Chief Operations Officer & Transition Support Facility Coordinator at African Development Bank - AfDB

The Complex

• Within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP), the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery (RDIBD) Directorates, one in each region of Africa: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) and is staffed with the relevant sectoral functions and administrative capabilities for rapid delivery of services to client countries.
• The Regional Directorates provide overall strategic direction to country offices within the regions and are responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5s agenda: ‘Light up and Power Africa,’ ‘Feed Africa,’ ‘Industrialize Africa,’ ‘Integrate Africa,’ ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

The Hiring Department

• The Transition States Coordination Office (RDTS) oversees the implementation of the Bank Group’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs) and manages the Transition Support Facility, a dedicated financing instrument that supports the implementation of the Bank’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa. RDTS coordinates the work program of all fragility and resilience experts stationed in the various Regional Directorates or Country Offices.
• Apart from RMCs, the Bank also works with several international partners including the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN) system, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other sub-regional organizations such as the G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat, Lake Chad Basin Commission, IGAD, and the Mano River Union (MRU) Secretariat. The Bank also works with several humanitarian, peace and development actors working in fragile and conflict affected situations.
• Over the past decade, Africa has seen enormous growth and transformation that has expanded opportunities and improved living conditions for millions of people. More than two-thirds of African countries have strengthened their quality of governance, improved basic services, and expanded economic opportunities.
• Yet, there are significant risks that this momentum could be undermined by emerging pressures which include conflict and instability, population displacement and migration, continuing patterns of exclusion and poverty, unemployment, rapid urbanization, climate change and poor management of natural resources.
• More recently, the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, is expected to significant adverse effects and far reaching consequences for fragile and conflict affected countries.
• RDTS aims to place the Bank at the center of Africa’s efforts to address fragility and pave the way for a more resilient and inclusive development trajectory. A major part of RDTS’ activities involves the identification of the main drivers of fragility, including economic, social, political and environmental dimensions, through the application of the Country Resilience and Fragility Assessment (CRFA) tool and corresponding fragility assessments.  
• RDTS also plays a crucial role in mainstreaming fragility considerations in the Bank’s regional and country strategies as well as in the design and implementation of projects and programs. In this regard, central to RDTS engagement is the systematic application of a fragility lens to identify, respond to and prevent fragility and to build resilience and focus the Bank’s engagement in the areas where it can have the biggest impact.
• To this end, the Bank is also active in carrying out thematic analytics to enhance policy dialogue on fragility related issues to steer reforms and policy changes aimed at creating enabling environments for accelerated development in fragile and conflict affected countries.
• This includes creating a business enabling environment to attract private sector investments in these countries, as a way of expanding opportunities for decent work.

The Position

• Under the supervision of the Lead Coordinator, the Chief Operations and Transition Support Facility Coordinator will oversee the mobilization of resources for the Transition Support Facility (TSF) from traditional and non-traditional sources, pro-actively engage in pipeline development of projects that are eligible for TSF funding, monitor the utilization of resources and support portfolio performance through analysis and engagement with operations complexes, report on results and enhance the visibility of the Bank’s work on fragility by showcasing the Facility.

Key Functions
The Chief Operations and Transition Support Facility Coordinator, under the supervision of the Lead Coordinator, will work towards the achievement of the RDTS objectives and execute the work program. Her/his duties and responsibilities will include the following:

• Mobilize resources from traditional and non-traditional resources in support of the objectives of the different pillars of the TSF;
• Promote coherence and synergies between the different pillars of the TSF, using the flexibility of the Facility to support innovation and scale up high performing projects to accelerate and increase impact;
• Focus on business development to create a high quality 3-year rolling pipeline of operations eligible for TSF-funding and promoting co-financing;
• Oversee the effective application of the fragility-lens into the design of new operations, drawing on a team of fragility and resilience experts, and developing relevant guidance tools;
• Establish a fragility-sensitive portfolio M&E system and collaborate with operations teams and the ecosystem to create portfolio improvement plans;
• Carry out analysis into factors affecting TSF portfolio performance and promote the use of technology to enhance monitoring and implementation;
• Strategically position the TSF to establish partnerships along the humanitarian-development-peace nexus;
• Develop and implement a communications and advocacy action plan to elevate the visibility of TSF’s activities, using different formats and channels;
• Develop effective partnerships, maintain frequent contacts, represent the Bank at seminars, and conferences on relevant topics and discussions with counterparts. Support the Lead Coordinator in the areas of internal relations, effective information dissemination, as well as deepening and widening the Bank’s investor base;
• on the Bank’s work on addressing fragility and building resilience
• Represent the Lead Coordinator, as needed, in Bank-wide working groups as well as preparatory meetings for high-level events

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Economics, Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy, or related, discipline;
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience in a multilateral development institution, working in operations and portfolio management ;
• Track record of successful resource mobilization from traditional and non-traditional partners;
• Demonstrated experience of working in fragile and conflict-affected situations, particularly in Africa;
• Strong analytical skills with a deep understanding of the factors affecting portfolio performance;
• Very good knowledge of development institutions’ operational policies, guidelines, and procedures relevant to fragile and conflict-affected contexts
• Technical excellence and first-rate interpersonal skills
• Good/sound judgment and strong integrity
• Ability to produce high-quality work on a variety of issues with very short deadlines
• Good communication and presentation skills, able to write effectively in English and/or French with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Knowledge of SAP is highly desirable.