The aim is to achieve better governance and control of more than 200 existing public bodies, including ministries, departments and agencies, it was indicated in adverts over the weekend.

The functions are focused on areas of the government’s fiscal consolidation programme and are information technology-centred in the main.

“The GOJ needs to increase efficiency of its human resource processes across the public sector, ensure the accuracy of its payroll and maximise the human capital present in the administration,” it was noted in personnel adverts.

Citing the need to improve public sector efficiency and service delivery, and reduce the public sector deficit, the public sector efficiency programme (PSEP) was developed with the assistance of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Requests to the Ministry of Finance to indicate the cost of the programme were not answered up to press time.

However, adverts soliciting management talent indicate that areas being targeted are human resource management; information and communication technologies management; and public sector control systems and accountability mechanisms.

The overhaul of HR, the Finance Ministry indicates, is intended to address the issue of human resources management in the public service “which has been fragmented for many years with dispersed responsibilities and limited enforcement capacity”.

It was noted that the public sector efficiency programme is also to support initiatives included in the External Fund Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially the human capital enterprise management system and shared corporate services. The HR transformation programme will be underpinned by the human capital enterprise system (HCMS).

The system support lead is expected to have expertise in payroll applications. The Finance Ministry expressed the hope that all applicants chosen will be able to start work by April 18.

Broad aims of the GOJ, as outlined in its commitments to the IMF, include putting in place shared services within the central government starting with legal services, and reducing the wage bill to nine per cent of GDP in 2016/17.

It also aims to cut the size of the public sector through the elimination of posts and an attrition programme, subject to the need to preserve capacity in a limited number of priority areas.