Research and Operations Assistant at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Full Time

Job Title: Short-Term Staff – Research and Operations Assistant

Position Number: 50093901
Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Position Grade: GS8

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Finance oversees the financial management of the Bank Group.
• This encompasses the Bank Group’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization and the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

The Hiring Department

• As part of the Finance Complex, the Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Department (FIRM) has fiduciary responsibility for strategic concessionary resource mobilization, as well as donor relationship management and reporting, with the aim to complement and leverage the financial resources and instruments of the African Development Bank Group.
• FIRM is comprised of two Divisions – FIRM.1 and FIRM.2 with primary accountability to increase the pool and types of funding available to the Bank’s regional member countries (RMCs).
• The Department sits under the Finance Vice Presidency (FIVP). FIRM.1 is responsible for resource mobilization initiatives and partnerships with sovereign entities. It is mandated to mobilize, allocate and monitor resources for the Bank’s statutory capital, including the African Development Fund (ADF) the concessional window.
• FIRM.1 leads the partnership with sovereign entities such as bilateral aid agencies and manages most bilateral trust funds of traditional partners. FIRM.2 is responsible for managing relationships with new partners, emerging economies and non-sovereign partnerships.
• The Division is responsible for the Trust Fund (TF) Policy, promotes co-financing with multilateral development banks and bilateral agencies and finds ways to partner with non-traditional donors. It also provides guidance and oversight for the implementation of trust funds and special funds.
• As the global financial architecture evolves, the Bank Group strives to be a leader in best practices and emerging developments in relation to resource mobilization and partnership approaches. A new Trust Fund Policy was approved in 2021 to ensure that the Bank Group’s trust funds are fit-for-purpose and to respond to both current and evolving requirements.
• The 2021 Trust Fund Policy proposed, among others, the following two key changes: 1) in addition to grants, trust funds can now receive and provide reimbursable grants, loans, equity, guarantees, and any other financial instrument available to the Bank; 2) the creation of the Project Specific Vehicle (PSV).

FIRM.2 Division:

• Leads the institution’s partnership with emerging shareholder countries (e.g., China, Korea, India, Brazil) and their bilateral aid agencies; multilateral bodies including the European Union, the United Nations, and African Union; and non-sovereign partnerships such as corporates and philanthropic foundation.
• Leads the strategic negotiations for the setting up of financial vehicles and institutional frameworks, necessary for the institution to accept external resources, including all co-financing facilities and trust funds financed by external partners.
• Oversees fiduciary management of the institution’s bilateral, thematic trust funds and special funds; that is, mobilize, allocate, monitor, and support the management of non-statutory capital ensuring compliance with the African Development Bank Group’s rules and the commitments taken upon the replenishment negotiations, as applicable.
• Monitors and manages relationships with existing and new partners, serving as the secretariat for the review committee for new partnerships (i.e., Standing Committee on Partnerships).
• Identifies innovative ways to partner with non-traditional donors and leverage new resource mobilization tools and approaches (e.g., Project Specific Vehicle, crowdsourcing, blockchain) to evaluate their potential applicability and viability for the institution.
• Researches and positions the institution to respond to emerging thematic resource mobilization trends Assists other organizational units of the Bank Group to identify resources for their initiatives (i.e., Jobs for Youth Program, Climate Action Window), including through the coordination of the resource mobilization experts sitting within other Bank Group business units.
• Houses innovative financial products and risk mitigation instruments which catalyze private capital to finance development in Africa (e.g., Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility) under a blended finance approach.
• Reports globally on the use of resources placed in trust at the African Development Bank Group to management and to outside parties, as required.
• Develops and disseminates to internal and external audiences’ trainings, capacity building, guidance papers and policy documents on resource mobilization at the African Development Bank (e.g., member to MDB Roundtable on Trust Funds and Co-Financing, Business Opportunity Seminars).

The Position

• Under the supervision of the FIRM.2 Manager, the Research and Operations Assistant plays a key role in supporting (i) resource mobilization and partnerships officers in information and data gathering in relation to the partners in their portfolio, (ii) in the negotiation, on-boarding and operationalization of new trust funds or contributions, (iii) in the management of trust funds and the Project Specific Vehicle (PSV) operations, including in relation to data management, compliance and reporting tasks.
• She/he supports the development and maintenance of systems supporting the Division and trust fund management. She/he also contributes to the financial management of the resources of the Division, including budget preparation and execution.
• Finally, she/he supports the Division in administrative tasks.

Key Functions
Under the supervision of the FIRM.2 Manager, the Research and Operations Assistant will carry out the following duties:
Research assistance in relation to donors/partners and resources mobilization:

• Research/update information feeding Strategic Engagement Notes and Briefing Notes on sovereign and non-sovereign partners including prospectives ones, under the remit of the Division.
• Develop and maintain a database of sovereign and non-sovereign partners with topics/sectors of interest, including prospectives ones, for the Department.
• Assist with the organization of donors/partners visit to the Bank HQ as well as internal and external outreach activities, such as Business Opportunities Seminars and Brown Bag Seminars.

Operations assistance in relation to trust fund and the PSV management:

• Develop and maintain a database of trust fund managers and task managers who have completed relevant Bank accreditation modules and of those who have not, including a system to ensure that new trust fund managers are automatically added to the database and notified when they need to complete the accreditation.
• Support the management and coordination of vehicles (trust funds and PSV) managed by the Division, including the related portfolio of projects, to ensure there is always strict compliance with the policies, guidelines and procedures of the Bank.
• Constantly improve and maintain the architecture for electronic archiving of the resource mobilization and partnership function (partnerships, trust funds, etc.) to ensure compliance with audit rules and regulations.
• Coordinate with resources mobilization officers and trust fund managers across the Bank ecosystem for the collection from multiple sources (DARMS, BPPS, SARS, SAP, SharePoint Collaboration, etc.) and documents (Work program & Budget, Financial Statements, Operational reports, Call for proposals, PEN, PAR, PCR, etc.) related to vehicles under the oversight of FIRM and consolidate them in a structured FIRM archiving system.
• Support the development of the Resource’s Mobilization and Partnerships Dashboard through data entry, testing, providing input to the business requirements and following-up with the different parties involved.
• Constantly improve and maintain, for the Resource’s Mobilization and Partnerships function of the Bank Group, a Dashboard providing key performance indicators (KPIs) for certain categories of partnerships, including indicators on the compliance to the commitment made by the Bank to partners.
• Support the development, improvement and maintenance of the Resource’s Mobilization and Partnerships SharePoint site, including the provision and the addition of content to the site as required.
• Support the development, improvement, and maintenance of the Business Opportunity Seminars website, including the provision and the addition of content to the site as required.
• Support operational activities of trust fund managers and beneficiaries by providing technical assistance in the use of SAP TFMS.
• Contribute to the production of reports, presentations (layout, document review, production of graphical material), as well as Excel-based analysis, and enter/retrieve information in SAP TFMS.
• Support the enhancement of SAP TFMS in collaboration with the Bank ecosystem; lead data cleaning efforts with Bank users to ensure data quality and integrity; provide TFMS support to Bank users.
• Coordinate with the Bank’s Information Technology Services Department, if necessary, for needs relating to SAP/BPPS/ATRS/SRAS and IT issues.

Financial Management of resources of the Division:

• Lead the preparation and the management of the administrative budget of the Division, including the monitoring and review of expenditure and bring issues to the attention of management.
• Assess and project budget needs of the Division on a regular basis to determine gaps and recommend resource re-allocations or requests to management.
• Support the hiring and contractual management of consultants of the Division.

Administrative assistance to the Division:

• Back-up the Division’s Administrative Assistant for smooth processing and execution of the work program of the Division including the drafting and formatting of inter-office memos.
• Contribute to the organization and logistics of meetings and the drafting and distribution of the minutes as well as the follow-up of actions items.
• Support events logistics including communication, participants management, room booking, catering, travel, etc.

Competencies (Skills, Experience, and Knowledge)

• At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Statistics, Data Analysis / Management, Finance or a related discipline;
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant and practical experience in an operational service, preferably in an international organisation, especially in an international development bank;
• Sound knowledge of general office administration and organisation in development finance institutions; Skills in office administration and organization;
• Proven writing skills, in particular the ability to write professional reports and memos;
• Experience of to set up and/or managing a database system;
• Problem-solving: Apply operational knowledge to solve problems and find solutions for the client (internal and external) and organisation;
• Communication: Ability to communicate orally and in writing in a clear and concise manner; present oral information with clarity and appropriate style and adapt language and style to the needs of a particular audience;
• Operational efficiency: Commit to ensuring that the systems, procedures and culture within the organisation are fully leveraged to produce the required results;
• Teamwork and relationships: Work with colleagues to enhance the effectiveness of the team as a whole, sharing knowledge and workload. Build strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the creation of a positive environment for teamwork; Good interpersonal skills and ability to provide and receive feedback; Administrative experience of teamwork and relationships in a development financial institution within a team that manages trust funds would be an additional advantage;
• Professionalism, maturity, reliability, integrity, adaptability and initiative are essential to perform this function;
• Ability to make informed decisions and provide advice to independently solve programme problems based on available or hard-to-find information; use relevant, timely and clear information.
• Competence in the use of standard MS Office software applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and SAP. Competence in the use of SAP or related corporate resource planning software (including project and loan management modules); have the technological skills to perform data entry, manage team schedules and create corporate reports;
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English is a requirement for this position, being able to do so in English and French would be a strong advantage.

Application Closing Date
17th January, 2024.