Research Assistant, FIRM2 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB / 20 / 156
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Grade: GS8
Position N°: 50050625

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency for Finance oversees the financial management of the Bank Group. This encompasses the Bank Group’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; and the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

The Hiring Department / Division:

• As part of the Finance Complex, the Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Department has fiduciary responsibility for strategic concessionary finance resource mobilization, as well as donor relationship management and reporting, with the aim to compliment and leverage the financial resources and instruments of the African Development Bank Group. The department is comprised of two divisions whose primary, joint role is to increase the pool and types of funding available to the Bank Group’s Regional Member Countries, particularly for transformative projects in line with the Bank’s Ten-year strategy and High Five priorities.

Division 2 of the Resource Mobilization & Partnerships Department is responsible for the following corporate objectives:

• Leads the institution’s partnership with emerging shareholder countries (including China, Korea, India, Nigeria, Brazil) and their bilateral aid agencies; and multilateral bodies including the European Union, the United Nations and African Union;
• Leads the strategic negotiations for the setting up financial vehicles and institutional frameworks necessary for the institution to accept external resources, including all co-financing facilities and trust funds financed by external partners;
• Oversees fiduciary management of the institution’s bilateral and thematic trust funds; that is, mobilize, allocate and monitor non-statutory capital ensuring compliance with the African Development Bank Group’s rules and the commitments taken upon the replenishment negotiations, as applicable;
• Monitors and manages relationships with existing and new partners, including non-sovereign partnerships such as with corporates and philanthropic foundations (e.g. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); serving as the secretariat for the review committee for new partnerships (i.e. Standing Committee on Partnerships);
• Identifies innovative ways to partner with non-traditional donors and leverage new resource mobilization tools and approaches to evaluate their potential applicability and viability for the institution;
• Assists other organizational units of the Bank Group to identify resources for their initiatives (i.e. Jobs for Youth Program);
• Houses innovative financial products and risk mitigation instruments which catalyze private capital to finance development in Africa (e.g. Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility) under a blended finance approach;
• Reports globally on the use of resources placed in trust at the African Development Bank Group to management and to outside parties, as required;
• Develops and disseminates to internal and external audiences; communication materials, seminars and trainings, capacity building, guidance papers and policy documents on resource mobilization at the African Development Bank (e.g. Business Opportunity Seminars).

The Position

• The main objective of the Research Assistant’s position is to provide day-to-day support for the team, under direct supervision and guidance of the Division Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, the Research Assistant will identify sources of relevant data and information, compiles, analyses and presents this information for internal use - for the preparation of reports, presentations, and dissemination products. The Assistant also supports the preparation of internal and external outreach events.

The incumbent undertakes the following specific duties:

• Extract data from the in-house software Trust Fund Management System (TFMS/SAP) and other SAP systems to produce reporting dashboards.
• Participate in the writing of reports, papers, presentations, and other division documents.
• Consolidate, categorizing and maintaining background information and records on relevant issues, developing related databases and information systems and updating them accordingly.
• Complete other routine research and other tasks for the FIRM.2 Division in support of its work program and KPIs.
• Maintain a database of memorandum of understanding (MOUs) and cooperation agreements between the African Development Bank Group and its partners.
• Support the secretariat of the Standing Committee on Partnerships
• Support relationship management with Korea, India and China.
• Support in developing and disseminating diverse communication products for the Division, including digital.
• Assist in the organization of regular internal and external outreach events for the benefit of staff and other stakeholders, such as internal Brown Bag seminars, the biannual Business Opportunities Seminars
• Support procurement process of division (drafting TORs, solicitation of Expression of Interest, etc.);
• Intranet design and content update;
• Logistical support for the FIRM.2 team during meetings such as conferences and workshops both within and outside of the Headquarters; and
• Other duties as may arise.

Selection Criteria

• Holds at least a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (such as Economics, Development Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Business Administration, Policy Analysis, Statistics, or other related fields).
• At least six (6) years of experience working in development organizations and/or in research institutions in areas related to data analysis. Knowledge of the Bank and its operations would be a plus.
• Operational effectiveness.
• Problem-solving.
• Client orientation.
• Team working and relationship management.
• Knowledge in data analysis techniques and tools.
• Knowledge of design, implementation, management and monitoring of programs and projects;
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications, and preferably SAP and competence in the use of virtual meeting software such as Zoom, Teams and Webex.