Principal Fragility and Resilience Officer Full Time

THE BANK:

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).  The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2023 – 2032) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas, all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa. This position is part of the management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

THE COMPLEX:

Within the Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP), the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery (RDIBD) Directorates, one in each region of Africa: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) and is staffed with the relevant sectoral functions and administrative capabilities to rapidly deliver services to client countries. The Regional Directorates provide overall strategic direction to country offices within the regions and are responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management, and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5s agenda: ‘Light up and Power Africa,’ ‘Feed Africa,’ ‘Industrialize Africa,’ ‘Integrate Africa,’ ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT:

The Transition States Coordination Office (RDTS) oversees the implementation of the Bank Group’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs) and manages the Transition Support Facility (TSF), a dedicated financing instrument that supports the implementation of the Bank’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa. RDTS coordinates the work program of all fragility and resilience experts stationed in the various Regional Directorates or Country Offices. Apart from RMCs, the Bank also works with several international partners including the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN) system, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other sub-regional organizations such as the G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat, Lake Chad Basin Commission, IGAD, and the Mano River Union (MRU) Secretariat. The Bank also works with several humanitarian, peace and development actors working in fragile and conflict affected situations.

Over the past decade, Africa has seen enormous growth and transformation that has expanded opportunities and improved living conditions for millions of people. More than two-thirds of African countries have strengthened their quality of governance, improved basic services, and expanded economic opportunities. Yet, there are significant risks that this momentum could be undermined by emerging pressures which include conflict and instability, population displacement and migration, continuing patterns of exclusion and poverty, unemployment, rapid urbanization, climate change and poor management of natural resources. More recently, the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic is expected to significant adverse effects and far-reaching consequences for fragile and conflict affected countries.

RDTS aims to place the Bank at the center of Africa’s efforts to address fragility and pave the way for a more resilient and inclusive development trajectory. A major part of RDTS’ activities involves the coordination of the contribution of the various Bank departments to the effective implementation of the Bank-wide Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa, with a view to achieving synergies, both at the level of financing, resource mobilization, knowledge, policy dialogue, etc. The operationalization of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus requires innovative partnerships with external entities to achieve the envisaged objectives, whereas a dedicated emphasis is placed on working with the private sector to catalyze investments. RDTS is responsible for mainstreaming fragility considerations in the Bank’s regional and country strategies as well as in the design and implementation of projects and programs. RDTS adopts an evidence-based approach to continuously refine its engagement, learn lessons, report results to stakeholders, and mobilize resources.

THE POSITION:

Under the supervision of the Lead Coordinator and the Director RDTS, the Principal Fragility and Resilience Officer will support the operationalization of the Bank’s 2022-26 Strategy for addressing fragility and building resilience. The incumbent is expected to: (i) undertake fragility and resilience-related analytical and knowledge work in assigned countries; (ii) mainstream the analytical findings into the Bank’s operations, strategies, and policies in the respective countries; (iii) lead innovative economic and sector work (ESW) to strengthen the Bank’s engagement; (iv) promote the effective operationalization of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus; (iv) leverage technology and data analytics to inform the programming and utilization of Bank resources for this agenda; (v) support the preparation of the RDTS’ annual report.

KEY FUNCTIONS:

The Principal Fragility and Resilience Officer will work towards the achievement of the RDTS objectives and execute the work program. Her/his duties and responsibilities will include the following:

1. Carry out regular qualitative and data-driven analytical and research work on the drivers of fragility and sources of resilience in assigned countries for internal decision making and programming (e.g. situation briefs, country overviews and resilience assessments) and/or for publication/dissemination within or outside the Bank;
2. Conduct qualitative and evidence-based fragility and resilience assessments to inform the Bank’s projects, programs, policies, and strategic documents (e.g. Country Strategy Papers) in the assigned countries or at the request of the Lead Coordinator;
3. Provide guidance to project teams to develop fragility-sensitive results frameworks and theories of change for new operations under preparation and appraisal;
4. Contribute to the department’s research work related to resilience and dissemination of knowledge products such as discussion/research papers and publications, including the Annual Report;
5. Contribute to the development and constant improvement of the Bank’s tools and methodologies for collecting and analysing fragility-related data to monitor trends at the country and regional levels and develop forecasts (trend analysis) using the resilience perspective;
6. Provide quality enhancement services to the analytical work of the department as well as provide comments and inputs to relevant reports and publications initiated by other units of the Bank;
7. Build partnerships at the HDP nexus and support resource mobilization efforts with a view to implementing the Bank’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience;
8. Attend/represent the Bank in external events (conferences, seminars, workshops) related to fragility and resilience;
9. Perform any other assignments and tasks as requested by the Lead Coordinator/ Regional Fragility Coordinator and/or the Director of RDTS.

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience, and knowledge):

1. Hold at least a master’s degree in economics, development studies, political science, statistics, or related disciplines.
2. Additional qualification or certification in statistics, data analytics and quantitative analysis (desirable).
3. Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional experience in the field of policy research and data-driven analytics to inform the activities of development finance institutions, preferably in fragile situations in Africa.
4. Strong understanding of the Bank’s analytical, strategic, and operational approach to addressing fragility and building resilience in Africa.

Technical Competencies

5. Track record of carrying out evidence-based research, using qualitative and quantitative methods.
6. Experience in contributing to the development of projects and strategies for development finance institutions, preferably in fragile situations in Africa.
7. Deep understanding of the theory of change, logical frameworks, and results-based management (desirable).
8. Proven problem-solving approach to data availability and data quality challenges found in some developing countries (desirable).
9. Experience in conducting, and effectively communicating, robust analytical work. (desirable).
10. Knowledge and practical experience of operations policies, procedures, and review processes of multilateral development banks or other development agencies (desirable).

     Behavioral Competencies

11. Strong behavioral competencies, especially in line with the key performance drivers: communication; problem solving; client orientation; team working and relations; innovation and creativity; operational effectiveness.
12. Excellent communication skills, with ability to tailor written and verbal communication for a range of audiences.
13. Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams, and in a multicultural environment.
14. Ability to persuade and influence others.
15. Experience managing junior team members/consultants.
16. Ability to work in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other language.
17. Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, SAP, PowerPoint, MS Project).

THIS POSITION IS CLASSIFIED AS INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT AND ATTRACTS INTERNATIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.