Job Announcement: International Budget Partnership, Open Budget Initiative

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) is seeking a highly qualified and experienced Senior Analyst for its Open Budget Initiative (OBI), a global research and advocacy program that works with civil society partners in nearly 100 countries to improve public access to government budget information and to expand accountable and inclusive budgeting practices.  The Senior Analyst will be responsible for leading the OBI’s efforts to measure, analyze, and understand the factors that affect budget transparency and participation performance in countries around the world.   The successful applicant will play a leadership role in designing and analyzing OBI research on budget transparency and representing the organization in global forums where these issues are debated.  The position requires an individual who has substantial comparative knowledge of applied public finance in developing countries and practical experience working on these issues previously within civil society, government, or with an international donor.

The OBI combines research and advocacy to promote transparent, responsive, and accountable public finance systems.  Every two years, the OBI conducts the Open Budget Survey, the only independent and comparative assessment of central government budget transparency in the world.  The Survey findings, combined with assessments of transparency at the subnational level, drives a range of advocacy activities targeting national and international audiences to take action to improve budget transparency at the national and local levels. Over the next four years, the OBI will further research on the causes and consequences of budget transparency and will develop materials to build the capacity and support the work of its partners.

Responsibilities:
•    Design, supervise, and implement new and existing cross-country research projects on budget transparency and oversight at the national and subnational levels
•    Design, develop, and author research briefs and popular guides on budget transparency
•    Coordinate and provide technical support to partner organizations on research methods and analysis
•    Represent IBP in international policy debates on budget transparency and oversight institutions

Requirements:
•    A Master’s degree in a relevant social science, or in public finance or accounting  
•    Minimum of five years of senior experience managing qualitative and quantitative research projects
•    Demonstrated ability to write for a variety of audiences (prefer candidates with significant body of published materials)
•    Practical experience working on public finance and access to information issues in developing countries
•    Ability to travel and maintain flexible schedule as required 
•    Foreign language skills desirable, especially French or Spanish 
•    Commitment to the role of active citizenship and civil society in governance and poverty reduction
•    Ability to manage multiple tasks and to prioritize work in a dynamic environment
•    Ability to work independently and as part of a team of colleagues distributed around the world

The IBP collaborates with civil society organizations around the world to analyze and influence public budgets and to advocate for more transparent and participative public finance systems in order to reduce poverty and improve the quality of governance.  With offices in Washington, D.C., South Africa, Mexico, and India, the IBP supports its civil society partners in their work through training and technical assistance, collaborative research, financial assistance, and network-building opportunities.

The OBI Senior Analyst will be based in Washington, D.C.  Compensation: salary commensurate with experience, excellent benefits (including two health insurance options and dental coverage, life and long-term disability insurance, retirement, MERP, and DCAP), and generous vacation, sick leave, and holiday schedules.

To apply for this position, please submit a CV/resume and cover letter via email to info@internationalbudget.org.  Please attach all materials as either Microsoft Word or PDF documents.

The International Budget Partnership is part of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center is an equal opportunity employer, and, as such, takes affirmative action to insure that discrimination does not occur against an employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, age, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, religious or political affiliation, disability, or any other classification protected from discrimination under applicable law.