Principal Regional Operations Management Officer, RDRI at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/19/211
Location: Abidjan, Cote D'ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50071223

The Complex

• The Bank has reorganized and is developing 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.
• Within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP), the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery (RDIBD) Directorates, one in each region of Africa: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) 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 of ‘Light up and Power Africa,’ ‘Feed Africa,’ ‘Industrialise Africa,’ ‘Integrate Africa,’ ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

The Hiring Department

• Under the new Development and Business Delivery Model (DBDM), the Regional Integration Coordinating Department (RDRI) was established within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP) with the aim of providing strategic direction for the Integrate Africa work streams at the regional level while focusing on implementation at the sub-regional and national level through Regional and Country Strategy Papers to enable Regional Member Countries to realize enhanced outcomes.

The Position

• The Principal Regional Operations Management Officer monitors regional projects implementation and provide support in enhancing productivity, accountability, efficiency of regional operations but also in regional integration business development with Regions and Sector Departments within the Bank and with RDRI external partners.
• S/he provides expertise, support on regional project design, implementation, follow up, and, if needed, project restructuring activities.
• S/he will also manage the annual process of initial projects screening for the Regional Operations Envelop (ROE) support.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Division Manager, the Principal Regional Operations Management officer will perform the following duties:

• Monitor regional operations progress by liaising with Regional Integration Coordinators and, if necessary, RPOs, CPOs and Task Managers on issues of pipeline development, portfolio management but also strategy development and review.
• Review periodic reports (including but not limited to quarterly, half-yearly, and annual operational, technical, environmental and financial reports) of flagged regional integration projects to ensure compliance with covenants and project implementation timelines, highlighting implementation issues and challenges and keep regular communication with related Country and Head Office staff.
• Advise and be a member of the origination teams on transactions with focus on improving the regional dimension in the design, the preparation and the implementation of projects and contribute to strengthen quality of the regional operation portfolio at entry.
• Contribute to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, multilateral partners, and government officials to develop a strong pipeline for new regional operations.
• Monitor performance of regional operations portfolio and lead analytical work on portfolio analysis.
• Manage the annual prioritization exercise for the Regional Operation Envelope and participate to potential project sponsors interviews, check accuracy of information provided, and evaluate capacity of the parties to successfully implement the proposed projects.
• Prepare relevant reports for submission to Management as periodic updates on regional operations portfolio implementation progress.
• Represent the Division Manager in various committees/meetings on issues related to regional operations portfolio management.
• Develop, under RDRI management guidance, solid working relationships across regions and complexes, support, and advise RDRI management to improve the reporting on regional integration projects implementation including with RDRI external partners.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Master's degree in a relevant field such as economics, international law, international relations or development or related field.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience in design and / or implementation of cooperation project /  program, notably within an international and development organization
• Demonstrated experience in portfolio management within a multilateral institution / Proven track record of working with multiple stakeholders across complexes to operationalize collaboration and implement integrated solution to enhance portfolio monitoring.
• Experience in developing countries and excellent understanding of regional integration policies within Africa.
• Good knowledge of relevant strategies, policies, procedures and practices of development finance institutions will be an added advantage.
• Ability to effectively plan, direct, organize and administer diverse activities, to ensure effective delivery of work program.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other.
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).