World Bank Group

Position: Senior Operations Officer

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Posted date: 3 minutes ago

Application Deadline: Jun, 14/2021 (13 days left)

Description

IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In the fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

The development of a vibrant private sector is central to promoting economic growth and expanding opportunities for the poor. Sound and efficient markets can ensure that resources are allocated where they are most productive, assisting job creation and spurring economic growth.

IFC’s Creating Markets Advisory (CMA) Unit delivers on IFC’s capital increase commitments by providing a foundation for Regional, Industry and Upstream teams to increase private sector investment opportunities. CMA addresses “if-then” reform asks in IFC strategies, complementing World Bank efforts while strengthening IFC's relationships with client countries in support of IFC 3.0. Specifically, the CMA team works proactively with governments and regulatory agencies to create effective and efficient market conditions, both at economy-wide as well as industry/sector level, for increased private investments. Our global experience shows that challenges in the business environment and lack of the right enabling regulatory framework result in countries losing significant amounts of investment annually.  The unit collaborates extensively with the public sector, private sector and other teams across the World Bank Group in the design and delivery of advisory services.

Out of the Addis Ababa  IFC hub, CMA currently operates across the Horn of Africa, with an active comprehensive portfolio in Ethiopia and a fast growing portfolio in Sudan.   Further programs in other countries of the Horn are considered.

Role & Responsibilities

In this role, the selected candidate will serve as Senior Operations Officer, Regional Lead for CMA in the Horn of Africa, playing a leading role across the various CMA tools and offerings. He/she will work closely with IFC Upstream, Investments and Advisory staff in the Horn of Africa as well as World Bank staff to design and ensure implementation of programs supporting reforms prioritized in IFC’s country strategies that address bottlenecks faced by investors in IFC’s priority sectors. Beyond the Horn of Africa, he/she will play a leading role executing strategic initiatives to enhance the CMA practice in Sub-Saharan Africa, innovate new projects and build new business in line with the WBG/IFC country strategies, and deliver high-quality Advisory engagements. As Sub-Regional Lead, he/she will directly lead the CMA program in several countries of the region, working closely with the IFC Country Managers for those countries.  

• He/she will also be a member of the CMA Leadership Team for Sub-Saharan Africa working with the Manager and other Leads for Southern and Eastern Africa to shape the CMA program for the region.
• The Senior Operations Officer will report directly to the Manager, Creating Markets Advisory for Southern and Eastern Africa, with a second line to the Country Manager for the Horn of Africa. 
• Work collaboratively with the relevant industry teams to align advisory to help build a pipeline of investment projects and provide solutions to key portfolio clients. 
• Engage with the relevant teams at the World Bank and IFC for reforms needed to unlock new markets and work collaboratively with Upstream teams.

Design and Operationalize Solutions:

• Collaborate with CMA as well as industry specialists in the identification and design of investment climate reforms to unlock investment potential and create markets in the sub-region.
• Review and contribute to the development and approval of relevant project documents and client deliverables to ensure standards and objectives are met.
• Liaise with development partners who are contributing to multi-donor initiatives to improve the business enabling environment in the Horn of Africa.
• Participate in senior-level client meetings to provide technical advice and monitor progress in implementing investment climate reforms.
• Leverage relationships with Government officials, private sector and World Bank Group staff to design and implement reforms using existing or new projects and tools to support reform implementation.  
• Improve the design and delivery of client solutions by incorporating global best practices and lessons from the past. Partner with results team in developing appropriate theories of change and results in frameworks and indicators to strengthen the development impact and sustainability of client solutions and continuously learn from client projects/ engagements. 
• Ensure high quality of project supervision and completion documents and provide quality control over client deliverables. Moreover, support clients in implementing recommendations and help troubleshoot as needed.

Create and Share Knowledge:

• Support communication strategies in target countries. Identify themes and participate in events to showcase IFC offerings and value proposition, which includes serving as panelist/ moderator for internal and external events related to relevant thematic areas.
• Lead initiatives to shape ongoing and future offerings in investment climate reform and develop new tools and guidance to incorporate internal and external best practices.
• Provide quality control for internal and external written communication materials.

Build Capacity:

• Design and deliver training and communication strategy for Investment and Advisory staff to better enable them to be champions for investment climate reform, and for external stakeholders to generate interest in investment climate reforms and understanding of why it is important/ advantageous to businesses, community and/or economy.
• Drive strengthening the value proposition of Advisory products through embracing new trends and partnerships. 
• Help build a bench strength of experts and consultants in the thematic areas of leadership across the region.

Staff Supervision:

• Oversee/ supervise assigned staff and consultants.
• Develop technical capabilities of the assigned staff and members of the broader practice group team through mentoring, coaching, structured training program and by providing on-the-job learning opportunities.
• Ensure quality control of work products and outputs
• Determine resources needed to support projects and ensure efficient/ effective use of resources.
• Manage project budgets and align staffing needs. 

Job Requirement

• Master’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics or a closely related field, or professional certification (CPA, CFA).
• At least 12-15 years experience in private sector development, with a focus on delivering investment climate reforms in at least 2 regions and across a variety of markets.
• Strong skills and demonstrated track record in delivering advisory engagements in the area of investment climate reform. 
• Understanding of IFC and WBG products/ instruments and where there are opportunities for cross-organizational collaboration. Demonstrable experience working on IFC and WBG products will be an advantage.
• Understand the implications of different policy and regulatory frameworks governing the thematic areas.
• Able to design, negotiate and lead efforts to develop client offerings that reflect in-depth knowledge of thematic area and understanding of business case for how thematic focus will help clients to improve their business.
• Able to identify how changes in markets, business climate, regulations or emergence of new/ successful innovators/ disruptors may create new opportunities for IFC to accelerate its mandate in a thematic area.
• Thorough understanding of IFC products, what is likely to be approved, and how long it will take. Good understanding of WBG and how to initiate collaborative efforts to leverage its products/ instruments.
• Able to design research and analytical projects or a major portion of complex projects to credibly produce a new understanding of a thematic issue and/or potential opportunities to unlock new markets or new streams of business.
• Ability to conceptualize and lead research and analytical projects that could ultimately lead to the opening of new markets and/or reframe thinking on thematic approaches to better meet IFC and WBG mandates.
• Able to develop the research storyline that is relevant to and engages targeted stakeholders and mobilizes needed expertise.
• Able to move research proposals and results across functions to ensure relevant aspects becomes anchored and integrated with the work in those functions. 
• Excellent knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and aptitude to learn new systems is a must. 
• The ability to use project management systems is a plus.
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills plus fluency in English are a must. 

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.