Summary
Date Posted: Monday, July 19, 2021 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Job title: National Tax Administration Specialist
Closes: July 30, 2021


Location: Lusaka, Zambia
Contract Duration: Full-time for 3 years
Contract Start: July/August 2021

About Cowater International
Cowater International has established itself as a leader in international development consulting. Headquartered in Ottawa, and with corporate hubs in Brussels, London (UK),
Montreal and Nairobi, Cowater has successfully delivered a portfolio of over 2,500 projects and assignments in more than 95 countries. We work with donors, governments, private sector actors and communities implementing projects that support socio-economic development, institutional strengthening, environmental improvements, and advance equal opportunities for all. Our technical experience is wide-ranging, encompassing expertise within governance and economic reform as well as environmental and social development, including women’s economic empowerment.
Cowater UK (Zambia) Limited is a fully registered company in Zambia.

About the Revenue for Growth Activity
In partnership with Nathan Associates, Cowater is implementing the USAID-funded Revenue for Growth Activity. The programme aims to help Zambia improve domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) and expand the fiscal space for public spending and investments in service delivery and poverty reduction. The programme will engage both government andnon-government stakeholders to build capacity in tax policy analysis, improve tax compliance and administration, and strengthen the tax culture in a manner that facilitates private sector growth and accountability relationships between taxpayers and the
Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ).
Specifically, the 4 objectives/workstreams of the programme are:
• Improving Tax and Non-Tax Revenue Administration and Compliance;
• Strengthening Tax Policy;
• Enhancing Public-Private Dialogue; and,
• Enhancing capacity to address other fiscal policy and management priorities, as they emerge.
This is a 3-year programme, with possibility of extension for a further 2 years. The beneficiaries for the programme are the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Zambia Revenue
Authority (ZRA).

About the Role & Main Responsibilities
We are seeking a National Tax Administration Specialist to work alongside the Tax
Administration Lead for the programme to assist the ZRA to achieve sustainable increases in domestic revenue collection in a manner that promotes private sector-led growth, increases voluntary compliance, and strengthens the tax culture.
The key objectives that the Tax Administration Specialist will be expected to help achieve include the following:
• Increasing revenue collection, including increasing tax arrears collection;
• Increasing voluntary compliance by taxpayers, including:
• development of a compliance improvement plan across all tax types and taxpayer segments;
• increasing service in all taxpayer segments; and
• strengthening taxpayer education and outreach.
• Increasing efficiency of VAT and Excise collection, including optimising the VAT refund process;
• Design and implementation of capacity building programmes;
• Strengthening international tax compliance – i.e. transfer pricing and BEPS;
• Improving taxpayer register accuracy and completeness; and,
• Optimising the objections and appeals process.
• The Tax Administration Specialist will be responsible for:
• Supporting the definition of the programme’s agenda and priorities;
• Engaging line management to define the programme’s initiatives and set them up for
• success;
• Communicating openly and frequently with the programme initiative owners to
• ensure progress and achievement of the programme’s goals;
• Tracking the progress of the programme and proactively raising issues for resolution;
• Maintaining a bold but achievable pace of delivery, minimising the period of disruption and mitigating risks with as little bureaucracy as possible;
• Monitoring change management risks related to the programme and coordinating mitigation plans;
• Developing the capacity of the ZRA, identifying resistance, and creating informed
• Ensuring that change is embedded sustainably;
• Facilitating the right quality of discussion by the programme leadership team, by
• elevating the most strategically important and time-critical initiatives;
• Focusing the programme’s leadership team on the programme’s outcomes that typically require a very high degree of change and/or impact multiple areas of the ZRA business;
• Engaging ZRA sponsors and business owners on the programme’s agenda and relevant initiatives;
• Aiding the programme’s solution design and facilitating timely decisions to ensure outcomes envisioned are achieved;
• Engaging line management and the Programme Management Office (PMO) on other projects that are essential to the programme (has visibility of projects to check
• interdependencies); and,
• Inputting into the programme’s quarterly and annual reports, as requested.
Beyond the Tax Administration Lead, the National Tax Administration Specialist is expected to work closely with the whole programme team – including the Chief of Party,
Workstream/Objectives Leads, MEL Manager, and Gender and CLA Coordinator – as well as the MoF and/or ZRA counterparts.

Key Experience & Qualifications
Please note that we are only accepting candidates who are Zambian nationals for this role.
• Master’s degree in Economics or other associated areas of practice;
• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in successfully implementing revenue authority reform initiatives – either in an international development / donor-funded project context or in the Zambian private sector;
• Previous leadership and execution experience in an organisation
(project/public/private) working on tax administration reform;
• Experience and competencies in the technicalities of tax administration (see more under technical competencies).
Specifically, we are looking for the following technical and behavioural competencies:
Technical Competencies
• Subject matter expertise with regard to enhancing tax compliance – in particular:
• Transfer pricing auditing;
• Tax arrears collection;
• Taxpayer compliance strategy development and implementation;
• Taxpayer education and outreach best practice;
• VAT tax administration, including VAT refund management;
• Excise tax administration; and,
• Objections and appeals process optimisation.
• Experience in designing and implementing capacity building programmes for revenue authorities.
• Microsoft Office suite proficiency – Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Behavioural Competencies
• Leadership (influence / able to convince others to pursue a course of action) – non-positional (including the humility required in the role where results of hard work are always to be attributed to others and not yourself).
• Strategic thinking / visioning (domestic tax administration knowledge necessary) – able to see and communicate the big picture in an inspiring way. Determines opportunities and threats (risk management) through comprehensive analysis of current and future trends.
• Organisation and planning – plans, organises, schedules and budgets in an efficient, productive manner (project management and reporting). Focuses on key priorities & outcomes.
• Execution capabilities(implementation / results driven) – the ability to get things done under tight deadlines. Problem solver and detailed-oriented.
• Collaborative skills – ability to work with others in a multi-stakeholder environment.
Strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to develop other people and to get the most out of people (ability to read people and know what motivates them) – coaching / mentoring / training. Best practice transfer.
• Communication – the ability to proficiently communicate in writing and verbally.
• Persistence – includes being relentless in identifying why performance of initiatives are not what is should be and rectifying this.
• Flexibility – ability to make changes to project governance, initiative prioritisation, team composition, etc.
• Detachment – independent and objective person. Not necessarily concerned about their next role or promotion but focused on attaining the desired outcome.
• Hyper vigilance on the opportunities and risks related to the project.
• Role model for change.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 120

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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Job application procedure
Please send your Cover Letter and CV to giulia.caruso@cowater.com (CVs should be maximum 2 pages – please focus on the most relevant experience)
• For your application to be considered, the subject line in the email must be completed as follows: USAID Revenue for Growth Zambia – Tax Administration
Specialist – Candidate Last Name, First Name
Deadline for Applications: Friday, 30th July 2021

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