Lead Coordinator at African Development Bank - AfDB

Position Number: 50069784
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL2

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). It also coordinates the lending and non-lending activities 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 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 countries in fragile situations.
• 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 countries in fragile situation. 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 general supervision of the Director, RDTS, the Lead Coordinator will principally be responsible for the implementation and execution of the African Development Bank’s agenda for addressing fragility and building resilience in Africa.
• The Lead Coordinator will also be responsible for providing leadership, managing and supervising the delivery of corporate products and activities of RDTS, including resources mobilization and the fiduciary management of the TSF and supervising the implementation of the Bank’s fragility and resilience programs and frameworks.
• The Lead Coordinator will oversee the planning and the execution of the work program and ensure an effective use of human and budgetary resources for the promotion of the Fragility Lens application in the Bank’s analytics, strategies, and operations.
• She/he will oversee the work planning and resource management towards the development of corporate strategic and policy frameworks that empower the effective implementation of the Bank’s fragility agenda. This will entail advising senior management on the actions needed to meet the Bank’s commitments under each cycle of the African Development Fund.
• In coordination with the Management of appropriate Bank’s units, the Lead Coordinator will ascertain a structured and timely delivery of high-quality fragility-related inputs in the Bank’s lending and non-lending activities.
• She/he will further ascertain a structured and timely delivery of high-quality resilience-based advocacy materials, partnership initiatives, knowledge products, guidance notes, and policy frameworks supporting the effective implementation of the Bank’s strategic and operational engagement in fragile situations in Africa.

Key Functions
Under the supervision of the Director RDTS, the Lead Coordinator will provide technical leadership, manage and supervise staff and activities of RDTS, determine the overall objectives, oversee the execution of the work program and the performance of the TSF, and ensure effective use of the RDTS budget. Her/his duties and responsibilities will include the following:

• Lead and coordinate the formulation of the Bank’s strategies, guidelines on fragility and the preparation of the Bank’s work program; oversee and ensure regular review and update of the Bank’s strategies and guidelines on fragility and resilience;
• Coordinate with the front office of the RDVP Complex to set, monitor, and keep rolling the RDTS workplan for the preparation of full-fledged and/or targeted fragility assessments in synchronization with the preparation schedule of country and regional integration strategy papers;
• Lead the fiduciary and administrative management of the TSF, including the monitoring of financial flows, country eligibility, country allocations, program-based approvals and disbursements. Set a structured approach for an effective monitoring and reporting on the performance of the TSF portfolio;
• Work with the appropriate resource units of the Bank and co-lead the effective implementation of the Enhanced Readiness Reviews framework to ensure the compliance of projects with high quality standards and promote the operational mainstreaming of resilience-based considerations;
• Lead work on the development of new fragility and resilience tools, knowledge generation and participate in policy dialogue with Regional Member Countries;
• Lead, plan, and supervise the annual rollout of the Country Resilience and Fragility Assessment (CRFA) framework.  Ensure a timely data collection, compilation, and validation of the CRFA scores for all RMCs and regions. Lead the release and the dissemination of the annual CRFA scores and profiles;
• Provide intellectual and technical leadership to effectively support the design and implementation of operations in fragile situations, in collaboration with operational and sectorial units, including private sector investment teams, Country Offices, and Regional Directorates;
• Coordinate with the Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Department (FIRM) and contribute in the Bank’s efforts for mobilizing resources by leading the preparation of appropriate fragility-related materials in support of the advocacy for the African Development Fund, as well as other Trust Funds and financial instruments;
• Coordinate with the Regional Integration Coordination Office (RDRI), and appropriate task teams, the annual implementation of the Regional Operations Prioritization exercise and contribute in mainstreaming fragility and resilience-based considerations in submitted regional programs and regional public goods;
• Work with the relevant Finance Departments and Units, and provide strategic and technical advice on innovative mechanisms to help mobilize larger volumes of resources to meet the increasing financing needs in fragile situations;
• Maintain relationships with the Bank’s shareholders and set a structured approach for mobilizing additional financing - targeting specific fragility issues -through the TSF from non-traditional donors, philanthropies, charitable institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private foundations
• Coordinate with the appropriate task teams and ensure that RDTS is properly involved in the preparation of fragility-sensitive diagnostic notes, strategy papers, and project documents, especially in those reflecting on the Bank’s operational engagement in vulnerable and/or conflict-affected settings;
• When required, lead the preparation of information notes, briefs, presentations, talking points, and/or speeches in support of the participation of Senior Management in high-level, technical, international, regional, and/or national events on topics relating to addressing fragility and building resilience in Africa;
• Facilitate and supervise the delivery of capacity building, communication, dissemination, and/or knowledge events (including the Africa Resilience Forum) on the Bank’s strategic approach to building resilience and its operational application of the fragility lens for the benefit of internal and/or external stakeholders;
• Provide regular, timely, and consolidated-quantitative and qualitative-updates on RDTS activities under operations, analytics, policies, partnerships, capacity building, resources mobilization, and the TSF management. Monitor and assess progress made towards the attainment of relevant key performance indicators assigned to these workstreams and provide regular reports to the Bank’s Senior Management and the Board of Directors;
• In coordination with appropriate Bank’s authorities, develop a clear and practical roadmap to foster dialogue with RMCs and RECs, assess their capacity building needs, and identify targeted entry-points for building institutional resilience through capacity development programs;
• Represent the Director, 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 eight (8) years of professional experience in a multilateral development institution at a similar operating level;
• Solid understanding of fragility and resilience concepts and demonstrated capacity to understand the political economy and local context of fragility, particularly in Africa. Familiarity with fragility policies, tools, and instruments;
• Ability to deliver in a dynamic environment with multiple demands and quick turnaround of outputs, as well as ability to lead cross-complex and Corporate assignments, work under pressure while retaining perspective and professionalism, and making effective and timely decisions. Strong operational experience in fragile settings is essential;
• Excellent strategic thinking skills with the ability to translate strategic concepts and direction into the results-driven implementable operational programs and activities;
• Excellent knowledge of development institutions’ policies, guidelines and procedures relevant to fragile contexts, and strong analytical and strategic capabilities, program management in policy-oriented institutions, academia or within multilateral development institutions
• Strong leadership qualities, interpersonal, organizational and team management skills, with demonstrated ability to build strong networks and teams to achieve results;
• Excellent client orientation; pragmatism and effectiveness; integrity, tact and discretion;
• Demonstrated ability to lead or contribute to high-level analytical work and investment operations;
• Results oriented, with an ability to work independently as well as motto and produce results in collaboration with departments across the African Development Bank;
• Excellent 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.