Chief Capacity Development Officer, ECAD.2 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB / 21 / 056
Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50000889

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:
  • 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;
  • 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 Program Development Division (ECAD.1) 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 diversify economies, boost growth and create decent employment.
• 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.

The Position
The Chief Capacity Development Officer, ECAD.2, will play a leading and an active role in the day-to-day delivery of the Department’s and Division’s mandate, ensure high quality standards are observed, and collaborate with the Bank operations to further capacity development mainstreaming within the Bank and in regional member countries (RMCs). Specifically, the Chief Capacity Development Officer will focus on the following:

• Play a leading role in the implementation of the Bank’s Capacity Development Strategy by strengthening the capacity of RMCs to effectively design and implement their own economic policies and to use knowledge produced within the Bank and elsewhere to engage in policy dialogue with RMCs and development partners.
• Oversee resource mobilization and utilization in the Division and across the Department, for efficient delivery of planned activities, including addressing emerging Capacity Development needs in the RMCs.
• Foster relationships with international (bilateral and multilateral), regional and national institutions with a view to enhancing support for implementation and harmonization of capacity development initiatives.
• Advise ECAD Management as well as Bank Senior Management on the design and delivery of quality capacity development improvement measures for improved development effectiveness in the RMCs.
• Develop a framework for building strategic partnerships that add value to the Bank’s strategic impact in the Regional Member Countries.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, Policy Management Division (ECAD2) of the African Development Institute, the Chief Capacity Development Officer will:

• Contribute to Capacity Development knowledge building through providing the Bank with Capacity Development assessment, guidance and evaluation tools for use along the Bank’s operational business cycle.
• Advise the Management of the African Development Institute on the design and implementation of quality and impactful capacity development initiatives and measures for improved development effectiveness in the Regional Member Countries.
• Supervise consultants’ activities and mentor colleagues to ensure effective delivery of the work program and key performance indicators of the Division’s work.
• Coordinate the preparation of annual Capacity Development Report.
• Support knowledge leverage, dissemination and outreach within the Bank and in the regional member countries, for increased ownership and development effectiveness.
• Represent the Bank at High level Capacity Development fora, to foster and enhance alignment and harmonization of Capacity Development approach and delivery in the development community
• Provide capacity development expertise that guide Senior Management in decision making on capacity development delivery in the regional member countries.
• Review the Bank’s core policy, strategy and operational documents to ensure capacity development integration in the Bank operations.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to reflect capacity development priorities in the design of capacity development activities.
• Oversee capacity development data management and contribute to capacity development impact evaluation, focusing on the Bank Group’s Capacity Development Strategy.
• Oversee the preparation of the African Development Institute’s input into the Bank Group’s Annual Report.
• Prepare quarterly Capacity Development briefs to inform ECVP complex and Bank operations of emerging capacity development issues.
• Provide intellectual leadership for the planning, organizing and running the Global Community of Practice, including contributing to drafting concept notes, making presentations, drafting policy briefs, and undertake appropriate analysis based on outcomes of the Seminars,
• Produce and contribute to producing high quality capacity development and other knowledge products for publication on the Global Community of Practice knowledge series and other outlets that include those of the Bank and externally.
• Provide intellectual leadership to the Division’s work on capacity building on Macroeconomic Management for regional member countries, especially in delivering high quality training on the use of cutting edge macroeconomic analytical tools.
• Provide intellectual leadership and mentorship in the design and delivery of 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.
• Review internal and external documents and reports and provide useful review comments based on good judgment.
• Represent the ECAD Senior Director and ECAD.2 Division Manager in meetings, upon request.
• Undertake any other duties as may be requested by ECAD Senior Director and ECAD.2 Division Manager.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at minimum a Master's Degree in Economics, Development, Public Administration, Public Finance, Governance / Political Science, Law or related fields with top notch experience in addressing development challenge, especially in African countries, preferably gained in diverse bilateral, multilateral and/or regional development agencies. A PhD in the above-mentioned areas would be an added advantage.
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant work experience in Capacity Development, with relevant and progressive professional experience in macroeconomic management, public financial and expenditure management, revenue management, policy formulation, and other related areas;
• 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 Africa.
• Experience in designing and implementing strategies and implementation tools Strong ability to translate development challenges into knowledge and leverage challenges and opportunities for formulation of effective capacity development initiatives.
• Good knowledge of andragogy and proven experience in curriculum development or design of training programmes and modules.
• Strategic mind-set and strong capacity to build and manage strategic partnerships with a results-oriented mind-set.
• Participate in the identification and assessment of capacity needs and demand of the regional member countries.
• Sound understanding of public financial management issues in developing countries, particularly around macroeconomic management, debt sustainability, transparency and accountability in public financial management, ensuring a business enabling environment, combatting corruption and illicit financial flows.
• Enhance partnerships with international, regional and national training institutions to deepen and expand the scope of capacity development activities in the RMCs.
• Work in collaboration with the Resource Mobilization and Partnership Unit to identify bilateral sources of funds and alternative sources of financing for delivery of the Bank’s capacity development initiatives to the RMCs.
• Manage the design of training materials in collaboration with other relevant staff members across the Bank
• In collaboration with ECVP and other Bank departments, design and deliver capacity development programmes in macroeconomic modelling, forecasting and analysis in Africa, particularly in the countries in transition.
• Manage ongoing institutional support grants to regional economic capacity development institutions in Africa.
• Contribute to the review of Bank’s core policy, strategy and operational documents.
• Contribute to the drafting of the African Economic Outlook and participate in relevant peer review meetings.
• Superior monitoring and evaluation abilities combined with strong analytical and negotiation skills.
• Proven ability to build and lead a team in an interdisciplinary, multicultural and multilingual environment, with a very good team spirit, valuing mutual respect as well as regular and open communication.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications and SAP.