Process Re-engineering Specialist - Nathan Associates

The Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment (GTI) Activity was initiated December 1, 2021 and will run for 5 years.  The activity will work closely with public and private sector stakeholders to improve the enabling environment for Ghana’s economic growth by

(1) facilitating growth in export-oriented trade;

(2) improving and developing product standards;

(3) catalyzing investments in private enterprises related to high-value commercial crops;

(4) promoting job creation, particularly among women and youth;

(5) promoting economic diversification; and

(6) increasing foreign exchange revenues from high-value export crops. GTI will facilitate investing in firms that trade goods across borders, spur innovation, and build the capacity of the entire trade sector.

Purpose:

The Process Re-engineering Specialist will report to the Trade Policy and Facilitation Director and work closely with the Chief of Party. S/he will be in charge of implementing GTI’s process re-engineering activities in relation to the import and export processes in the context of Ghana’s Single Window (ICUMS), and other procedures in border agencies with the view to simplifying and digitizing procedures.

This will be carried out in close coordination with key institutional stakeholders such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry and its allied agencies, GRA Customs Division, National (AfCFTA) Coordination Office, and other relevant public and private sector stakeholders.

This will include contributing to assessing needs, work planning, design and preparation of materials, participation in activities, measuring quality and supporting the assessment of outcomes and impacts of processes. The Process Re-engineering Specialist will be expected to implement all tasks efficiently, effectively and to the highest professional standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work with the technical team to design and develop programs based on Annual Work Plans and contribute to preparing Annual Progress Report.
• Preparation of technical scopes of work to support the implementation of program activities.
• Jointly with stakeholders, in particular GRA Customs, other public and private sector stakeholders, identify processes in both the Customs and the Other Government Agencies (OGAs) that require simplification, streamlining, and digitization.
• Collaboratively develop, with GRA Customs and other stakeholders, the “as is” processes as relates to the project intervention areas.
• Identify gaps and bottlenecks that need to be addressed in the process flow in line with international best practices and national interest.
• Develop and propose improvement recommendations (“to be” processes) based on the gaps and bottlenecks identified in the export and import procedures including processes of selected value chains.

• Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) where needed and support in streamlining existing SOPs to improve the clearance process.
• Organize and lead multi-stakeholder workshops and bilateral meetings to determine scope of processes and validate outcome of process analysis. 
• Based on Business Process Analysis conducted, contribute to the development of educational materials and stakeholder sensitization including women cross-border traders, freight forwarders, trade associations, and marginalized groups on the clearance process. 
• In coordination with GTI’s Communications and Technical teams, design and prepare training materials (e.g. hand-outs, visual aids, etc.).
• Liaise with the MEL/CLA staff and verify the opportunity to develop specific indicators to measure the impact of process re-engineering activities.
• Other contributions to GTI as directed by the COP and Objective B Lead.

Required Skills or Experience

Qualifications:

• Must be a Ghanaian citizen.
• Bachelor’s degree with at least 8 years of experience in IT, business, economics or similar field; with specific knowledge of trade facilitation, digitization and customs trade processes.
• Strong working knowledge of IT systems and experience in the use of Unified Modeling Language (UML), in particular, Use Case Diagrams and Activity Diagrams to conduct business process analysis in trade facilitation or related projects.
• Excellent technical know-how on trade facilitation initiatives including guidelines, standards and measures consistent with international organizations such as World Trade Organizations, World Customs Organization and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
• Minimum 5 years of experience working on international donor/development cooperation projects.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Strong problem solving and decision-making skills as well as exercise considerable analysis and judgment to identify solutions.
• Hands-on experience conducting a process re-engineering project in a trade facilitation setting.
• Advanced organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to multi-task, keep deadlines and prioritize workload.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated collaborative skills and motivational capabilities.
• Proficient in word processing, spreadsheets and office software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Applications.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated success in maintaining positive working relationships.