needs and when opportunities arise. Successful candidates will be kept on a roster and contacted periodically throughout the three-year programme term.