Terms of Reference

Position: Senior Advisor on Regulatory Innovation and Sandbox Legislation at SRGO

Duration: 8 months
Reporting to: Project Head, Smart Regulation and Growth Office (SRGO)
Institutional Counterpart: Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization (MDED)

1. Objective of the Position

The Senior Advisor on Regulatory Innovation and Sandbox Legislation will support SRGO by leading the design and drafting of a modern, EU-aligned Sandbox Law and an operational framework for controlled, time-bound regulatory experimentation for innovative technologies and business models. The role will ensure evidence-based design choices, robust safeguards, and a consultative, decision-ready legal package with clear governance and implementation pathways.

2. Key Responsibilities

The Expert will:

• Support the Project Head in structuring and monitoring implementation plans, timelines, and reporting, ensuring consistent delivery quality, clear accountability, and a disciplined reporting cadence.
• Lead Objective 3.7 (Sandbox Law) by coordinating the end-to-end development of an EU-aligned framework for controlled regulatory experimentation, ensuring policy design, institutional setup, consultations, and legal drafting are integrated into one coherent, implementable package.
• Review EU and OECD regulatory sandbox models (including fintech, digital, energy, and govtech) and assess Moldova’s legal, regulatory, and institutional baseline to identify feasible national design options.
• Define the sandbox architecture: eligible sectors and use-cases, entry criteria, testing rules (parameters and duration), supervisory modalities, admissible regulatory flexibilities or exemptions, and exit and scaling mechanisms.
• Design governance and safeguards across public authorities and regulators, covering consumer protection, data protection, competition, integrity, market stability, and transparency and accountability requirements.
• Facilitate a multidisciplinary process, consolidating inputs from MDED, the Economic Council (lead for public consultations), regulators, and relevant sectoral and legal experts, and ensuring decision-ready, implementable design choices.
• Draft the Sandbox Law and explanatory note, with high-level guidance on secondary legislation and a phased implementation roadmap; support MDED in advancing the draft through Government procedures in line with the regular process.

3. Expected Outputs

• Comparative diagnostic and design options paper for Moldova (EU and OECD sandbox review combined with an assessment of the national legal, regulatory, and institutional baseline).
• Sandbox framework design package (scope, eligibility and selection criteria, testing rules, supervisory model, admissible flexibilities or exemptions, and exit and scaling mechanisms).
• Governance and safeguards package (institutional roles, coordination and oversight, risk management, safeguards for consumer protection, data protection, competition, integrity and market stability, plus transparency and accountability).
• Consultation outputs delivered with MDED and the Economic Council, with regulators and relevant experts: facilitated working sessions and public consultations, plus synthesis notes capturing inputs, consensus, and trade-offs.
• Draft Sandbox Law and explanatory note prepared, supported by secondary legislation guidance, a phased operationalization roadmap, and decision-ready materials to support Government approval; regular progress inputs provided to SRGO reporting and issue-management routines.

4. Required Expertise and Profile

• Relevant experience in regulatory policy, innovation and digital economy governance, or related public policy fields; a relevant university degree (law, economics, public policy, or similar) is an advantage but is not mandatory if experience is demonstrated.
• Minimum 5-7 years of assignment-specific experience in regulatory reform, governance of emerging technologies, or drafting laws and secondary normative acts in government or donor-supported programs.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex regulatory and risk considerations into practical, implementable legal solutions, including clear institutional roles, decision rights, process design, and operational procedures.
• Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder policy processes and coordinating inputs across ministries, regulators, and expert communities, including consultation materials and synthesis of trade-offs.
• Good understanding of EU-aligned regulatory approaches and safeguards (consumer protection, data protection, competition); familiarity with sandboxes and experimentation frameworks is a strong asset; excellent drafting skills; working proficiency in Romanian and English.

Applications must be received no later than 17:00 local time on January 30, by email at anastasia.rusu@fam.md