Enterprise Data Architecture Analyst, Short-Term

Background

The project Promoting rural agriculture development and quality employment for the most vulnerable is financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP to support Moldova’s transition from crisis response toward long-term resilience, inclusive growth, and EU-aligned reforms. Building on EU–Moldova priorities in employment, labour market modernization, and agricultural governance, the project promotes an integrated approach that links employment services, social protection, and agricultural support through digitally enabled service delivery. By strengthening institutional capacities and modernizing core digital public services - particularly those serving vulnerable rural populations - the project aims to improve access, transparency, and effectiveness of public support measures, while contributing to Moldova’s broader reform agenda on modernization, social inclusion, and sustainable rural development.

In 2025, the Republic of Moldova continues to navigate a challenging socioeconomic and geopolitical context. The country is transitioning from crisis response to longer-term resilience building, while its reform agenda – centered on economic modernization, energy transition, and governance strengthening – is being tested amid rising regional risks, growing public expectations, and constrained fiscal space.

Agriculture remains a central sector of the Moldovan economy, employing over one-fifth of the workforce and contributing around 12% of GDP. Including food processing, the agri-food sector accounts for 16% of GDP and 45% of total exports. Moldova’s fertile land supports diverse production and underpins the rural economy. However, the sector is characterized by a dual structure: large, competitive enterprises coexist with numerous small, low-productivity farms. Informality is widespread, with more than half of salaried agricultural workers employed without formal contracts.

Digital modernization of public services in both employment and agriculture is progressing but remains uneven. Key institutions continue to operate with fragmented data systems, weak interoperability, and limited analytical capacity. These gaps hinder policy implementation, reduce the effectiveness of subsidies and services, and limit the state’s ability to engage the most vulnerable rural populations.

In this context, the Project seeks to contribute to labour market inclusion and agricultural modernization through digitally enabled service delivery. UNDP’s engagement is focused on integrated and inclusive approaches – linking social protection, employment, and agricultural services through modern digital infrastructure and case management. Building on past experience in digital governance and service modernization, the initiative is well positioned to deliver scalable results that can be institutionalized and sustained beyond the project’s duration. It will contribute to Moldova’s broader objectives of fostering decent work, rural development, and sustainable EU-aligned transformation.

The project aims to strengthen Moldova’s institutional and digital governance systems in order to expand access to employment and modernize agricultural service delivery for vulnerable rural populations. Its focus is on enabling hard-to-employ individuals and farmers to benefit from more efficient, inclusive, and transparent public services.
On the employment side, the initiative seeks to make social protection and labour market services more accessible and better integrated, supported by digitally re-engineered institutional frameworks.

In agriculture, the project will help farmers across the country, including smallholders and underrepresented groups, access modernized services that are transparent, equitable, and aligned with Moldova’s reform agenda and EU commitments.

The project directly supports Moldova’s EU accession process by advancing the implementation of the Reform Agenda, in particular subdomain 1.7 on agriculture and subdomain 4.3 on employment and labour markets. Within the agricultural sector, the initiative contributes to the operationalization of the digital National Farmers Registry (dNFR) and the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), both of which are prerequisites for Moldova’s compliance with the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) requirements under Chapter 11. The project also aims to strengthen transparency and accountability in agricultural governance through the introduction of conditionality and compliance mechanisms.

Institutional support will be provided to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) and the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) to reinforce their capacity to manage digital tools, improve administrative frameworks, and ensure transparent subsidy management. These reforms will be complemented by inclusive outreach measures to ensure equitable access to digital agricultural services for smallholders, women, and rural youth, fostering resilience and participation across rural communities.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization working to end poverty, inequality, and climate change. With a presence in 170 countries, UNDP partners with governments, civil society, and the private sector to help build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP Moldova seeks to contract an Enterprise Data Architecture Analyst (hereinafter “the Analyst”) to define, govern, and document the enterprise and data architecture of the IACS platform, supporting the Digital National Farmers Registry (dNFR) and connected components. The assignment will focus on establishing the canonical data model, integration strategy, and architectural standards that will guide all IACS subsystem development, as well as mapping and interconnecting the full set of sectoral registries under MAIA, ensuring unified data structures, eliminating redundancies, and enabling full interoperability across the IACS ecosystem.

The Analyst will work under the framework of the EMAG Project as part of an interdisciplinary team supporting agricultural modernization and digital governance. The Analyst will coordinate with the designated technical teams of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI), the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA), and the Moldova Electronic Governance Agency to validate architectural decisions, align deliverables with institutional needs, and ensure coherence across all IACS components, while retaining strategic responsibility for enterprise and data architecture governance throughout the engagement.

The Analyst will carry out the full architecture definition cycle, including enterprise architecture assessment, canonical data model design, integration strategy elaboration, technical debt analysis, modernization roadmap, and architecture governance. The assignment will also include producing and maintaining comprehensive architectural documentation (e.g., Enterprise Architecture Document, Architecture Decision Records, Application Programming Interface (API )specifications, data governance framework, integration matrix) and supporting knowledge transfer to MAFI/AIPA technical counterparts to ensure long-term sustainability of architectural decisions.

More specifically, the Analyst will be responsible for:

Define and govern the IACS enterprise and data architecture

• Enterprise Architecture & Canonical Data Model (IACS). Elaborate the Enterprise Architecture Document (EAD) for the IACS platform using standard frameworks (TOGAF, ArchiMate, or equivalent), covering business, application, data, and infrastructure layers. Define the Capability Map (Land Parcel Identification System -LPIS, Farm Registry, Payment Applications, Controls, Payments), map dependencies and data flows across all IACS components and external systems, and establish architectural principles (modularity, loose coupling, API-first design, event-driven integration, data ownership). Design the Canonical Data Model (CDM) for the full IACS ecosystem, covering core entities (Agricultural Parcel, Farm/Holding, Farmer, Payment Application, Control, Payment, Crop, Animal), attributes, relationships, cardinalities, and integrity rules, alongside the data governance framework (ownership, stewardship, data quality KPIs, metadata catalogue, lineage, and retention policies).
• Integration Strategy & Data Quality Governance. Elaborate the integration strategy between IACS components (LPIS - Farm Registry - Payment Applications - Controls - Payments), defining integration patterns (synchronous/asynchronous, event-driven, batch), protocols, and data contracts. Design data synchronization mechanisms including Change Data Capture (CDC), event sourcing, and conflict resolution across distributed components. Define data quality standards—validation rules, deduplication procedures, cleansing mechanisms, and data quality KPIs-applicable across the full IACS ecosystem and connected sectoral registries.
• Registers API Architecture & Interoperability with National Digital Infrastructure. Design the API architecture for IACS: gateway, versioning, authentication/authorization, rate limiting, documentation, and evolution strategy. Define integration specifications with external systems-cadastre, orthophotos, fiscal registries, population register, existing AIPA systems-and with national digital infrastructure (MPass, MConnect, MNotify, MSign, MLog, MPay), in compliance with interoperability standards set by STISC and the E-Governance Agency. Produce the integration matrix covering all data flows between IACS components and external systems, including frequency, volume, mechanism, and associated SLAs.
• Compliance Security Architecture, Technology Stack & Modernization Roadmap. Design the IACS security architecture: authentication, role-based authorization, data encryption in transit and at rest, audit logging, and compliance with national data protection and cybersecurity requirements. Sectoral Registry Interconnection (MAIA) Inventory and analyse all sectoral registries under the MAIA domain (Viticultural Registry, Animal Registry, Farmer Registry, Apicultural Registry, Multiannual Plantations Registry, and other relevant sectoral databases), mapping their existing data models, technologies, data volumes, update frequency, and data ownership. Identify overlaps, redundancies, and inconsistencies across registries (e.g., the Farmer/Holding entity present in multiple registries with divergent attributes) and propose a unified canonical model serving as the single source of truth for shared entities. Design the interconnection architecture between sectoral registries and the IACS ecosystem, including integration interfaces, bidirectional data flows, reconciliation mechanisms, business correlation rules, and a progressive integration roadmap with defined success criteria per stage.
• Architecture Governance & Knowledge Transfer. Establish and maintain the ADR register documenting all significant architectural decisions taken during the project. Produce coding standards, naming conventions, and design pattern guidelines for IACS development teams. Participate in architectural reviews of solutions proposed by development teams, ensuring conformity with the reference architecture. Provide mentoring and structured knowledge transfer to MAIA and AIPA technical counterparts, ensuring long-term sustainability of architectural governance beyond the engagement.
• Quality Assurance of Contractor Deliverables. Review and validate architecture and technical deliverables produced by external contractors to ensure alignment with the IACS enterprise architecture reference, canonical data model, API specifications, security architecture, and interoperability standards defined for the IACS platform and its connected sectoral registries.

Architecture oversight and stakeholder alignment

• Review and validate technical specifications proposed by development teams to ensure feasibility, consistency, and alignment with the IACS enterprise architecture reference, canonical data model, and integration standards.
• Analyse architectural risks across IACS components (e.g. scalability bottlenecks, integration anti-patterns, data model inconsistencies, single points of failure) and propose evidence-based mitigation measures including performance targets, load testing benchmarks, and caching strategies for GIS/spatial query workloads.
• Support institutional change management by contributing to the preparation and review of architectural documentation, data governance policies, and technical standards that guide IACS development teams throughout the project lifecycle.
• Facilitate cross-team technical communication between development teams across different IACS components, ensuring alignment with common architectural standards, shared data models, and interoperability requirements, and serving as the primary architectural escalation point for design decisions during the project.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangements

The Enterprise Data Architecture Analyst will work under the supervision of the Project Manager, in close cooperation with the UNDP Moldova Policy Specialist and Digital Development Specialist and overall project team, for an effective achievement of results, anticipating and contributing to resolving project-related issues and information delivery.

He/she will also collaborate with other UN projects, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Moldova Electronic Governance Agency, and other national stakeholders. The incumbent is expected to exercise full compliance with UNDP administrative rules, regulations, policies and strategies.

Competencies

Core Competencies
Achieve results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible.

Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional and Technical Competencies

Business Management - Relationship Management:

• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.

Business Development - Human-Centered Design:

• Ability to develop solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. Knowledge and understanding of human centred design principles and practices.

Business Direction & Strategy - System Thinking:

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Development - Knowledge Facilitation:

• Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas. Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange.

Data - Data analysis:

• Ability to extract, analyse and visualize data to form meaningful insights and aid effective business decision-making.

Digital - Digital transformation design:

• Practical and strategic skills in digital transformation for governments and organizations

Digital - Data governance:

• Knowledge of data science, skills to develop data management tools, organize and maintain databases and operate data visualization technologies

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Education requirements:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, or related field(s) with additional two (2) years of qualifying experience; OR
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional four (4) years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Minimum years of relevant work experience:

• Minimum 2 years (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible relevant experience in enterprise architecture, data architecture, or systems design, including design of complex, multi-component information systems, canonical data modelling, and integration strategy definition.

Required skills:

• Minimum experience of 2 years in working on enterprise or data architecture work on complex, multi-component information systems, including definition of canonical data models, integration strategies, and architectural governance frameworks.

Desired skills:

• Proven ability to produce enterprise architecture artifacts using standard frameworks, including context/container/component diagrams, capability maps, integration matrices and data governance frameworks.
• Experience designing and governing data models for large-scale, interoperable public sector systems, including canonical data model definition, data quality frameworks, metadata catalogues, and data lineage documentation; familiarity with relational and spatial database design (PostgreSQL/PostGIS) and physical schema specification (DDL scripts, partitioning, indexing strategies) in support of high-volume IACS-type workloads.
• Demonstrated experience defining API architecture strategies and integration patterns for distributed multi-system environments; familiarity with the IACS/CAP ecosystem components (LPIS, GSAA, Farm Registry, payment processing), EU agricultural data standards, or national e-government interoperability frameworks (MConnect, MPass, STISC standards) is an asset.
• Experience conducting architectural assessments (technical debt identification, risk analysis, modernization roadmaps) and managing data migration strategies from legacy systems; experience designing security architectures for public sector platforms; and familiarity with cloud infrastructure (Azure/AWS), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines, and Agile delivery tools (e.g. Jira/Confluence).
• Previous experience in digital transformation projects within the public sector or in collaboration with governmental institutions, agricultural data systems, or IACS/CAP implementation environments is an advantage.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in Romanian and English is required.
• Knowledge of one or more minority languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Romani, Gagauzian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and sign language, is an asset.

Professional Certificates:

• Additional training and/or certification in enterprise architecture frameworks (TOGAF, ArchiMate) or data management (CDMP, DAMA), cloud architecture (Azure/AWS Solutions Architect), API management, or information security (e.g., ISO 27001 foundations) would be an advantage.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

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