Expression of Interest: Manager, Digital Public Finance

Location: London or Nairobi Service area(s): Governance & Stability – Public Financial Management (Digital) About ASI Adam Smith International is a strategic development company that helps people prosper by making economies stronger, societies safer, and governments more effective. Our clients are governments, international organisations, companies, and foundations. They come to us to develop strategies and to design, deliver and evaluate programmes that, in turn, stimulate growth, stability and good governance. Our core team of managers and technical experts, in offices around the world, ensures the quality of delivery and high ethical standards that we and our clients require. We bring together a global network of specialist experts, who contribute their experience and know-how, where and when it is needed. ASI is dedicated to making a meaningful difference in complex, challenging situations and we are committed to corporate integrity and a triple bottom line of social, environmental and financial performance. About the role ASI’s Public Financial Management (PFM) team, part of our Governance and Stability Practice, helps governments raise, allocate, spend and account for public money more effectively. A fast-growing part of this work is digital public finance: how governments use technology, data and digital public infrastructure to transform their financial management systems – from budget and treasury systems and government payments to data exchange, interoperability and fiscal transparency platforms. Alongside our traditional bilateral and multilateral clients, we increasingly work with philanthropic foundations and specialist digital delivery partners to design and deliver this work across Africa, Asia and fragile and conflict-affected states. We are looking for a Manager to help build and deliver our digital public finance portfolio. This role is open to candidates based in the UK or Kenya. This a hybrid role that sits at the intersection of technology, product and government. You will understand what it takes to build digital products and how large systems fit together, and you will be just as comfortable working with finance ministry officials as with engineers. You will help shape new ideas and partnerships, oversee the delivery of digital PFM work day to day, and keep projects on track and on budget. This is an exciting opportunity to shape a new and growing area of work within ASI. Key tasks and responsibilities will include but are not limited to: Growing the digital portfolio - Help shape and grow ASI’s digital public finance portfolio: identify opportunities, develop concepts and turn ideas into fundable proposals for foundations, multilateral and bilateral funders. - Lead ideation and early-stage design of new offers – scoping user needs and problems, and testing ideas with governments, funders and partners. - Build and maintain relationships with digital partners, govtech firms, technology providers and foundations. - Keep abreast of developments in govtech, digital public infrastructure (DPI), data and AI in public finance, and turn them into ideas, briefs and thought leadership. - Manage the digital pipeline and contribute to technical and commercial proposals as an effective member of bid teams. Product and technical delivery - Act as the bridge between government counterparts, technical experts, developers and funders – translating policy and institutional needs into clear product requirements, and technical options into language decision-makers understand. - Oversee the product lifecycle on our digital engagements: discovery and user research, prototyping, testing, iteration and roll-out, using agile and user-centred ways of working. - Review technical designs and system architecture, including integration with existing government systems (e.g. IFMIS, payments, budget and data-exchange systems), and advise on interoperability, data protection, security and long-term sustainability. - Assess build, buy and reuse options, including open-source tools and DPI building blocks, with a view to what governments can realistically adopt, own and maintain. - Where useful, do hands-on work yourself – quick prototypes, data analysis or scripting – to test ideas and move work forward. Project and financial management - Manage day-to-day delivery of projects to time, quality and budget: workplans, deliverables, risks and issues, and narrative reporting to clients and partners. - Manage project finances: budgets, financial tracking and forecasting, invoicing and financial reporting. - Coordinate experts, subcontractors and implementing partners, including recruitment and contracting, and ensure compliance with ASI and client processes. - Build strong working relationships with project associates and with ASI’s technical, geographic and finance teams.