Chief Program Officer at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Chief Program Officer

Reference: ADB/19/141
Location: Abidjan, Cote D’ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50100550

Objectives
The Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility (PSF):

The PSF is a captive credit risk participation facility that participates in the credit risks of the AfDB’s Non Sovereign Operations (NSOs) in countries eligible to borrow from the African Development Fund (ADF) – namely low income countries. Given its current capital base, the PSF’s target portfolio size stands at UA 1.1 billion of credit exposures.
Given the specific nature of the PSF as a risk participant in the Bank’s NSO, the ADF Board of Directors exercises oversight over the Facility and approves risk participations by the Facility in each NSO in compliance with the PSF Framework and Guidelines.
The PSF Administrator (PSFA) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the PSF and for mobilizing additional resources to increase the Facility’s risk bearing capacity.
The PSF is financially and operationally autonomous with a total separation of resources from those of the ADB and the ADF. It sources certain middle and back office functions from the ADB. The PSFA works closely with relevant departments to ensure these functions are performed in a timely manner and in line with applicable standards and ensure that it meets all performance and financial planning, reporting and audit requirements.

The Position
Under the Supervision of the PSF Administrator, the Program Officer (PO) will be responsible for four broad sets of tasks, as follows:

Pipeline development and portfolio management,
Operational program implementation;
Reporting, monitoring and evaluation and
Fundraising and stakeholder engagement.
He/she supports the PSF administrative and operational management performs Risk Participation Agreement implementation, in compliance with Guidelines, Policies and Strategies.
In performing this role, the PO is expected to maintain a strategic institutional perspective focused on results and performance.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Program Officer will be responsible for:

Pipeline development and portfolio management:

Plan and coordinate the annual work programs to operationalize the Facility’s strategy and business plan;
Coordinate and proactively engage in business development to maintain a pipeline/portfolio management system to track project implementation progress and performance;
Drive portfolio management and early warning systems, particularly in areas of performance reporting and analysis;
Follow up disbursement procedures and coordination with relevant financial management and portfolio teams vis-à-vis transactions for which guarantees have been triggered.

Strategic program management:

Provide technical guidance and prepared Documentation on PSF risk participation recommendations
Develop guidelines, templates and user manuals for internal and external audiences;
Design appropriate approaches and tools to appraise
Draft documentation recommending specific transactions for inclusion in the PSF portfolio:

Reporting, monitoring and evaluation:

Develop and implement a Monitoring and Evaluation system and promote joint performance indicators and ensure its operationalization;
Lead in the preparation of PSF’s annual report, quarterly updates and monthly briefs;
Lead on development of annual work plans, closely monitoring implementation;
Carry-out research and prepare briefs as required by PSFA.

Fundraising and stakeholder engagement:

Contribute to the mobilization of financial resources for the Private Sector Facility
Serve as the main contact for internal communications and reporting on the Private Sector Facility with outside parties, including to donors and other stakeholders, and ensure timely responses to solicitations from internal and external stakeholders;
Develop and implement a communication strategy for the Private Sector Facility;
Coordinate PSF public relations workflow and web-presence (AfDB website, external website, external donor data platform, etc.);
Communicate and represent the PSF effectively to various audiences, including key stakeholders, clients, beneficiaries, public, internal and external partners under the supervision of the PSFA;
Participate in fundraising outreach activities;
Liaise and coordinate with internal and external partners.

Other:

Lead the organization of thematic forums and workshops related to Private Sector Facility;

Selection Criteria

At least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Management, Finance or Related field.
Additional qualifications like Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA); desirable
Experience in program management is desirable
At least seven (7) years of experience in program planning, implementation management support and reporting;
At least 4 years private sector / non-sovereign portfolio management is mandatory, specifically non-recourse project and corporate finance transactions, and/or guarantee and risk participation instruments;
Prior experience in the infrastructure, industrial, agribusiness, financial sector and business development is necessary
Capacity to diagnose each transaction and resolve multiple concurrent problems; and a conceptual and strategic analytical capacity to understand competing requirements of operations and their contribution to results and ultimately impact on each guarantee.
Demonstrated ability to advise the PSFA in planning, programming, procuring and budgeting within strategic directions and with attention to the resource constraints.
Ability to work with staff across all Complexes, Donors and external stakeholders. Consequently, and manage multiple tasks with varying levels of information and accountability.
Credit insurance and guarantees: strong grasp of credit insurance and guarantee instruments concepts and business models, and hands-on experience implementing them.
Fund management and administration: strong grasp of fund management and administration concepts and processes and hands-on experience implementing them.
Understanding of ADB NSO ecosystem: understands strategic and operational aspects of ADB NSO activities, including systems and processes for origination, approval, financial close and supervision.
Private Sector Development Operations in Africa: has deep understanding of the realities of financing and implementing private sector projects in the African context across sectors, including agribusiness, energy, financial and infrastructure.
Plans for unanticipated risks and future issues by developing contingencies and programs to address issues that may impact achievement of quality results;
Consistently makes informed decisions and provide advice, to independently solve programs, based on available and hard to find information;
Proven professional report writing ability;
Excellent communication skills, integrity, professional maturity and business judgment.
Good knowledge of operational and project management techniques and administrative requirement of organizations; desirable
Business plan preparation and implementation monitoring; desirable
Experience of working with development finance institutions, preferably with some exposure to African low income markets and/or high risk jurisdiction; desirable
High level professional knowledge of operational and strategic portfolio management techniques and structured credit instruments and loan guarantees; desirabl
Proficient in the use of standard MS Office software applications, particularly Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as SAP. Knowledge of SAP would be an advantage
Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English is a requirement for this position. (Bilingual in English and French, highly desirable)