Program Officer, FIRM at African Development Bank - AfDB

The Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility (PSF)

• The PSF is a captive credit risk participation facility that participates in the credit risks of the AfDB’s Non Sovereign Operations (NSOs) in countries eligible to borrow from the African Development Fund (ADF) - namely low income countries. Given its current capital base, the PSF’s target portfolio size stands at UA 1.1 billion of credit exposures.
• Given the specific nature of the PSF as a risk participant in the Bank’s NSO, the ADF Board of Directors exercises oversight over the Facility and approves risk participations by the Facility in each NSO in compliance with the PSF Framework and Guidelines. The PSF Administrator (PSFA) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the PSF and for mobilizing additional resources to increase the Facility’s risk bearing capacity.
• The PSF is financially and operationally autonomous with a total separation of resources from those of the ADB and the ADF. It sources certain middle and back office functions from the ADB. The PSFA works closely with relevant departments to ensure these functions are performed in a timely manner and in line with applicable standards and ensure that it meets all performance and financial planning, reporting and audit requirements.

The Position

• Under the Supervision of the PSF Administrator, the Program Officer (PO) will be responsible for four broad sets of tasks, as follows:
  • Pipeline development and portfolio management
  • Operational program implementation; (c) reporting, monitoring and evaluation and
  • Fundraising and stakeholder engagement. He/she supports the PSF administrative and operational management performs Risk Participation Agreement implementation, in compliance with Guidelines, Policies and Strategies.
• The PO follows the decisions of the PSFA on all matters pertaining to her/his responsibilities. The Program Officer exercises her/his professional judgement in determining the issues that should be brought to the attention of the PSFA. The PO proactively proposes changes and revisions to the PSFA for operational management of policies and guidelines to ensure that the PSF maintains a sound management framework.
• In performing this role, the PO is expected to maintain a strategic institutional perspective focused on results and performance.
• Staff employed by the Facility - "Project Staff".
• Project staff are distinct from regular AfDB staff in that their status and conditions of employment are linked to a separate initiative, facility or project hosted by the AfDB. The ADF Board of Directors approves the total number of PSF project staff, within the framework of the PSF annual programme and budget.
• The terms and conditions of appointment for PSF project staff are established on the basis of the Bank's grade and salary structure, as well as the Bank's Staff Rules and Regulations. Costs related to the compensation and benefits of all PSF project staff are borne by the PSF.

Key Functions
The Program Officer will be responsible for:
Pipeline development and portfolio management:

• Lead the development of the triannual and rolling operational work plan to operationalize the Facility’s strategy and business plan.
• Maintain a pipeline/portfolio management system to track project implementation progress and performance.
• Lead portfolio management, particularly in areas of performance reporting and analysis, and to anticipate future claims and inform portfolio construction decisions.
•  Lead on the verification of claims and authorization procedures and follow up disbursement procedures and coordination with relevant financial management and portfolio teams vis-à-vis transactions for which guarantees have been triggered.

Program management support:

• Support the day-to-day coordination, management and administration of the Facility, by deputizing for the PSFA.
• Provide support to the PSFA for the effectiveness and efficiency of the Facility, drawing on core-competencies of team member and service providers, drawing from and to support their respective technical workstreams.
• Identify, propose and elaborate operational programs and initiatives to amplify the impact and effectiveness of the Facility.
• Carry-out periodic surveillance and research to benchmark and fine-tune the Facility’s modus operandi.

Operational program implementation:

• Conduct program and project identification and screening, in collaboration with other members of the PSFA team and by collating and reviewing project documentation and analyses.
• Develop and maintain up-to-date operational guidelines, templates and user manuals for internal and external audiences.
• Lead on the preparation of authorizing documentation on PSF risk participation recommendations.
• Coordinate with legal counsel the preparation of the required legal documentation associated with all risk participations and programs.

Reporting, monitoring and evaluation:

• Improve PSF M&E framework and ensure its operationalization.
• Lead in the preparation of PSF’s annual report, periodic reporting updates and briefs.
• Actively contribute to the implementation of the annual work plans, closely monitoring implementation.

Fundraising and stakeholder engagement:

• Ensure timely responses to solicitations from internal and external stakeholders, and contributing to strategic engagement with the ADF stakeholders and partners.
• Communicate and represent the PSF effectively to various audiences, including key stakeholders, clients, beneficiaries, public, internal and external partners under the supervision of the PSFA.
• Lead in joinyly identified fundraising/reassurance/re-guarantee outreach activities.
• Liaise and coordinate with internal and external partners and service providers.

Other:

• Perform other related tasks as requested by PSFA.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• A minimum of Master's Degree or equivalent in Finance, Engineering, Economics or Law.
• At least seven (7) years of experience in operations program and fund management and administration processes and workflows.
• Expertise in credit- insurance, risk participation and guarantee instruments concepts and business models, and at least six (6) years hands-on experience implementing them.
• At least four (4) years non-sovereign portfolio construction- through investment appraisal- and portfolio management is mandatory, which should include at least two of the following sectors infrastructure project finance, corporate finance in the agro-industries or industrial sectors, and financial sectors.
• A high level professional knowledge of operational and strategic portfolio management techniques and structured credit instruments and loan guarantees is required, an a preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate experience in both first- and second-line risk management functions.
• Understanding of the ADB (or other multi-lateral development finance institution) policy and ecosystems for non-sovereign operations: including in terms of the strategic and operational aspects of ADB NSO activities, including systems and processes for origination, approval, financial close and supervision.
• Private Sector Development Operations in Low-Income Countries and fragile states: has a deep understanding of the realities of financing and implementing private sector projects in frontier markets, strong preference for candidates having transaction experience across multiple low-income African countries.  
• Exceptional professional report writing ability, consistent with the writing and presentation style used in multi-lateral development finance institution;
• Excellent communication skills, integrity, professional maturity and business judgment.
• Proven ability to work collegially with staff across all disciplines and areas of expertise- alternatively as team leader or team member, whilst maintaining mutually supportive team relationships.
• Experience of working within a multi-lateral development finance institutions is preferably within a financial institution providing credit-insurance and guarantee solutions desirable.
• Capacity to diagnose each transaction and resolve multiple concurrent problems; and a conceptual and strategic analytical capacity to understand competing requirements of operations and their contribution to results and ultimately impact on each guarantee.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct fund planning, programming, procuring and budgeting within strategic directions and with attention to the resource constraints.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and concurrent workstreams with varying levels of information and accountability.
• Plans for unanticipated risks and future issues by developing contingencies and programs to address issues that may impact achievement of quality results;
• Consistently makes informed decisions and provide advice, to independently solve programs, based on available and hard to find information;
• Good knowledge of operational and project management techniques and administrative requirement of organizations; desirable
• Business plan preparation and implementation monitoring as well as guideline/manual development; desirable.
• Proficient in the use of standard MS Office software applications, particularly Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as SAP. Knowledge of SAP would be an advantage.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English is a requirement for this position. (Bilingual in English and French, desirable).