Social Protection Officer, AHHD0 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB / 20 / 128
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50001080

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; 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 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 contributes to the other High 5s.
• 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 (AHHD0), which covers West and Central countries. This Regional Division focuses on Pipeline Development, Lending Delivery, and Portfolio Management for all social sectors (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 Protection Officer reports to the Regional Sector Manager, West and Central Regions (AHHD0). The incumbent will support the Bank’s social protection agenda with the following main responsibilities:

• Propose and plan, on an annual and tri-annual basis, social protection lending and technical assistance programs for social protection development in the Regional Member Countries (RMC), (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 protection;
• Conduct technical and sectoral studies and analysis in preparation of Bank Group lending for social protection development;
• Provide technical assistance and advice to Borrowing Countries on social protection development problems and priorities, and on the technical aspects of projects; and,
• Identify, prepare, appraise and assist in the implementation of Bank-financed social protection projects.

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

• Provide technical advice/assistance to RMCs to develop their social protection system;
• Contribute to the development of the Bank Group social protection 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 protection system development;
• Identify, prepare and evaluate social protection 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;
• Supervise portfolio projects in accordance with Bank rules and procedures;
• Perform project completion missions with a view to preparing project completion reports;
• Conduct project preparation and appraisal missions in the social protection sector;
• 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 protection sector within the Bank, and externally;
• Develop partnerships with other multilateral and/or bilateral development institutions on social protection aspects;
• Carry out other technical tasks and coordination as required by the Regional Sector or the Director of the Department.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in Education, Development Economics, Sociology, Labor Economics, Social Sciences or related fields
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional experience in the areas, education, development economics, development finance and implementation of human capital development sector policies;
• 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 analyse and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendation
• Solid experience in project cycle management (identification, preparation, appraisal, supervision and completion);
• Ability to understand complex problems in education, gender and human development, social development, to identify key issues and recommend pragmatic solutions;
• Good knowledge of the social development, education and skills development system, and human development issues in the country;
• Strong understanding of multi-sector approaches and gaps in technical vocational education and training; higher education and skills development,
• Demonstrable knowledge of analysis and formulation of policies in sectors.
• Knowledge of the practices of major bilateral and multilateral agencies, development partners in the country will be an asset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and/or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language
• Ability to work independently and demonstrate a spirit of creativity and initiative
• Integrity and ability to work in a team and a proven capacity to lead a team;
• Ability to deliver high quality work within very tight deadlines;
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).