Senior Rural Infrastructure Engineer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Position Number: 50054675
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
 Position Grade: PL5

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 priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”. The complex objectives are;
  • To develop, policy and strategy;
  • Provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions;
  • Develop new financing instruments;
  • 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 (AHHD), within the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex will spearhead 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:
  • Education and Skills Development Division, which focuses on scaling-up of Bank’s support to education and skills development, human capital and employment/livelihoods; and
  • Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division focusing on strengthening health systems and nutrition for human wellbeing. It also hosts various pertinent initiatives and trust funds.
• Education and skills training for development and gender analysis are central to the Department’s approach to strengthen the Bank’s role in helping the RMCs build the human capital they need for economic transformation in the context of globalization and the Fourth industrial revolution.

The Education and Skills Development Division (AHHD1) focuses on human capital development, 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 which are identified, developed and executed by the regional hubs effectively implement 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 human and social 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 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 Senior Infrastructure Engineer will support the Bank’s agenda on education and skills development for employability and productivity in Africa.
• He/she will promote activities related to improving the demand responsiveness of the education & training system to the skills needs of the labour market and for job creation on the continent.
• Specifically, he/she will support activities focusing on improving infrastructure development in technical and vocational training, higher education, science and technology institutions as well as gender issues in education.

Key Functions

• Under the supervision of the Division Manager Education and Skills Development  and working closely with internal and external stakeholders, the Senior Infrastructure Engineer will undertake the design and implementation of projects, polices and studies in the Education and Skills Development and Rural Development sectors.  

Supporting Bank Operations (Lending):

• Support AHHD1 in all education and skills development infrastructure engineering and architecture related activities, including project development, implementation and supervision, and co-ordination with other stakeholders within the Bank as well as other donors and development partners.
• Support RDGS and AHHD in analysing requests for financing from Regional Member Countries (RMCs) in light of the priorities identified by the Bank;
• Prepare education and skills development project requests to be submitted for bilateral funds, and necessary management and follow up actions for the funds;
• Identify opportunities for strategic collaboration with multilateral and bilateral donors in support of the education and skills development sector, to increase the advantage effects of AfDB’s loan and grant operations.
• Support the development of public private partnerships in education and skills development infrastructure;
• Provide expert advice and guidance to officials of executing agencies on sector issues and priorities, technical and operational aspects of projects, and Bank rules and procedures, including those for the procurement of works, goods and services, and disbursement activities.
• Provide active support to Governments in facilitating loans/grants effectiveness.
• Assist country officials and implementing agencies in carrying out procurement and disbursement activities in accordance with Bank Group rules and procedures.
• Assist Governments and implementation agencies in the utilization of revolving funds and preparation of quarterly reports and annual audit reports.
• Ascertain good performance of operations through regular supervision of portfolio operations, technical guidance and training of borrowers on compliance with the Bank’s rules and procedures.

Non-lending support/Knowledge work:

• 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 in new projects.
• Undertake analytical work and provide technical guidance in the area of education and skills development and other social sector infrastructure development and advice on how to ensure sustainability of benefits of Bank-financed social development projects and programs in the Bank’s Southern Africa Development Business and Delivery Unit (RDGS) and AHHD;
• Support the preparation, updating and the implementation of economic and sector work in the development of projects and programs;
• Review and give opinions on documents, studies and other reports by the Bank;
• Represent the Bank at technical meetings on education and skills development infrastructure
• Supporting the preparation of briefs, talking points and status reports for management
• Contribute to the preparation of Country Strategy Papers, with reference to education and skills development infrastructure development;
• Participate in the relevant sector donor-coordination meetings, sector wide approaches, and advise on sector policy issues;
• Assist where required in the development of the Bank’s infrastructure development policies, procedures and guidelines in the social sector, and ensure their application;
• 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 RDGS

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Rural Infrastructure Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or related field;
• Have a minimum of five (5) years relevant professional experience in program/project design and management, broad knowledge of all social infrastructure, with specific experience in implementation and management of donor-funded projects in the education and skills development infrastructure sub-sector;
• 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;
• Proven experience in project management;
• 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.