Senior Urban Development Specialist - OITC at African Development Bank - AfDB

In the face of growing urbanisation in Africa, the Transport and ICT Department is aiming to step up the assistance it provides to the Bank Regional Member countries to improve urban development and municipal management in designing and implementing innovative and efficient urban development operations. The Department provides assistance in the form of project loans and grants, Technical Assistance, and Analytical and Advisory Services to help tackle issues related to urban development, infrastructure financing, urban governance improvement, housing, public private partnership projects in urban services, and institutional development, with due regard to cross-cutting themes including knowledge generation, regional integration, environmental protection and adaptation and resilience to climate change, gender equality, and the empowerment of vulnerable segments of the population, as well as the strengthening of the urban-rural linkages.

Duties and responsibilities 

Under the general supervision of the Director of OITC, the Urban Development Specialist will have the following duties and responsibilities:

• Provide technical advice to the Bank Group in respect of urban development projects (planning, infrastructure, basic services, housing, governance, municipal finance, transport and ICT infrastructure) of member countries and their cities;
• Identify suitable projects for Bank Group financing in the urban development sector and be responsible for the identification, formulation, preparation, appraisal, supervision and evaluation of normal to large complex scale projects including lending, sectorial work and technical assistance;
• Lead difficult appraisal, supervision or sector missions; prepare the appraisal reports and lead up to the stage of Board’s approval; negotiate normal to sensitive and delicate policy issues with borrowers and other parties;
• Serve as technical authority in urban development; integrate a broad spectrum of project issues from various functional areas with a cohesive position and monitor progress on on-going projects; participate in identification, feasibility studies and preparation, appraisal and supervision of normal to large and complex projects and/or complex studies involving economic, technical or financial issues;
• Undertake feasibility studies in urban development involving broad planning of resources and techno-judgment of alternative ways of shaping projects towards optimal contribution to development objectives; advise member countries on the preparation, organization and execution of feasibility studies and assist in drafting Terms of Reference; review the progress reports of studies; select the components to comprise the eventual project; review and supervise the work of consultants engaged by the Borrowers to the assigned projects/studies;
• Lead a multi-disciplinary team of experts as Task Manager in the preparation and appraisal of complex projects and large scale projects/studies;
• Advise the regional member countries and cities on Bank’s financing requirements; act as a key person to liaise with government officials and spokesman of the Bank; play a key role in the preparation and appraising of reports, working groups, loan committees, loan negotiations and presentation of projects/studies for approval by the Board;
• Supervise projects; play a key role in following up the progress of projects; supervise and monitor procurement activities for goods, works and services in accordance with Bank’s rules; review the submissions from the Borrowers, prepare tender lists, bid documents, analysis, award recommendation and contracts documents; study and analyze data submitted by borrower; verify and approve contracts for disbursement of funds; ensure that the regional member countries prepare the Borrower’s PCR after project completion;
• Lead Bank missions as Task Manager to evaluate overall project performance, hold discussions and collect adequate data for the preparation of the Bank’s project completion-report; advise the Bank Group on lessons derived from the project which will guide future intervention in the specific countries; prepare terms of reference for feasibility and engineering designs for studies; evaluate consultancy proposals; review bid documents and evaluation for works and goods;
• Serve as a member of the Bank Procurement Committee for Registration of Consultants and Contractors; draft letters, memos and other documents for the signature of the supervisor; provide expert technical advice to the management and colleagues on technical aspects, procurement of goods, works and services, etc.

Selection Criteria

Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience 

• A minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent in urban development or closely related disciplines
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in urban project design and management
• Good knowledge and understanding of the urbanization and decentralization issues and challenges in Africa in various sectors (particularly in urban planning, land, municipal finance, basic services, transport and ICT infrastructure)
• Proven experience in urban development and strong ability in analytical work
• Demonstrated ability to lead a group of professionals to deliver projects and programs in an effective and efficient way;
• Competence in the use of ERP Systems (preferably SAP) and standard MS office applications (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint); with good knowledge of technical tools and software for urban development and municipal management.
• High level communication and negotiation skills with excellent written and verbal communications in English.  A working knowledge of French would be an added advantage.