Social Development Officer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/19/118
Location: Sierra Leone
Grade: LP4
Position N°: 50067878

The Complex

• The Bank has established the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex whose major objective is to build regional capabilities and bring responsibility for client activities closer to the regions.
• Five Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Hubs have been created, each run by a Director General: Southern Africa, North Africa, West Africa; East Africa, and Central Africa.
• 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”.

The Hiring Department/Country Office

• The various Country Offices fall within one of the five (5) Regions of the Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Hubs.
• The Hub oversees a combination of country and liaison offices, as well as non-presence countries. The Director General is accountable for the specific African region. Each Hub houses relevant operations, business development and project implementation functions and administrative capabilities in a shared service for rapid deployment into the individual countries, to help drive the overall business of the Bank effectively on the ground.
• Sierra Leone Country Office of the African Development Bank has the mandate to strengthen policy dialogue between the Bank, Governments and other stakeholders; improve performance of the project portfolio and aid coordination with other development partners.

Duties and responsibilities

• Monitor procurement of goods and services and advising borrowers on related Bank Procedures;
• Reviewing design and tender documents;
• Supervise the work of consultants and contractors;
• Provide assistance to the loan administration department on disbursement related issues;
• Ensure that borrowers submit Quarterly Project Progress Reports, Audit Reports, Procurement plans and annual implementation plans on a regular basis;
• Prepare Project Completion Reports and draw lessons for future Bank Group interventions;
• Prepare and monitor portfolio performance reports for Social Sector projects including submitting inputs for briefing notes and speeches;
• Analyse social sector policies and strategies of member countries;
• Recommend social sector studies/projects/programs to be included in the lending program for each country;
• Prepare Terms of Reference for social sector studies/reports and assist borrower in recruiting consultants, reviewing and approving reports;
• Initiate and Maintain a high level dialogue with borrowers and other agencies involved in Human Development;
• Organize loan negotiations and signing of loan agreements and ensure that loans conditions are fully complied with;
• Monitor and Review social sector aid programs of other donor agencies in each specific regional member country and determining financing gaps;
• Draft responses for the Manager’s or Director’s signature on Human Development sectors related issues;
• Represent the Bank/Department at National and International Human Development related meetings such as sector working groups, loans committee, loans negotiations, Board Meetings etc…

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master's Degree or its university equivalent in Sociology, Anthropology, Development Studies, Economics, relevant Social Sciences, or in an equivalent social-related discipline.
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional experience in the areas of social assessment, management of resettlement and compensation, situation analyses of poverty and vulnerability including gender;
• Excellent technical and analytical skills and established track record of excellence in operational and policy work on environmental and social matters;
• Practitioner experience in Africa, with broad skills in multi-criteria assessment, stakeholder engagement and consultation, community participation, with analytical skills in assessing institutional capacities and designing/reviewing practical implementation arrangements for complex projects;
• Substantive knowledge, experience in and commitment to social development work and understanding of critical issues in sustainable development, international development policy, emerging social development and results-based management agendas;
• Experience working on operations in the private sector and the public sector;
• Expertise in applying social analyses, social assessments, and other instruments to Bank operations;
• Knowledge of social development issues facing regional member countries (RMCs);
• Results-oriented, team player, articulate analyst with attention to details, persuasive communicator and good writer;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues
• Proficiency in written and verbal communication in English, with a working knowledge of French as an advantage;
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (SAP, Word, Excel, Access, MS Projects and PowerPoint).