Division Managers at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – 2 Openings Full Time

Job Title: Division Manager

Locations: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and Pretoria, South Africa
Employment Type: Full-time

The Complex

• The core mandate of the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Vice Presidency (ECVP) is to lead the Bank Group on prioritizing the generation, analysis, dissemination, brokering and implementation of relevant knowledge solutions in all High-5 operational priorities and the cross-cutting themes of its Ten-Year Strategy to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
• Such solutions must be a clear response to priority development challenges facing regional member countries (RMCs), individually or collectively and need to involve RMCs in both the planning and implementation of the solutions. The solutions include: (i) Research for Development to reposition the Bank as the continent’s premier development knowledge solutions (ii) Economic and Sector Works to support operations in the Bank’s Business Delivery Units (iii) Economic Intelligence to support the Bank’s Senior Management and Operations Complex investment decision-making, and policy processes in the Bank’s member Countries (iv) Policy Based Operations to catalyze appropriate reforms to enhance macro-economic policy management in the Regional Member Countries (v) Capacity Building and Knowledge Management: training, technical assistance, and policy dialogue to enhance intuitions and governance capacity in the RMCs (vi) Knowledge Partnerships and Knowledge Brokerage to co-develop knowledge solutions to Africa’s development challenges (vii) Natural Resource Management and Investment promotion to enhance the knowledge basis for investments in the natural resources sector for accelerated development in African countries, and  (viii) Data Systems and Support Services to collect, collate, and maintain up to date and accurate data and data analytics on key development variables in the RMCs.

The Hiring Department

• The hiring department is the Country Economics Department (ECCE) whose mandate is to position the Bank at the center of socio-economic knowledge-led Country and Regional strategies, policy dialogue and operations. Hence, the Department’s work program is delivered through: (i) Strategy Documents; (ii) Regional and Country Economic Reports and Briefs; (iii) Policy Dialogue; (iv) Economic and Sector Work and (v) Thought Leadership. Through its Strategy Documents, the Department leads the production of Country and Regional Strategy documents, including the Country Strategy Papers (CSP – and their derivatives: Mid-Term Reviews, Completion Reports, Country Briefs, CSP Updates, Interim CSPs, etc.); Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISPs – and their derivatives: Mid-Term Reviews, Completion Reports, etc.); Country Diagnostic Notes; and Regional Diagnostic Notes to inform country lending programs.
• Through the Regional and Country Economic Reports, The Department produces the Regional Economic Outlooks Reports, the Country Focus Reports, and the African Economic Outlook Country Notes to update on the economic, political and social developments in the Regional Member Countries (RMCs) as well as in the five Bank’s operational Regions.
• The Department also plays a key role in Country/Regional Policy Dialogue and in the Bank’s collaboration with other development partners, including participation in Country Thematic Groups in line with Paris Declaration on Aid effectiveness and Accra Plan of Action.
• Using Economic and Sector Work, the Country Economics Department leads in the research and analysis of economic and sector issues at the country level to inform the design of Bank’s strategy and programs in the country.
• The Country Economics Department is composed of two (2) divisions, each overseen by a Division Manager:
• The Country Economics Department Division 1 (ECCE.1), which covers Central, North, and West Africa, and the Country Economics Division 2 (ECCE.2), which covers Nigeria, Eastern and Southern Africa. The two (2) Division Managers report to the Senior Director of the Country Economics Department.

The Position

• Division Managers are key members of the Country Economics Department. Reporting to the Senior Director of the Department, Division Managers work in close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, including Lead Economists, Country Economists, ECVP’s management team, Director Generals, Deputy Director Generals and Country Managers, Sector Complexes’ staff and management, and country/regional/global policymakers.
• Division Managers Provide effective and strategic managerial leadership to staff in their respective division to enhance staff productivity and effective delivery of the Division’s and the Department’s work program.

Key Functions
Under the supervision and guidance of the Senior Director of the Country Economics Department, the Division Managers will perform the following duties:
Strategy and Planning:

• Collaborate  with all stakeholders and ensure the division works seamlessly as a team with relevant units of ECVP and RDVP, including Regional Business Development and Delivery Offices, and Country Offices, and all sector departments.
• Coordinate the  Division’s contributions for the yearly production of the African Economic Outlook (AEO) Country Notes, Country Focus Reports (CFR), and Regional Economic Outlooks (REO) to ensure timely and quality delivery.
• Lead on developing and updating frameworks and templates for statutory documents such as Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) and their derivatives (e.g. CSPs Mid Term Reviews), and Country Diagnostics Notes (CDNs).
• Contribute to the preparation, coordination and timely delivery of statutory documents including: Regional Integration Strategy Papers, CSPs and their derivatives, CDNs, Country Policy and Institutional Assessments (CPIA), and Country Resilience and Fragility Assessments (CRFA).
• Coordinate the production of briefs for Senior Management. Ensure all briefs meet high quality standards and are produced in a timely manner.
• Serve as lead coordinator for regular economic surveillance documents published for the African Development Bank Group Senior Management such as the Economic Issues and Economic Snapshots series.
• Lead the process for the validation of the Bank Group Economic Sector Work (ESW), including the production and regular update of the prioritization framework.
• Responsible for the Delegation of Authority Matrix (DAM), subsequent updates and compliance by ECCE Staff.
• Contribute to developing, reviewing, and  validating the objectives and work program of the Division, ensuring alignment to the strategic priorities of the Country Economics Department, the Complex and the Bank.
• Lead and coordinate contributions of the Department for the Bank Group statutory documents including for the African Development Fund replenishments, General Capital Increase, resource mobilization and partnership initiatives.
• Monitors, coordinates and supervises the timely implementation of various deliverables in the  Division.
• Develop, review, validate and manage the budget of the Division, and ensure its effective implementation.
• Contribute towards the development of country and regional level policy and strategies s in RMCs in consultation with other  Departments of the Bank Group, country authorities and development partners.
• Engage in policy reform dialogue with Government officials and development partners on issues pertaining to the socio-economic development of African countries.
• Contribute to the preparation of policy statements, papers, briefs and various reports on economic issues.
• Represent the Bank in its engagement with development partners on discussions relating to the macroeconomic framework of the country.
• Lead/support Bank teams in the preparation and implementation of thought leadership initiatives to position the Bank as the premier knowledge institution on socio-economic issues.
• Play a leadership role in the provision of advice to other project and policy work of the Bank to ensure that it is in line with current development thinking and practices in economic area.

Work program development, management, and timely execution:

• Support the Director on administrative issues related to Lead Economists and staff in ECCE.
• Develop, review, and validate the objectives and work program of the Division, ensuring alignment to the strategic priorities of the Country Economics Department, the Complex and the Bank.
• Actively contribute to the designing and monitoring of the Division’s and the Department’s corporate key performance indicators and ensure they are cascaded down to the division’s staff.
• Ensure alignment of the Division’s work program with the Department’s key performance indicators.
• Ensure the timely execution of the Division’s work program, and provide guidance as needed to the teams.
• Consolidate and monitor the work program of the Division. Develop and monitor key performance indicators to drive the Division’s performance.
• Oversee the preparation approval, implementation and reporting of the Division’s budget and mission schedules in conformity with the general rules and procedures of the Bank.

People and talent management:

• Ensure staff in the division effectively collaborate with all regional and sectoral staff to smoothly deliver the Department’s work program with a view of delivering results and being relevant for all stakeholders.
• Ensure the  Division has the appropriate skills-mix to deliver transformative impacts at all times for effective delivery of the objectives defined in the work program.
• Plan the strategic staffing of the  Division and build with the Human Resources department the required recruitment plans.
• Put in place, with the assistance of the Human Resources Management department, delivery accountability and talent management mechanisms, to build a fit-for-purpose talent pool for the department for business continuity.
• As main supervisor or contributor, assess staff work performance, appraise staff potential, and determine training and development needs.
• Organize effective delegation of responsibilities by empowering staff at all levels.
• Performs other tasks as requested by the ECVP/ECCE Management and Senior Management of the Bank
• Consolidate and monitor the division deliverables to ensure timely implementation according to agreed objectives.
• Involve all relevant stakeholders, including RMCs’ governments, other development partners and concerned parties (including civil societies) or other stakeholders, in cycle activities.
• Ensure key technical, economic, financial and crosscutting issues are incorporated into all the Department’s products

Relations with stakeholders:

• Ensure effective collaboration with the other  Departments of the Complex.
• Work closely with regional  Director Generals, sector complexes and other stakeholders inside and outside the Bank to ensure relevance of Division’s work to the Bank’s operations and projects.
• Promote and maintain relations with relevant external stakeholders.
• Performs other duties assigned by the Department Director.

Competencies (Skills, Experience, and Knowledge)

• At least a Master’s Degree in Economics, Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Financial Economics or Applied Economics; a PhD will be an advantage.
• A minimum of eight (8) years with at least three (3) years in leadership roles of relevant professional experience in policy analysis   and applied economics gained within major international organizations.
• Proven experience in managing a team of professionals and demonstrated experience in people management.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Standing record of support in policy dialogue, strategic thinking, macroeconomics, including debt management issues in African countries.
• Evidence of recent contributions to thought leadership on issues of relevance for African countries.
• Excellent knowledge of the international development institutions’ policies, guidelines, and procedures.
• Proven experience in leading policy dialogue with the highest level of Government bodies in the Regional Member Countries.
• Demonstrated operational experience in a multilateral setting.
• Solid experience in knowledge and partnership leveraging.
• Competence in the use of at least one standard econometric software for empirical analysis.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications.

Application Closing Date
12th June, 2024.