Terms of Reference

Position: Growth & Competitiveness Expert 3 (Legal and Implementation Support) at SRGO

Duration: 9 months (January – September 2026)
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 Growth & Competitiveness Expert 3 will support SRGO in advancing growth-vehicle implementation by providing legal, regulatory, and transaction-oriented support for investment enabling reforms and priority projects. The role focuses on construction permitting and investment climate bottlenecks, supporting the preparation of decision-ready legal and regulatory instruments, and ensuring that implementation constraints are identified, structured, and escalated for resolution through SRGO coordination routines.

2. Key Responsibilities

The Expert will:

• Support the Project Head in structuring and monitoring implementation plans, timelines, and reporting, ensuring consistent delivery quality and clear accountability.
• Provide legal/regulatory and transaction support for major investment projects, including review of land/real estate offers, construction and operating permits, regulatory interfaces, and relevant contractual conditionalities (as applicable).
• Lead construction permitting deregulation diagnostics: map baseline requirements, institutional touchpoints, bottlenecks, timelines, and pain points; propose targeted simplification and timeline mechanisms aligned with EU practices.
• Lead an industrial parks and investment-project regulatory bottleneck scan (property rights, registration, permits, fast-track feasibility, and procedural duplication) and prepare actionable recommendations.
• Support preparation of draft normative instruments and amendments required under Objectives 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, and 3.6 (e.g., government decisions, secondary bylaws, targeted legal amendments), in close coordination with MDED and relevant institutions.
• Support identification and mitigation of ‘gold-plating’ risks in selected domains, and contribute to the design and promotion of deregulation packages.
• Contribute to investor pipeline monitoring and de-risking by preparing legal due diligence checklists, risk notes, and implementation readiness briefings for SRGO and MDED leadership.

3. Expected Outputs

• Construction permitting diagnostic note and an implementable simplification package outline, including recommended legal/administrative adjustments and time-bound process improvements.
• Regulatory bottleneck scan for industrial parks and investment projects, with prioritized issues list and recommended fast-track/simplification measures.
• Draft legal and regulatory instruments initiated (as assigned), including decision notes and draft texts ready for institutional consultation and approval workflow.
• Legal/transaction support materials for priority investment projects (risk notes, checklists, and decision-ready briefs) delivered as needed under Objective 3.1 and related streams.
• Inputs to SRGO quarterly reporting and issue logs, including documented constraints, mitigation actions, and escalation items.

4. Required Expertise and Profile

• Relevant experience in legal and regulatory work related to the business environment, investment projects, administrative procedures, construction/urbanism, property rights, or related fields; a relevant 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 working on investment enabling reforms, permitting and administrative simplification, or legal support to public investment/private investment projects.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex regulatory constraints into practical solutions (process redesign, draft legal texts, implementation workflows) and to work with multiple institutions.
• Familiarity with EU-aligned regulatory approaches and public administration procedures; experience with donor-supported technical assistance is an asset.
• Strong drafting skills (legal texts, policy notes, briefs) and ability to communicate risks and options clearly to decision-makers.
• Working proficiency in Romanian and English is expected; Russian is an asset.

Applications must be received no later than 17:00 local time on January 26, by email at anastasia.rusu@fam.md