Associate Operations Officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Duties and Accountabilities

The Operations Officer’s primary responsibilities will be to support business development, client engagement and program implementation to support IFC clients across Africa. The incumbent will be based in Laos (TBC) and report to the Regional Lead. His/her responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: 

Client engagement/Business Development (40%): The incumbent will work closely with the Regional Lead and other Africa team members on new client engagements to identify new business and design innovative sustainability solutions to address risks and opportunities faced by IFC clients in Africa. 

Specifically, the Operations Officer will:

• Conduct market research and support risk and opportunity assessments to understand sustainability issues faced by select IFC clients and prepare pitch decks. 
• Contribute to and support the design of innovative solutions and client proposals based on the full range of SIA services including sustainability strategies and the implementation of climate, digital solutions social/community or gender programs. In carrying out his/her responsibilities, the incumbent will work closely with the investment teams, ESG, legal and other relevant teams including the World Bank.
• Draft relevant governance documents both for external and internal decision-making.
• Ensure that agreed terms of the client proposal are captured in the project’s legal agreement and executed accordingly.
• Contribute to strategy development, draft strategies for specific sectors, countries, or regions for client engagement/country office as may be required by the team.

Project implementation (50%): The incumbent’s responsibilities will also include supporting the implementation of current or new projects in the regional portfolio. As part of his/her responsibilities, the incumbent will carry out the following tasks, working closely with the relevant Project Leaders (PL): 

• Carry out diagnostics, analysis, and advice on strategy and implementation in the delivery of SI advisory services such as gender, climate, community engagement, and sustainability strategy development, etc. 
• Lead or support the preparation of work plans and program reports including the semi-annual supervision reports, donor briefs and other reports as may be required.
• Participate in the selection, screening, and recruitment of services providers and coordinate the management of project service providers and implementation partners.
• Provide quality assurance, and ensure compliance of the delivery with timeline, budget, and contractual agreements with IFC.
• Participate in field missions, as necessary to provide inputs in the assessment of the quality of the work delivered by implementation partners.
• Engage with the World Bank, IFC investment and country teams, other IFC departments as necessary under the guidance of the Project Leaders. Build and maintain relationships and strengthen networks with key stakeholders including IFC clients, government officials, civil society groups.
• Develop a strategy for successful engagement with host communities, IFC clients and other relevant stakeholders ensuring synergy with donor and other programs in the project area.
• Coordinate the organization of program-related events, including responsibility for preparing meetings notes and disseminate accordingly and ensuring that the outcomes of working groups and other events are reflected in the design and implementation of program activities. 

Communication and Knowledge creation and dissemination (10%). The incumbent will support the regional team to develop and disseminate lessons learned and knowledge materials for internal or external use. For the purpose, he/she will:

•  Build IFC's knowledge base for best practices, initiate collaboration and share expertise as a subject matter expert, providing advice, peer review and contribution to knowledge products across the infrastructure and natural resources department to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions.
• Participate in development fora and industry events related to the objectives of the country programs or the broader mandate of Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory to enhance networking, collaboration, lesson learning and knowledge sharing. 
• Facilitate conversations across different stakeholder groups related to sustainability challenges, recommendations, and learnings. Disseminate knowledge by organizing events, supporting publications, and leveraging other media.

Selection Criteria

• A Master’s degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline e.g., business, finance, business administration, social sciences, economics, international development, and engineering, etc.
• Four to six years of experience in the private sector working on environmental sciences, sustainability, sustainable finance, and/or climate science, data, and./or social accountability; gender experience is required.
• Solid understanding of the SDGs, ESG, and sustainability indicators, as well as monitoring and evaluation techniques is a plus.
• Strong experience in project management, community development, local economic development, and integration of women and youth. 
• Prior experience working with mining or infrastructure companies to improve relationships with stakeholders or socio-economic development of host communities is an advantage.
• Good understanding of business and socio-economic conditions across Africa.
• Ability to develop and manage relations with diverse stakeholders.
• Outstanding interpersonal and problem-solving skills with proven ability to work effectively in a team.
• Demonstrated leadership and entrepreneurship, proactivity, and capacity to innovate.
• Strong drive for results, with a history of strong delivery in quality and time; and  
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French and ability to effectively dialogue with and relate to clients and stakeholders.