Principal Education Economist - Technical and Vocational Skills Development Expert at African Development Bank - AfDB

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priorities of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The complex objectives are; (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the Vice President will act as the spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department, within the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex spearheads the achievement of the High 5s on “Improving the Quality of Life of People in Africa” and contribute to the other High 5s.
• The Department has two divisions (i) Education, and Skills Development Division, which focuses on scaling-up of Bank’s support to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and higher education for skills development; and (ii) Public Health and Social Security Division, which focuses on strengthening health systems and social protection. The department also oversees the implementation of the Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy and hosts various related initiatives and trust funds for the promotion of human capital development in Africa.
• The Education and Skills Development Division (AHHD1) focuses on human capital development through skills training, and empowerment, poverty reduction for improved and sustainable wellbeing and livelihoods. The Division:
• Leads the development and promotion of Bank’s policy and strategy work so that operations are identified, developed and executed by the regional hubs, and the effective implementation of the Bank’s relevant sector policies and strategies;
• Provides technical guidance / advisory services and expertise to regional hubs, by generating relevant knowledge and gathering a pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide technical advice on complex transactions (Communities of Practice);
• Fosters strategic partnerships with regional and global partners to leverage resources into the education and skills development sectors. It also directly contributes to the work of the various initiatives and trust funds hosted under the Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department; and provides expertise to support the Vice President’s role as the Bank’s spokesperson to external audiences, and;
• Ensures coherence of the Bank’s action in human and social development across regions.

The Position

• The Principal Education Economist - Technical and Vocational Skills Development Expert reports to the Manager – Education and Skills Development Division-AHHD1.
• The Principal Education Economist will support the Bank’s agenda on education and skills development for employability and productivity in Africa for the achievement of the Bank’s High 5 “Improving the Quality of Life of the people in Africa”.
• He/she will promote activities related to improving demand responsiveness of the education and training system to the skills needs of the labour market and for job creation on the continent. He/she will identify, design and support RMCs in the implementation of higher education and TVET programs/projects, polices and studies in education and skills development.
• He/she will act as the focal point for the Bank’s operations and activities on higher education ,TVET and skills development in Central  Africa Regional Office (RDGC- Yaounde) of the African Development Bank Group.

Key Functions
Bank Operations -Lending:

• Lead and contribute to the design and preparation of the lending operations in TVET and higher education, and multi- sectorial using the Banks full range of lending instruments;
• Support RDC and AHHD in analyzing requests from the Cameroonian  government considering the priorities identified by the Bank.
• Task manage education/skills development projects and other related human development projects; monitoring implementation and performance of approved projects and ensure their execution in accordance with the terms of the financing agreement and Bank rules and procedures;
• Conduct technical supervision of on-going education and skills development sector projects/programs, and contribute to the achievements of the overall AHHD, Cameroon Country office  and RDGC level KPIs by:
• Monitoring procurement of goods and services and advising Borrowers on related Bank procedures;
• Reviewing design and tender documents;
• Supervising the work of consultants and contractors;
• Providing assistance to loan administration department on disbursement related issues;
• Preparing Implementation Progress Reports in line with Bank’s requirement;
• Ensuring that Borrowers submit Quarterly Project Progress Reports, annual Audit Reports, annual Procurement Plans, and annual implementation plans;
• Preparing Project Completion Reports and drawing lessons for future Bank Group interventions; and,
• Preparing and monitoring portfolio performance reports for education programs or projects including submitting inputs for briefing notes and speeches.
• Provide other Departments/Divisions of the Bank with expert advice on education and skills development issues, particularly on links with the productive sector and job creation;
• Support the development of public private partnerships in higher education, TVET and skills development infrastructure;
• Support NSO portfolio development and management in the education and skills development sector at county and regional level and
• Contribute to resources mobilization from multilateral/bilateral development institutions, donors and private sector institutions to complement the Bank Group’s operations.

Non-lending support / Knowledge work:

• Undertake analytical work and provide technical guidance in the area of higher education, TVET and skills infrastructure development and advice on how to ensure sustainability of benefits of Bank-financed social development projects and programs in RDGC and AHHD;
• Take lead in the preparation, updating and the implementation of economic and sector work in the development of projects and programs;
• Review and give opinions on sector documents, studies and other reports by the Bank;
• Represent the Bank at technical meetings on higher education, TVET and skills development;
• Support the preparation of briefs, talking points and status reports for management;
• Contribute to the preparation of Country Strategy Papers, with reference to higher education, TVET and skills development infrastructure development;
• Participate in the relevant sector donor-coordination meetings, sector wide approaches, and advise on sector policy issues;
• Provide inputs in the review of tender evaluation reports and undertake the evaluation of technical and financial proposals for contracts relating to project implementation;
• Collaborate with other Bank Units in reviewing the operations performance, preparing completion reports, etc. to ensure that the lessons drawn from the implementation of past social sector infrastructure operations are considered; and
• Undertake any other duties as may be assigned by the Manager AHHD1/Director General RDGC.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Education, Economics, Social Work,Business Economics, Business Administration,Development Studies or related field;
• Extensive experience in vocational education and skills development;
• Have a minimum of six (6) years relevant professional experience in vocational education and skills development, program/project design and management, with specific experience in implementation and management of donor-funded projects in infrastructure development for the education and skills development;
• Previous experience working in multilateral financial institutions or similar large organizations, and performing such roles as project preparing, appraising, supervising or implementing donor funded projects;
• Proven planning and organizational skills, with ability to think strategically and rapidly analyse and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendations;
• In-depth knowledge of job-related social, economic and environmental development issues in the Africa region;
• Proven ability to interact competently with Government and donor agencies on issues relating to aid coordination;
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage;
• Ability to work in a team and work in a multicultural environment;
• Ability to work effectively in partnership with clients and seek feedback to improve work processes;
• Communicate verbally and write effectively in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language; and
• Competences in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.