Social Development Officer, AHHD at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/21/020
Location: Yaounde, Cameroon
Grade: PL5
Position N°: 50058626

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 priorites 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; and (iii) 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.

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 contributes to the other High 5s.
• The Department also leads on the implementation of the Bank-wide Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy. The Department has two divisions (i) Education, Human Capital and Employment Division, which focuses on scaling-up of Bank’s support to higher education and skills development; and (ii) Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division, which focuses on strengthening health systems, social protection and nutrition for human wellbeing.
• In the regions, Human capital, Youth and Skills development Department has a Regional Division which covers West and Central countries. This Regional Division focuses on Pipeline development, Lending delivery, and Portfolio management for all social sector (Education, Health, Social Protection, Youth Employment) in West and Central countries. It also develops Coordination, Client Relations and Partnerships in these countries.

The Position

• The Social Development Officer reports to the Regional Sector Manager, West and Central regions.

The Social Development Officer will support the Bank’s social sector agenda with the following main responsibilities to:

• Propose and plan, on an annual and tri-annual basis, social sector lending and technical assistance programs for social development in the Regional Member Countries (including needs for co-financing with other institutions, countries and the private sector);
• Act as the link between the Bank and the Governments of RMCs for operational activities pertaining to the social sector;
• Conduct technical and sectoral studies and analysis in preparation of Bank Group lending for social sector development;
• Provide technical assistance and advice to Borrowing Countries on social sector development problems and priorities, and on the technical aspects of projects; and,
• Identify, prepare, appraise and assist in the implementation of Bank-financed social development projects.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Regional Sector Manager, the Social Development Officer shall perform the following key functions:

• Provide technical advice / assistance to RMCs to develop their social sector;
• Contribute to the development of the Bank Group social sector policy and provide technical advice / guidance to introduce and monitor the implementation of the policy;
• Contribute to the preparation of Country Strategy Papers and Portfolio Review reports,
• with particular emphasis on social sector development;
• Identify, prepare and evaluate social sector projects and programmes, together with multisector projects and programmes in RMCs;
• Identify and coordinate the co-financing needs of the Division's projects / programmes and make funding proposals;
• Conduct project preparation and appraisal missions in the social sector;
• Supervise portfolio projects in accordance with Bank rules and procedures;
• Perform project completion missions with a view to preparing project completion reports;
• Provide support to the Regional Sector Manager, to supervise staff, monitor the portfolio, the loan programme and the Division's indicators;
• Support the Regional Sector Manager in monitoring and achieving the target indicators, and in monitoring projects managed by other colleagues;
• Represent the Division and the Department in meetings and events related to the social sector within the Bank, and externally;
• Develop partnerships with other multilateral and / or bilateral development institutions on social sector aspects;
• Carry out other technical tasks and coordination as required by the Regional Sector Manager or the Director of the Department.

Selection Criteria

• A minimum of a Master's degree or its university equivalent in Business Development, Social Development, Economics, Sociology, Labour Economics or any related field;
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience in planning, administration or project management of social sector;
• Strong research / analytical skills in one of the following areas: social development policy formulation, project management, or donors’ coordination, with ability to strategically and rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendation;
• In-depth knowledge of social sector, political and development issues in RMCs;
• Solid experience in project cycle management (identification, preparation, appraisal, supervision and completion);
• Ability to understand complex problems in health, education, social protection, skills development, youth employment, gender, population and poverty related aspects, to identify key issues and recommend pragmatic solutions;
• Good knowledge of the health, education, social protection, skills development, youth employment, gender, population and poverty related aspects and human development issues in the RMCs;
• Strong understanding of multi-sector approaches and gaps in health, education, social protection, skills development, youth employment, gender, population and poverty related aspects and social development;
• Demonstrable knowledge of analysis and formulation of policies in social sectors;
• Knowledge of the practices of major bilateral and multilateral agencies, development partners in RMCs will be an asset;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and / or French, with a working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project);
• Knowledge of SAP would be an advantage.