Principal Business Continuity Officer, CHBC at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/20/157
Location: Bank’s Regional Offices
Position N°: 50092479
Grade: PL4

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency, Human Resources and Corporate Services Complex ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services.
• The Complex leads efforts to ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice and is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, IT, general services and institutional procurements, language services, business continuity, and health and safety strategies.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The African Development Bank has established an on-going Business Continuity Management program with the objective of sustaining and enhancing the organization’s resiliency in the face of events that have the potential to disrupt its operations.
• Because of its strategic dimension and vital nature for the Bank, Business Continuity is an area that remains under the oversight of Senior Management. The Vice President Human Resources and Corporate Services is responsible for overseeing the program in overall and supporting Business Continuity Management efforts across the Bank including more than 36 offices around the African continent.
• Business Continuity Management Unit primary role is to ensure that the Bank is fully prepared to manage and address emergencies and crisis, at its Headquarters, and all its field offices. Business Continuity Management Unit ensures that the Bank has proactive measures for the protection and safeguard of its staff and families members, its critical assets (critical skills, data, documents, buildings, services, and Technological Infrastructure), tested and operational, strategies, policies, procedures, business and IT recover continuity plans and offices facilities arrangements ahead in place to maintain execution without interruption of the Bank’s critical operations under all circumstances of business disruption events, emergencies and crisis.

The Position

• The Principal Business Continuity Officer responsibility will consist in assessing, analyzing, implementing, maintaining and improving the Bank’s comprehensive Business Continuity framework, strategy and program throughout the Bank’s organizational units that will enable the Bank to respond to any business interruption at Head Quarter, Regional and Country Offices.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Head of Business Continuity Unit, the Principal Business Continuity Officer will:

• Perform / update Bank Group wide business impact analysis of all functional areas at all its locations (Head Quarter in Abidjan and Country Offices) by establishing critical functions, critical staff, determined possible threats, external surroundings, and points of vulnerabilities and, the related recovery requirements and priorities identified, quantified.
• Work with business departments to enhance business recovery plans, mitigating the effect of a technology system or application failure or problem. Establish, coordinate network of Business Continuity coordinators in departments and Country Offices, and Train and provide support for all business continuity-related activities including the development and maintenance of departmental and Country Offices Business Continuity plans to reflect changes of the Bank organization, working procedures, staff, systems, and office facilities.
• Develop test and simulation scenarios. Oversee and coordinated functional and technical tests for Head Quarter Departments, Country Offices and Information Technology; assess the effectiveness of the test and simulations and to ensure the preparedness and readiness of the Bank’s in the event of business disruption.
• Coordinate with facilities management services, IT and Telecommunication teams to identify gaps and track status of actions and issues related to business continuity; provide expertise and guidance on business continuity management and disaster recovery solutions; Monitoring the maintenance and readiness of emergency management, equipment and vital records, including: Business Continuity Center, emergency notification systems, Remote access capacity, alternate work space for the Bank’s Senior Management Group, and all provisions for emergencies.
• Develop training materials, plan and participate in the delivery of training and conducting workshops on African Development Bank approach to emergency and business continuity management for the Head Quarter, and Country Offices. Conduct the Business Continuity training program Country Offices and Head Quarter. Provide guidance and training to sensitize African Development Bank’s staff, on Business Continuity Management concepts, methodology, regulations, requirements and tools via workshops, individual and group meetings, webcast tutorials.
• Design, organize, modify, and support the bank's Mass Notification systems and Business Continuity Program plans and maintain system efficiency, allows key users to work properly together using that systems and documents, troubleshoot problems reported by users, Make recommendations for future upgrades.
• For emergencies events, ensure teams preparedness and provide all the necessary tools, devices, systems to mitigate any Socio-Political, Health related, Man-Made, IT technological impacts on the Bank’s staff & dependents safety and Bank’s Business continuity and based on Alert levels, maintain communication link between the different entities, analyze and isolate issues to be brought to the Business Continuity Management Head of Unit and the Bank’s crisis management committees.
• Prepare and submit regular assessments and reports of Business Continuity Management progress and achievements at African Development Bank and report to African Development Bank management and the Boards. Organize committee’s meetings, prepare the minutes and to get organized Departments and Country Offices to ensure Staff safety and facilitate timely accommodation of future recovery requirements and opportunities.
• Research and stay abreast of all major threats that could impact the Bank’s business activities at Head Quarter, Country Offices or in all Regional Hubs where African Development Bank operates Qualified the impacts resulting from business disruption events.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Master's or equivalent degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Information Technology, Information Security or in any relevant or related field of expertise.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience including business continuity related field in financial institutions.
• Proven practical experience in conducting, business disruption risk assessment, business impacts analysis, planning and coordinating technical and functional business continuity tests and an exercises, and maintaining emergency and business continuity plans.
• Excellent understanding of the Bank’s Group activities, functions and processes (or in similar international organizations).
• Very good knowledge of industry standard BC Planning models and tools, principles, techniques and related contingency and recovery technologies, tools and methodologies (Business Continuity Management, Mass Notification, Crisis management).
• Experience in delivery of training in Business continuity methodologies and practices.
• Practical experience in managing real life emergencies and business disruptions events and ability to remain calm and attentive in crisis situations thus avoid panic and chaos
• Experience in dealing with external parties such as public emergency responders, and IT infrastructure, facilities and recovery services providers including proven ability to apply innovative approaches, business and technical knowledge for resolving various problems (Social, Health, Security, Safety, Communication, IT) that Bank’s staff and stakeholders may be facing during crisis situations.
• Track record in Information Technology, Information Systems, Telecommunication and Office facilities related to business continuity and fully familiar with banking sector major information systems (SAP, SWIFT, REUTERS, Bloomberg, SUMMIT) including standard software: Excel, Word, Power Point, MS
• Ability to build cross departmental productive business relationships; Strong interpersonal skills, and interfacing with a multicultural staff at all levels within the organization; Ability to work independently with minimal supervision;
• Client-Oriented skills to ensure that the client is considered to be of primary importance in all transactions and interactions. Strives to understand, and when appropriate, anticipate client needs, and ensures that the client receives the best possible service from the Bank.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in French with a very good working knowledge of English. The incumbent will cover offices in the central, western and northern francophone countries.