Chief Livestock Officer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/499
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL 3
Position N°: 50062664

The Hiring Department

• The Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department provides support for the delivery of Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025. The strategy aims to end hunger and rural poverty in the next decade through self-sufficiency in 15 priority commodity value chains specific to the continent’s agro-ecological zones.
• Realizing the objectives set forth in the strategy requires increased productivity; value addition; investment in infrastructure; an enabling agribusiness environment; capital flows; and inclusivity, sustainability and effective nutrition.
• The Department leads the effort to transform African agricultural systems for greater competitiveness, inclusivity and sustainability, and for enhanced job creation and poverty reduction.
• The role of the Agriculture Research, Production and Sustainability Division (AHAI.2) is amongst others, to: (i) support Technologies for African Agriculture Transformation (TAAT); (ii) promote the expansion of the agriculture mechanization program for Africa; (iii) support blue economy and livestock development actions on the continent; (iv) and (v) develop and implement programs in support of climate adaptation and climate smart agriculture practices for funding under climate financing.

The Position
The role of the Chief Livestock Officer will be to:

• Provide specialist advice and support to internal and external clients on a range of livestock on ongoing operations and portfolio development etc.;
• Review and provide expert comments on documents pertaining to livestock;
• Provide technical elements to management to formulate Bank’s position regarding livestock development;
• Provide expert advice to task managers on operational and strategic issues related to livestock development.
• Coordinate the livestock flagship program in support of Feed Africa

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the guidance and overall supervision of the Division Manager – AHAI.2, the Chief Livestock Officer will perform the following:

Coordinating the preparation, monitoring and assessment of policy & strategic papers and guidelines related to livestock sub-sector:

• Provide fact-based advice on the strategic direction, business goals and objectives, and work programmes and activities of the Bank, and linking them to the on-going management of the Feed Africa Strategy (2016-2025);
• Coordinate the preparation, implementation and assessment of the Bank policy and strategies related to livestock development;
• Review policies, practices and procedures related to livestock as necessary for improvement;
• Assist and provide support to the Management for proper implementation and monitoring of Feed Africa strategy focusing on livestock development;
• Undertake, under the guidance of the Management and the full implication of the RCs, economical and sectorial works on issues related to livestock production and value chains development in a sustainable way;
• Provide technical expertise to policy dialog and Country Strategy Papers and Regional Integration Strategy Papers mission in collaboration with the RMCs, relevant stakeholders and development partners; advise on areas where knowledge, policy or institutional constraints are hindering livestock development and propose high priority sector and analytical work to be conducted;
• Assist in exploring and engaging continental and global partnerships opportunities pertaining to livestock industry by engaging in communication, advocacy and outreach activities;
• Assist in the resources mobilisation activity from within and outside the Bank for livestock development by initiating joint proposals with other partners for funding or by responding to calls for proposals.

Supporting the RMC’s initiative to prepare/ appraise complex projects related to livestock value chains and to implement successfully problematic projects:

• Work with agricultural sector experts at the Headquarters and Regional/Country Offices to generate business in the livestock sub-sector in collaboration with the Regional Member Countries and other relevant stakeholders;
• Identify jointly with the Bank RMCs and if necessary lead (as Team leader) field missions to identify, prepare, evaluate complex projects focusing on livestock value chains undertaken by the RMCs;
• Provide technical advice to Management and Task Managers (TMs) based in the field and support for all issues related to livestock value chains projects and programs design and implementation;
• Coordinate and undertake analytical work and if needed field missions to support TMs facing important issues in livestock related projects or handling problematic projects.

Advising and supporting the Management of the Bank on livestock value chains issues:

• Assist and provide support to Management for proper implementation and monitoring of the livestock value chains policies, strategies and practices;
• Promote regional integration and donor coordination in the area of livestock by actively participating to donors coordination meetings at the regional, continental and global levels in order to avoid duplication of efforts and promote complementarity in the field of interventions in livestock production based on comparative advantages of different partners;
• Design and implement Data recording systems and coordinate data collation and analysis on livestock related projects to identify patterns and trends to be shared with the Management. Propose sound recommendations for informed decision making, measure success and taking ownership to implement actions;
• Coordinate the preparation and implementation of trainings programs of the Bank staffs and RMCs on livestock value chains topics;
• Represent the Bank in coordination meetings with other institutions and policy dialog initiatives with RMCs in areas related to livestock value chains;
• Represent the Bank in seminars, conferences and other knowledge events pertaining to livestock;
• Contribute actively to the Bank’s knowledge management effort by assisting in preparing meetings and conferences and participating in joint technical publications with other development partners especially in the area of livestock;
• Mentor new staff and young professionals in the areas of livestock;
• Communicate, exchange ideas, advice and explanations - with the head of division, the division staff, various donors and counterparts in other multilateral institutions in the area of livestock development.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Hold at least a Master's degree level or equivalent in veterinary or animal science, livestock production or closely related fields
• Have a minimum of seven (07) years of relevant experience, five years of which must be in multilateral development institutions with relevant work experience in livestock project design and management.
• Sufficient Knowledge of the Research and Development field and its relation to agricultural and rural development
• Previous experience in Research & Development, livestock and rural development planning.
• Applies business knowledge to the resolution of problems and identifies solutions to the benefit of the client (internal and external) and the organization.
• Committed to ensure that full use is made of the systems, procedures and culture within the organization in order to deliver the required results.
• Willingness to capitalize knowledge, process it and share it with internal Bank users to ensure complementarities across the Bank;
• Good knowledge of Bank processes and procedures is a plus;
• Private Sector experience is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with the cultural and the professional context in the Bank and the Regional Member Countries.
• Commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance and create added benefits to the Bank and its clients;
• Problem solving capacity under time constraints;
• Ability to work and integrate multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional dimension in his/her inputs;
• Ability to facilitate / moderate technical debates and synthesize their outcome;
• Client Orientation
• Team working and relationships
• Provides clear and concise oral and written communication; presents oral information with clarity and appropriate style and adapts language and style to suit the requirements of a particular audience.
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in French or English languages, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.