Trade in Services Data Collection and ITRS Specialist

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND TIMELINES / RESULT OF SERVICE The International Consultant is expected to deliver the following key outputs throughout the contract period from 4 January 2027 to 21 March 2027. All deliverables must be: 1. Submitted in English (unless otherwise specified). 2. Approved by the ITC Hiring Manager. 3. Delivered in line with the project timeline and standards. Output 1: Features of the current ITRS system are assessed, ensuring identification of principal bottlenecks in principal service categories. Timeline: 15 January 2027 Output 2: Draft technical note is prepared, providing practical recommendations for enhancing the ITRS and complementary data collection on trade in services, with a particular focus classification of payment codes and relevant developments under current versions of manuals and the forthcoming BPM7 and MSITS 2026. Timeline: 15 February 2027 Output 3: Principal findings and recommendations of the technical note are shared with CBJ and other national stakeholders, their feedback is collected and incorporated in the final version of the concept note. Timeline: 28 February 2027 Output 4: Webinar for data compilers and reporting banks is delivered and the plan of further actions is shared with ITC. Timeline: 21 March 2027

Home-based / No travel / International consultant

04/01/27 - 21/03/27

BACKGROUND:. The Making Trade Happen (MTH) programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC), supports Jordan in strengthening export competitiveness, improving market linkages with the United Kingdom, and advancing a more enabling environment for services trade. MTH builds on the achievements of previous UK Trade Partnerships (UKTP) cycles and introduces a more integrated, market-driven approach to supporting Jordanian firms and institutions. During the current project cycle, MTH is implementing targeted interventions in three priority sectors - agribusiness, management consulting services, and digital gaming - while also advancing trade policy dialogue and strengthening national capacities for services trade data collection. Within this framework, the programme is supporting the development and international competitiveness of Jordan's management consulting services sector. Under the 2025–2026 programme cycle, ITC collaborated closely with government counterparts to assess the existing data on trade in management consulting services in Jordan and develop recommendations to improve its quality, coverage, and availability. This work resulted in a comprehensive concept note outlining key recommendations and capacity-building activities, as well as a roadmap identifying priority actions to strengthen data collection. Strengthening the availability, quality, and granularity of trade in services statistics is essential to support evidence-based policymaking and private sector development in Jordan. Building on the work undertaken under the UKTP 2025–2026 programme, MTH focuses on advancing the technical and institutional foundations required to implement the roadmap and strengthen national capacities to collect, analyse, and disseminate timely and reliable data on trade in management consulting services. Against this background, ITC seeks to recruit an International Consultant to build on the previous work and facilitate the implementation of the priority actions identified in the roadmap for strengthening data collection in the management consulting sector. The Consultant will provide technical expertise and collaborate with the Central Bank of Jordan in reviewing and refining the International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS), the principal source of data on trade in services, in line with the international recommendations. Enhancing the coverage, accuracy, and quality of data reported through the ITRS was identified as a key priority action during the previous phase of the project. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES The International Consultant will work under the supervision of ITC and in close coordination with national counterparts to support the implementation of the roadmap developed during the previous phase of the project. The assignment will comprise the following activities: 1. Review the existing International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) and identify key bottlenecks in all service categories. The Consultant will engage with the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) to assess the broad ITRS and other data sources used to compile statistics on trade in services for the balance of payments purposes. The assessment will focus on the existing classification of payment codes and identifying key bottlenecks, data gaps, and opportunities to improve the quality, coverage, and granularity of the available data. In particular, the Consultant will: • Examine the priority actions related to ITRS refinement, identified in the roadmap and previous technical notes notes prepared by ITC. • Discuss the current situation in detail with CBJ. • Consider the role and potential contribution of complementary data sources in addressing identified gaps. 2. Develop a technical note with recommendations for enhancing the ITRS in principal service categories. Drawing on the consultations and assessment undertaken under Activity 1, the Consultant will develop a technical note setting out practical recommendations for enhancing the ITRS in all principal trade in services categories, in line with the balance of payments/EBOPS methodology. The recommendations should be informed by relevant international statistical standards, including the forthcoming revisions to the Balance of Payments Manual, Seventh Edition (BPM7) and the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services 2026 (MSITS 2026), and good practices from other countries. Particular attention should be given to: • Enhancing the classification of payment codes used to identify and record transactions on trade in services. • Identification of best-practice examples from countries using ITRS systems for the collection of trade in services data. • Prevention of misclassification, including approaches to communication and guidance for reporting banks. • Implementation of reporting thresholds and estimation of transactions below the threshold, including best-practice examples from other countries. • Assessing options for complementing ITRS data with information from other relevant administrative or statistical sources. • Incorporating relevant methodological and classification changes envisaged under BPM7 and MSITS 2026. 3. Validate the technical concept note with national counterparts The Consultant will participate in a validation process with the CBJ and other relevant national institutions, including the Department of Statistics (DOS) and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply (MoITS), to discuss and refine the proposed recommendations. The Consultant will: • Prepare the list of main findings and proposed enhancements and disseminate them among the relevant national counterparts. • Provide additional information, where requested by Jordanian data compilers. • Incorporate feedback from national stakeholders and finalize the technical note, ensuring that the recommendations are practical, aligned with national priorities, and consistent with relevant international standards. 4. Deliver key conclusions and recommendations during a webinar with CBJ and reporting banks, addressing reporting challenges and promoting good practices. The Consultant will participate in a webinar organized for CBJ specialists and representatives of reporting bank and deliver key conclusions and recommendations from the technical note, while responding to challenges faced by reporters and data compilers. The Consultant will: • Prepare and deliver presentations highlighting the key messages from the technical note and providing examples of best practices. • Provide additional information and respond to questions from participating banks and data compilers, addressing practical issues related to ITRS data reporting. • Incorporate feedback from national stakeholders and prepare a brief action plan outlining the next steps. ITC will remain responsible for webinar-related logistics and interpretation. Copyright Clause: The consultant has to ensure that she has obtained the necessary permissions with regard to intellectual property rights required to perform her services under this consultancy contract and for the subsequent dissemination by ITC in any form. Documentary proof is to be submitted to ITC. Should any license fee be due for the use of copyrighted materials of third parties, the consultant shall request the prior written permission from ITC. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, gender equality and gender parity and considers all qualified persons - of all genders - equally, including those with disabilities, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.

• Postgraduate degree (MA/MSc/MBA, Ph.D. or other) in statistics, economics, international relations or international business. • Extensive relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the university degree. • Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in international trade in services and data collection. • Previous experience working with or for interational organizations is desirable. • Detailed knowledge of international recommendations for trade in services data collection is required (BPM6/BPM7, MSITS2010/MSITS2026). • Excellent writing and presenting skills, with focus on technical reports. • Experience with ITRS systems and bank reporting is highly desirable.

• Advanced level of English (spoken and written) is required. • Arabic is a plus.