Capacity Development Officer - (ECAD2) at African Development Bank - AfDB

Position Number:  50093671/50078305
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL5/PL6

The Complex

• The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management (ECVP) is the Bank’s spokesperson on economic matters and the VP for the ‘Economics Governance and Knowledge Management Complex’.
• The Complex is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the generation of analytical works to inform operational policy; (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The African Development Institute (ECAD) coordinates and executes Capacity Development (CD) programs in the regional member countries (RMCs) by:
  • Providing advisory services on capacity building;
  • Identifying and designing tailored capacity development programmes and implementing the programmes; and
  • Leveraging partnerships and coordinating knowledge dissemination and outreach,  with a view to improving policy-making, economic governance and sustainable development in the Regional Member Countries.
• The Institute has two divisions, namely Program Development (ECAD.1) and Policy Management (ECAD.2). The strategic objective of the Policy Development Division (ECAD.2) is to enhance the knowledge base and programs of African countries in promoting development. Hence, the Division undertakes design and implementation of programs and activities to improve general knowledge and build institutional capacity to African diversify economies, boost growth and create decent employment through policy support in macroeconomic management as well as in public financial and debt management. These also include programs to support the Bank’s lending operations, improve the quality of the Bank’s portfolio and ensure that the development impact of Bank-funded projects and programs are realized through knowledge brokerage and policy dialogue interventions.

The Position

• The Capacity Development Officer will be stationed in the Policy Management Division of the African Development Institute (ECAD.2).
• The successful candidate will play an active role in the day-to-day delivery of the Department's mandate, ensure high quality standards are observed, and collaborate with the Bank operations to further strengthen capacity development mainstreaming within the Bank.

Specifically, the Capacity Development Officer ECAD.2 has the following responsibilities:

• Support the capacity development of the Bank’s RMCs to effectively design and implement their own macroeconomic and public financial management tools with a view to improving economic and financial governance policymaking processes and outcomes in the countries.
• Provide the ECVP complex and relevant Bank Units, and by extension the Management, with expert technical advice on addressing RMCs' capacity building issues to improve dialogue in RMCs in partnership with development partners.
• Contribute to resource mobilization efforts and implementation of Trust Funds to address emerging capacity development needs in the RMCs.
• Support the ECAD.2 Division Manager and ECAD Senior Director in providing briefs, quality assurance and coordination of work program and deliverables in the Division and ECAD Department.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision and guidance of the ECAD.2 Division Manager, the Capacity Development Officer will:

• Participate in the design and delivery of macroeconomic management tools and trainings for the RMCs, in collaboration with other relevant staff members within ECAD.2, ADI and across the Bank.
• Participate in the design and delivery of public finance management tools and trainings for the RMCs, in collaboration with other relevant staff members within ECAD.2, ADI and across the Bank
• Participate in the identification and assessment of capacity needs and demand in the RMCs in diverse areas, with focus on macroeconomic management and public financial management.
• Task Manage designated capacity development activities in collaboration with different Bank Units, especially Operations, with a view to improving the mainstreaming of capacity development activities in all Bank operations.
• Initiate, develop, and enhance partnerships with international, regional and national capacity development institutions to deepen and expand the scope of capacity development activities in the RMCs.
• Mobilize resources from both external and internal Bank resources that include the Africa Development Fund (ADF), Nigeria Technical Cooperation Fund (NTCF), and other Trust Funds for use to deliver successful capacity development initiatives in the Bank's RMCs.
• Contribute to the preparation of the quarterly, mid-year and annual review of capacity development activities of ECAD and prepare relevant briefs and reports as may be required by Management.
• In collaboration with other ECVP Departments and Bank Units, design and deliver capacity development programmes in macroeconomic modelling, forecasting and analysis and public financial management cycle, including budget management, governance, accountability, supreme audit oversight, domestic resource mobilization, public private partnerships in public finance, debt management, fiscal policy planning and management, financial programming, etc.
• Contribute to the drafting and reviewing of Bank's flagships, core policy, strategy and operational documents as well as the Global Community of Practice’s Policy briefs.
• Undertake any other duties as may be requested and assigned by the ECAD.2 Division Manager and ECAD Senior Director.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at minimum a Master’s Degree in Economics, Development, Finance, Social Sciences, or related fields. A PhD in the above-mentioned areas would be an added advantage.
• Strong experience and proven track record in the design and delivery of capacity development tools, public policy analyses, and/or capacity development in international development settings, especially in Africa.
• Have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant and progressive professional experience in economic management, policy formulation, revenue management, public expenditure, or related areas, for the Senior Capacity Development Officer (PL5)
• Have a minimum of four (4) years of relevant and progressive professional experience in economic management, policy formulation, revenue management, public expenditure, or related areas, for Capacity Development Officer (PL6)
• Have an excellent knowledge of capacity development issues in Africa and developing countries in general, particularly around macroeconomic management, transparency and accountability in macroeconomic management, public financial management, ensuring business enabling environment, and combatting corruption and illicit financial flows.
• Contribute to the preparation of policy statements, papers, briefs and various reports on economic governance issues.
• A solid knowledge of capacity development initiatives, practices, methods and good grasp of required competencies for addressing existing development challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate knowledge and skill gaps and make effective, timely and well-determined intervention decisions in relation to the Department’s delivery mandate.
• Demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas; a good listener; and cultural sensitivity, commitment to diversity and capacity to initiate and manage innovations or change.
• Ability to build partnerships with a broad range of clients and deliver results that meet the needs and long-term interests of clients within and outside the institution.
• Have an excellent knowledge of macroeconomic development models and a strong ability to interpret the results of research to facilitate policy dialogue.
• Have proven familiarity with and knowledge of public finance management cycle in Africa with excellent understanding of the budget cycle, including budget management, governance, accountability, supreme audit oversight, domestic resource mobilization, public private partnerships in public finance, debt management, fiscal policy planning and management, financial programming, etc.
• Have proven ability to think strategically and to design long-term plans and programs in line with the Bank's strategic priorities.
• Ability to apply innovative approaches, work independently and apply new methods to solve problems, while remaining efficient in a fast-paced, changing and challenging institutional environment.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications (Word, Excel, Access and Power Point).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.