Economist (Debt and Risk Management)

Position Title	Economist (Debt and Risk Management)
Engagement Type	Long-Term Personnel (Local)
Group / Workstream	Budget and Debt Management
Grade / Level	B2
Reports To	Budget & Debt Management Lead
Location	Jakarta — Prospera Office
Duration	12 months, with possibility of extensions

Program Background

Prospera Phase 2 is Australia’s flagship economic development partnership with Indonesia, supporting the Government of Indonesia (GoI) to advance sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient economic growth. Building on nearly three decades of cooperation, the program delivers high-quality, demand-driven policy advice, institutional strengthening and Australian Public Service (APS) partnerships aligned with Indonesia’s national priorities and Australia’s economic diplomacy objectives.

The program is structured around two mutually reinforcing End-of-Program Outcomes (EOPO):

• EOPO 1: strengthened macroeconomic, financial and public financial management systems that support sustainable, climate-resilient and inclusive growth; and
• EOPO 2: expanded markets, jobs, trade and investment through improved economic policy and reform implementation.

Across both outcomes, Prospera Phase 2 emphasises politically informed and evidence-based reform, sustained institutional capability, and locally led solutions rather than short-term technical fixes. Gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), sustainability, climate and energy transition considerations, and localisation are embedded across all areas of engagement.

Purpose of the Role

The Economist (Debt and Risk Management) will provide economic analysis and policy advice to support Prospera Budget and Debt Management Team’s engagement with Ministry of Finance and other Government of Indonesia counterparts, focusing on government debt, debt sustainability, fiscal surveillance, fiscal risks, and PFM reform.

The Economist will assess debt, financing, fiscal, and macroeconomic developments and their implications for debt sustainability and fiscal risks. This will include conducting debt sustainability analysis and stress testing, developing analytical models, assessing debt-management and financing strategies, and preparing technical notes, briefings, and presentations to support policy dialogue and reform.

The role requires strong economic judgement and ability to work with complex data to identify vulnerabilities, test assumptions, and develop clear policy recommendations. The Economist will work with MoF officials and other government counterparts to strengthen analytical capacity and support the design and implementation of relevant reforms.

Reporting to Prospera Budget and Debt Management Team Lead, the Economist will work closely with colleagues across the Fiscal, Macro, and Financial Sector Teams and provide technical guidance to Research Analysts.

Key Responsibilities

The Economist (Debt and Risk Management) will provide economic analysis and policy advice on government debt, debt sustainability, and fiscal risks, while supporting PFM reforms in debt and risk management. Key responsibilities include:

• Analyse public debt, government financing, and fiscal risks, including debt composition, debt servicing, gross financing needs, contingent liabilities, and public-sector balance-sheet exposures.
• Conduct debt sustainability analysis (DSA), medium-term debt projections, scenario analysis, and stress testing to assess debt sustainability, vulnerabilities, and key risks.
• Monitor fiscal and debt developments and assess emerging fiscal, sovereign, and quasi-fiscal risks, including their potential implications for the government’s fiscal position and balance sheet.
• Assess debt-management strategies and financing options, including borrowing and issuance strategies, liability management, contingency financing arrangements, and government securities market development.
• Analyse primary and secondary government securities market outcomes, including auction results and issuance costs, secondary market liquidity and pricing, and the composition, capacity and behaviour of the investor base, including retail participation.
• Analyse macroeconomic and financial market developments and their implications for government financing conditions, debt servicing costs, refinancing risks, and the debt portfolio.
• Provide policy advice and support PFM reforms in debt and fiscal risk management, including strengthening institutional frameworks, processes, analytical tools, and risk monitoring practices.
• Support assessment of debt management institutional arrangements — mandate, governance and decision rights, business processes, data and systems — through document review, structured interviews with counterpart units, benchmarking against comparable debt management offices, and evidence recorded against recognised international frameworks.
• Assemble, document and maintain the datasets the analysis rests on, including instrument-level and transaction-level records drawn from counterpart units, published sources and external institutions; establish consistent series identifiers, documented definitions and agreed refresh arrangements; and support requests for data held outside the counterpart.
• Engage with relevant Ministry of Finance DGs, government institutions, and other counterparts to support policy development, strengthen analytical capacity, advance reform implementation, and promote consistency across related work.
• Ensure activities are designed and outputs delivered in accordance with Prospera's SOPs and standards, including technical quality standards, and donor requirements.

Key Relationships — Internal

As part of the Macro Fiscal Finance group (EOPO 1), the role works closely with:

• Budget & Debt Management Lead — reporting and supervision line; direction, support and professional development
• Portfolio Director (Macro-Fiscal, Finance, and Climate Resilience) - portfolio direction, performance management, prioritisation, resource decisions and escalation.
• Lead Economist – relevant economic policy advise and quality assurance, where and as appropriate.
• EOPO 1 technical teams — collaboration across budget, revenue, expenditure, state assets, financing, fiscal risk, macroeconomic, financial sector, and related areas.
• Other technical teams — collaboration on cross-cutting fiscal, economic, and PFM issues.
• Monitoring and Evaluation Team — program accountability.
• Communications Team — support in developing and disseminating clear messages about the team’s work.
• Operations and enabling services - people, finance, operations, systems, risk and compliance matters.

Key Relationships — External

The Economist (Debt and Risk Management) engages with:

• Ministry of Finance and broader GoI agencies: to understand policy developments, access data, provide analysis and policy advice, and support debt, fiscal risk, and PFM reforms.
• Australian Public Service (APS) partners: to exchange technical expertise and relevant policy and institutional experience.
• International financial institutions and development partners: to exchange analysis, good practices, and international experience on debt management, fiscal risks, and PFM.
• Financial market and private sector: to understand market conditions, investor perspectives, financing trends, and developments affecting government borrowing and debt management.
• Academic and research institutions: to access research and evidence and support knowledge exchange on public finance, debt, and fiscal risk management.

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will have:

Essential

• Master’s degree (S2) in Economics, Public Finance, Public Policy, Finance, or a closely related field.
• At least 5 years of professional experience in fiscal policy, public finance, debt management, fiscal risk, macroeconomics, or applied economic analysis, including experience producing analysis for policy decision-makers.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct quantitative fiscal and debt analysis and develop, document, and apply economic or financial models using Stata, R, Python, or equivalent statistical software, together with advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Demonstrated experience working with granular financial or administrative data — such as instrument-level, auction-level or transaction-level records — including data assembly, cleaning, documentation, and analysis that others can reproduce.
• Strong understanding of government debt, fiscal risks, debt sustainability, and Indonesia’s fiscal, budget, financing, and PFM institutions.
• Demonstrated ability to produce concise, well-reasoned written analysis and practical policy advice for senior policy audiences and to present findings clearly.
• Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively with government counterparts and other stakeholders, and to deliver high-quality analysis.

Desirable

• Experience in debt sustainability analysis, fiscal forecasting and surveillance, fiscal risk analysis, debt management strategy, or related fiscal modelling.
• Experience analysing government securities markets, including primary market and auction outcomes, secondary market liquidity, or investor base composition.
• Experience contributing to institutional or organisational assessments, including structured interviews, document review, and benchmarking against comparable institutions.
• Prior professional engagement with the Ministry of Finance or other related agencies in Indonesia.
• Familiarity with international frameworks and comparative practices in debt management, fiscal risk management, fiscal rules, and medium-term fiscal framework.
• Experience supporting PFM reforms, particularly in debt management, fiscal risk management, or related areas.
• Experience in a development partner, international organisation, research institution, financial institution, or policy advisory environment.
• A record of published research or professional writing on debt, fiscal policy, public finance, macroeconomics, or related areas.

Skills & Competencies

The role requires the following skills and competencies:

• Applied fiscal and budget analysis: ability to work with fragmented fiscal datasets and relevant policy and regulatory frameworks, identify material trends and anomalies, and develop defensible quantitative analysis.
• Modelling and reproducibility: proficiency in building, documenting and maintaining fiscal, expenditure and other economic models and analytical tools that others can review, reproduce and build on.
• Analytical judgement: ability to move from data to policy insight, assess the fiscal and economic implications of policy options, state assumptions and uncertainty clearly.
• Policy communication: ability to draft technical notes, briefs and presentations that make findings accessible to technical, senior and non-specialist audiences in both Bahasa Indonesia and English.
• Counterpart engagement: strong interpersonal skills and credibility to work closely with government counterparts and contribute to policy discussions.
• Professional judgement: sound judgement in making recommendations and managing competing priorities.

Language Proficiency

Professional written and oral proficiency in both Bahasa Indonesia and English is essential. The role produces analytical and briefing material in both languages and engages directly with Indonesian government counterparts and Australian Government stakeholders.

Working Conditions

The Economist (Debt and Risk Management) is based in the Prospera Office in Jakarta, Indonesia. This role involves regular collaboration with government counterparts necessitating occasional travel within Indonesia. The work pattern is standard office hours, with flexibility to accommodate meetings and deadlines as required.

Performance & Accountability

Performance will be assessed against:

• Quality of policy advice: ability to translate analysis into practical, evidence-based recommendations on debt management, fiscal risks, and PFM reforms.
• Timeliness of deliverables: onsistent delivery of analysis, briefs, notes, models, and presentations to agreed counterpart and program deadlines.
• Clarity of communication: lear and concise written and verbal communication, and the extent to which analysis and advice support informed policy decisions.
• Effectiveness of counterpart engagement: strength of working relationships with Ministry of Finance and other government counterparts, and contribution to policy processes and reform implementation.
• Contribution to team capability: effective technical direction of Research Analysts and contribution to the Budget and Debt Management Team’s shared analytical assets and documentation.
• Adherence to frameworks and procedures: compliance with Prospera operational rules, data-handling obligations and reporting requirements.

Core Competencies

This position is expected to demonstrate the following core competencies:

• Communicates clearly and effectively
• Works collaboratively with others
• Plans and organises work effectively
• Identifies and solves problems
• Demonstrates adaptability and flexibility

Ways of Working

Prospera Phase 2 operates in a transparent, accountable, and collaborative manner. All team members are expected to share information early, manage risk proactively, and maintain clarity about decisions, roles and responsibilities. The program values respect, professionalism, integrity, and a shared commitment to high-quality, timely delivery.

Ethics and Compliance

The postholder must uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct and comply with all DFAT policies, contractual obligations and Prospera operational requirements, including:

• DFAT Child Protection and Preventing Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) policies;
• Fraud, bribery and anti-corruption prevention requirements;
• The Program Code of Conduct;
• Conflict-of-interest obligations; and
• Privacy, data-protection and confidentiality requirements, including any data-sharing protocols governing access to Ministry of Finance administrative data.

Intellectual Property

All materials produced under this assignment will be the property of Prospera/DFAT.