Youth & Employment Officer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/19/044
Location: Tunisia
Position N°: 50000978
Grade: PL4

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery is responsible for operational relevancy, efficiency and effectiveness of the Bank Group’s operational programs, and activities.
• The Vice-Presidency Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery will ensure that the Bank operates successfully across its Regional Member Countries and will oversee the full implementation of all aspects of the Bank’s Regional Directorates.

The Hiring Department/Division

• Within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex, the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Directorates, one in each region of Africa: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General and is staffed with the relevant sectoral functions and administrative capabilities for rapid delivery of services to client countries. The Regional Directorates provide overall strategic direction to country offices within the regions and are responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5s :‘Light Up and Power Africa’, ‘Feed Africa,’ ‘Industrialize Africa,’ ‘Integrate Africa,’ and ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.’
• The mission of the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Division is to contribute to the Bank’s efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development in Regional Member Countries. It does so by (1) contributing to development of country and regional strategies and building sector knowledge and (2) focusing on project/programme origination and delivery for approval of operations defined under the High 5 priorities.
• The Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department, within the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex will spearhead the achievement of the High 5s on “Improving the Quality of Life of People in Africa” and contribute to the other High 5s. The Department has two divisions (i) Education, Human Capital and Skills Development Division which focuses on scaling-up of the Bank’s support to education, human capital and employment/livelihoods; and (ii) Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division focusing on strengthening health systems and nutrition for human wellbeing. It also hosts various pertinent initiatives.
• The African Development Bank adopted in May 2016, the “Jobs for Youth in Africa” (JfYA) Strategy for the period of 2016 – 2025. This Strategy responds to the priorities in the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy and the New Corporate Priorities (High-Five). Creating productive jobs for the youth would improve their living conditions and enhance their engagement in Africa’s growth and economic transformation. The Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy was launched during the Bank’s annual meeting in Lusaka in May, 2016 to commence its operationalization.

The position

•  The overall objective of the job is to provide technical expertise that would support and ensure the realization of the Banks job creation and youth employability strategies - including the “Jobs for Youth in Africa” – which are aimed at providing jobs for youths as a way of stemming migration.

Duties and responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Regional Sector Manager, Agriculture, Human and Social Development Division of Regional Business Delivery Office (North Africa), the incumbent shall:

• Design and manage projects which have high impact on jobs and youth employability and may have key underlying strategies to reduce the impact of migration;
• Support other departments to hold high-level policy dialogues on jobs, youth and employability;
• Deliver knowledge products on  jobs and youth employment;
• Support governments in reforms and dialogues on addressing jobs and youth unemployment and migration issues;
• Contribute to Country Strategic Papers and Regional Integration Strategic Papers to implement the strategic vision of jobs for youth in Africa strategy;
• Contribute to partnership building for targeted activities in the Bank.
• Carry out analyses of labor issues, unemployment, underemployment and youth employment and job issues, produce policy papers and propose operations to address these challenges.
• Support the Region to identify priority areas and potential operations with high job impact. Conduct field missions to identify, prepare, evaluate and/or oversee the implementation and monitoring of Bank-financed projects, programmes and sector studies, follow procurement, disbursement and reporting procedures to ensure that they comply with the Bank’s Rules and Procedures; or to bring partners to carry out these missions;
• Provide assistance to borrowers in understanding and implementing the Bank Group’s policies and procedures as well as issues relating to projects and programs as well as resource use;
• Help interface project design with private sector, and provide input to the assessment phase of major projects in other sectors.
• Contribute to the Bank’s assessment of social and macroeconomic developments, monitoring of structural reforms and policy dialogue that impact national and regional job creation for youth and women, and also seek to address migration and employment issues.
• Facilitate policy dialogue; and interact with country authorities, the private sector, local think-tanks, academia, clients and other international financial institutions.
• Provide inputs on employment policy, job creation and entrepreneurship development to country strategies and other related country strategy instruments.
• Provide inputs on the “Jobs for Youth in Africa” dialogue at the country and regional levels for (i) the achievement of country policy dialogue objectives; and (ii) contributing to country diagnostic study; and to improvements in country and regional result measurements on Jobs for Youth.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in Labour Economics, Economic Development, Business Administration, Finance, Social Sciences, or related field
• Have a minimum of six (6) years professional experience with relevant experience in jobs for youth, social protection, safety nets, financing for jobs, acquired at least partly in Africa, preferably in an international organization, government agency, think-tank or other policy environment
• Strong knowledge of job creation and entrepreneurship issues
• Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous and shifting demands/priorities under tight deadlines and coordinate the work of others
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage
• Result-oriented, accountable, proactive, self-motivated and able to work both with autonomy and with a team in diverse national and cultural contexts.
• Flexibility and the ability to work across  sector departments
• Client orientation to understand, and when appropriate, anticipate client needs, to ensure the clients receive the best possible service from the Bank.
• Ability to develop strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the creation of a positive team environment.
• Experience with policy and policy-relevant research on jobs for youth, entrepreneurship, social protection, safety nets, small & medium scale enterprise.
• Proven experience in managing projects and demonstrated experience in managing complex projects with evidence on clear outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience in dealing with gender and civil society priorities in job creation agenda.
• Demonstrated leadership effectiveness and ability to achieve defined objectives in international multicultural contexts
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable