IFES Moldova is hiring a Political Finance Auditing Expert (PFAE) Consultant to support the electoral campaign oversight

IFES Moldova Job Description

Political Finance Auditing Expert (PFAE)

Project Description: 

The International Foundation of Electoral Systems (IFES) is launching activities under the Moldova Electoral Support Project. This project is funded by the UK International Development from the UK government. Under the project, IFES supports election management actors in Moldova in building on the country’s democratic reforms, preparing for upcoming parliamentary elections, and strengthening responses to crises and threats.

Primary Function/Purpose: 

The project intends to contract a Political Finance Auditing Expert (PFAE) – a consultant to support the Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns Oversight and Control Division (PPECOCD) of the CEC, providing the following services:

• To ensure professional analysis of all financial reports of electoral competitors, including primary accounting documents;
• To identify trends and patterns in financial data that may indicate non-compliance with electoral legislation;
• To recommend actions to improve financial transparency and compliance.

This position is for local Moldovan Citizens for up to 120 working days, over a period of approximately six months. PFAE Consultant must be available to work in Chisinau, Moldova, full-time, and must have residency status and the right to work in Moldova. This position is expected to begin around July 1, 2025.

Scope and Expected Results

The Consultant will contribute to the effective analysis and monitoring of the financial reports of political parties. He/she will work closely with the IFES and CEC teams to anticipate and resolve complex political parties reporting issues and provide optimization recommendations to the PPECOCD.

Main Job Responsibilities: 

1. Financial control and audit

• Analyzing data from the financial reports of political parties submitted through the financial control module (correctness of reporting, method of systematization and reflection of data in the system;
• Performing data analysis from the point of view of the efficiency of management of financial means of political parties obtained from allocations from the state budget;
• Performing data analysis in terms of the accumulation of income from sources other than allocations from the state budget and the method of making expenses;
• Highlighting identified discrepancies and potential non-compliances;
• Analyzing primary accounting documents submitted by electoral competitors upon request;
• Analyzing bank turnovers submitted by commercial banks;
• Elaborating public or internal information notes, as appropriate, in an accessible format (statements, infographics, articles) – weekly during the electoral campaign and monthly outside of it;
• Preparing comprehensive reports on findings, including trends and illicit financing incidents;
• Formulating recommendations to optimize CEC's financial analysis practices and ensure legal compliance.

2. Oversight of political parties’ finances

• Ensuring the analysis of financial data in accordance with the approved methodology;
• Providing periodic progress reports that include the analysis methods, findings and types of discrepancies;
• Developing (within the same timeframe as above) public information notes in accessible format on the financing of political parties;
• Recommending measures to improve financial compliance.

Competencies

Education and professional experience  

Specialized secondary education or university degree in accounting, finance, economics or similar field + minimum 2 years of additional experience. Alternatively: Bachelor's degree in the same fields + minimum 4 years of additional experience. An advanced university degree (Master's) and/or Experience in the financial control and supervision of political parties would be considered an advantage.

Technical skills

Development and implementation of financial audit and evaluation missions; conceptualization of financial controls. Knowledge of national tax legislation and accounting standards would be considered an advantage.

Additional experience

Previous collaboration with public institutions, international organizations, donors or development agencies

Languages

​​Fluency in Romanian. Knowledge of relevant minority languages ​​(Russian, Romani, Gagauz, Bulgarian, Ukrainian) and/or sign language would be considered an advantage. Knowledge of English is desirable but not required.

Professional certifications

Certifications in auditing, accounting or financial management would be considered an advantage.

Application Instructions:

Interested applicants should submit via email a resume/CV and a short cover letter in English as part of their application to moldova.consultants@ifes.org no later than June  14, 2025, at 18:00 (Chisinau time).

• The resume/CV or cover letter should include contact information for at least two (2) former supervisors or peers able to serve as recent professional references.
• The position title must be indicated in the subject line of the email when applying.

Note: IFES reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to his post for other similar positions with IFES, in the light of experience and educational requirements.