2020 Fresh Vacancies at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries. The AfDB was founded in 1964 and comprises three entities: The African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund.

The AfDB’s mission is to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent through promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programs that are likely to contribute to the economic and social development of the region.

The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries (RMC). While it was originally headquartered in Abidjan, CÃ´te d’Ivoire, the Bank’s headquarters moved to Tunis, Tunisia, during the civil war in CÃ´te d’Ivoire.

Senior Interpreter (English), CHLS2
Planning and Administrative Officer, SNFI0
Chief Fragility and Resilience Officer, RDTS

1. Senior Interpreter (English), CHLS2

The Complex

The Corporate Services and Human Resources Vice-Presidency (CHVP) ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services.
The complex leads efforts to ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice and is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of the Bank’s strategies on people, IT, general services and institutional procurement, language services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.

The Hiring Department/Division

The primary role of the Language Services Department is to ensure, as required by the Bank’s Agreement, the accessibility in the two working languages of the Bank (English and French, and on occasion Arabic and Portuguese) of all issues and documents submitted to the Senior Management and governing bodies of the Bank, for efficient decision-making aimed at the achievement of the Bank’s mission.
The Interpretation Division (CHLS.2) provides interpretation services for all statutory bodies of the Bank (Boards of Governors, Boards of Directors and their subsidiary organs), various organizational units of the Banks, as well as for meetings co-organized by the Bank with external stakeholders and development partners.

Job Type: Full Time
Qualification: MBA/MSc/MA
Experience: 5 years

Reference: ADB/20/031
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL5
Position N°: 50001502

The Position

Under the guidance of the Manager of the Interpretation Division, the Senior Interpreter (English) will provide faithful, appropriate and well-delivered interpretation at various meetings and functions of the Bank Group and generally contribute to enhanced communication within the Bank as well as between Bank officials and other stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide faithful, appropriate and well-delivered interpretation into English (simultaneous, consecutive and other modes) at various meetings and functions of the Bank Group (interviews, induction, on-boarding, seminars, training sessions and engagements with other international organizations and stakeholders of the Bank Group, among others);
Provide as and when required, accurate and quality interpretation into French;
Carry out terminology research and prepare glossaries on general emerging themes;
Contribute to the preparation of special glossaries on Bank Group Annual Meetings;
Cover study tours of Senior Advisers and Advisers to Regional Member Countries;
Perform any other duties within his/her area of competence as may be assigned by the Division Manager.

Selection Criteria

At least a Master’s Degree in Conference Interpreting or a related field;
A minimum of 5 years of relevant practical working experience as an interpreter. Experience in an international organization will be an asset;
Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English and French. Ability to interpret into the ‘B’ language(s) will be an advantage;
Ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural team;
Ability to carry out terminology research and prepare glossaries on a wide range of themes;
Ability to interact with clients of the Division;
Good knowledge of the use of Bank’s standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).

2. Planning and Administrative Officer, SNFI0

The Complex

The Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP) is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
The SNVP will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions. The SNVP will lead Senior Management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Board and Management decisions.

Job Type: Full Time
Qualification: MBA/MSc/MA
Experience: 4 years

Reference: ADB/20/079
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL6
Position N°: 50052201

The Hiring Department

The SVP supervises the Fiduciary and Inspection Department (SNFI), which acts as the custodian of the procurement (including procurement for private and public partnership) and financial management (FM) profession, and has the following responsibilities for its functions:
- Developing and interpreting policy, strategy and related guidance notes and manuals;
- Preparing annual post review reports on the Bank’s FM and procurement operations for the Board;
- Developing training strategy for internal and external clients;
- Dialoguing with external and global partners with a view to building partnerships and fostering harmonization;
- Providing the secretariat for the Procurement Review Committee (PRC); and
- Inspecting and reporting on the performance of procurement and FM activities undertaken by the regions.

The Position
The Planning and Administrative Officer will:

Act as Budget focal person in SNFI department in charge of (i) coordinating the preparation the department’s and Divisions’ administrative budget based on the annual work programs agreed upon and (ii) monitoring the use of resources and the cost centres according to the Bank’s rules and regulations;
Liaise regularly with the Operations Complexes on a regular basis to ensure availability of budget to finance effective participation of fiduciary teams in the projects cycle;
Providing Management with timely monitoring information and statements and prepare accordingly regular follow up of KPls along with budget execution; and budget-related annual activity reports.

Duties and responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Director, the Planning and Administrative Officer will:

Liaise with the SNFI department’s front office and divisions with a view to gather information about the annual work programs and prepare accordingly the department’s administrative budget;
Based on the operations-related divisions’ work programs, liaise with the operations Complexes Budget Focal point and SNVP Budget Coordinators to ensure availability of resources for providing effective fiduciary support during preparation and appraisal missions, including country strategy papers.
Provide administrative support, including preparation of administrative and budget forms and processing of requests in SAP.
Liaise with the SNVP Budget Coordinator on a continuous basis to anticipate on budget issues; identify and initiate measures for mobilization of additional resources putting forth efficiency requirement.
Work with the Divisions Managers to ensure proper programming and timely implementation of SNFI Work Program.
Provide administrative assistance to PL and GS staff in logistical arrangements for the planning of activities, including support to the recruitment of consultants and preparation and execution of training activities, in accordance with budget provisions
Advise Management in a timely manner to ensure maximization of departmental resource allocation.
Release regular updates of work program and budget utilisation levels based on the processing schedule.
Prepare informative annual activity reports; monthly KPls reports; and monthly budget execution reports; and ad hoc reports.
Assist staff in logistical arrangements for training activities while ensuring compliance with budget execution process; Participate in Bank missions, where necessary.
Manage the P-Card allocated to SNFI department.
Manage the process for the recruitment and use of consultants, payments of fees for services.
Manage the recruitment of short-term staff and all related administrative activities to ensure proper STS contract management.
Perform any other task entrusted by the Department’s Management.

Selection Criteria

Hold at least a Master’s degree or its equivalent in Business Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources, Office Management, or any other related discipline combined with relevant experience.
Have a minimum of four (4) years relevant experience in the fields of expertise concerned.
Good knowledge of the international development institutions’ budget management policies, guidelines, procedures, and strong ability to interpret institutional related policies, guidelines and procedures.
Proven knowledge of the Bank’s procurement rules and procedures for the recruitment of consultants; of disbursement procedures; and of financial management guidelines and tools, is a must.
Solid background on budget process and financial reporting. Experience in international organizations will be an asset.
Good organizational and planning skills.
Strong customer service skills, ability to multitask, attention to detail and ability to work with a diverse workforce
Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language. Proficiency in both languages of the Bank (English and French) is an asset
Competence with standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), preferably combined with knowledge and experience of SAP operations.

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3. Chief Fragility and Resilience Officer, RDTS

The Complex

Within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP), the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery 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 for rapid delivery of 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,’ and ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa’.

Job Type: Full Time
Qualification: MBA/MSc/MA
Experience: 7 years

Reference: ADB/20/080
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50102235

The Hiring Department

The Transition States Coordination Office (RDTS) oversees the implementation of the Bank’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs). It also coordinates lending and non-lending activities of fragility and resilience experts stationed in the various Regional Directorates and Country Offices. Apart from RMCs, the Bank also works with a number of international partners including the African Union (AU), The United Nations System (UNS), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Lake Basin Organizations (LBOs) and other Specialized Agencies including other Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).
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, marginalization of women, youth and local communities, pervasive poverty, unemployment, rapid urbanization, climate change and poor management of natural resources—that threaten to overwhelm existing institutional capacities for managing political, economic, social and environmental challenges. These pressures are making every single African country more vulnerable especially countries facing fragile situation or transition States.
More recently, the impact of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic which is already having an adverse effect of the world economy will have far reaching adverse consequences on transition States which are already vulnerable. They are likely to bear the brunt of the health, social, economic and even security impacts of COVID-19. This demonstrates that vulnerabilities facing transition States are not static but dynamic and neither are they restricted to national boundaries as most often times, they have regional spill-over effects or even global knock-on effects requiring holistic, coordinated approaches for their resolution.
The mandate of RDTS is to place the Bank at the center of Africa’s efforts to address fragility and pave the way for a more resilient and inclusive societies. A major part of RDTS’ activities involves the identification of the main drivers of fragility, including economic, social, political, security and environmental dimensions. RDTS also plays a crucial role in mainstreaming fragility considerations in the Bank’s strategies and programs, both at country and regional level. Central to RDTS engagement is the systematic application of a “Fragility Lens” to identify and mitigate drivers of fragility so as to support RMCs facing fragility situations to build long-term resilience in areas where the Bank can leverage the biggest impact through the application of the Country Resilience Fragility Assessment (CRFA) tool and corresponding Fragility Assessments.
Given the cross-cutting nature of fragility, the Bank is now mainstreaming fragility in its programming for both its lending and non-lending operations including in the preparation of Bank policies, strategies and diagnostic tools such as the Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) and the Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISPs). The Bank is also seeking to produce Economic Sector Work (ESW) to enhance policy dialogue on fragility related issues to drive reforms and policy change aimed at creating enabling environments for accelerated development in transition States. This includes creating a business-enabling environment to attract investments in general, but also private sector engagement in transition States as a way of expanding opportunities for investments, economic activity and job creation.

The Position

Under the supervision of the Director, RDTS, the main responsibility of the Chief Fragility and Resilience Officer entails the development, programming and implementation oversight of fragility interventions in RMCs based on the Bank’s Agenda for addressing fragility and building resilience in Africa, the Bank’s High 5 Agenda and relevant Bank policies, strategies and guidelines.
Her/his responsibilities also include preparation of analytical work, fragility lens application, partnerships, resource mobilization and advocacy including providing leadership to technical teams within RDTS and across the Bank to deliver the Fragility Agenda within a consultative partnership approach underpinned by adaptability, innovation and responsiveness.

Duties and responsibilities
The Chief Fragility and Resilience Officer will work closely with RDTS team members on the operational implementation of the Bank’s fragility agenda. Her/his duties are:

Coordinate with appropriate Bank Group’s units and establish a three-year rolling Work agenda for the Fragility Lens application aligned with the schedule of Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) and Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISPs) due for preparation in 2020-2022, as well as the 2020-2022 ADF rolling Indicative Operational Programme (IOP).
Provide technical support to RDTS fragility and resilience experts on analytical work for the preparation of Fully-Fledged Fragility Assessments (3FAs). Review draft documents; provide input; and give appropriate guidance to ensure that fragility assessments are of high quality and properly address political economy considerations, as well as capacities and pressures related to externalities, regional spill-over effects, gender, youth empowerment, environmental as well as economic and social impacts.
Alongside RDTS fragility and resilience experts, provide strategic direction in the preparation of Country Diagnostic Notes (CDNs), Regional Diagnostic Notes (RDNs) as well as relevant Bank analytical reports. Review draft documents; provide input; and ensure that the findings of fragility assessments are mainstreamed and effectively translated into strategic pillars and operational priorities.
In the context of ADF-funded operations, provide technical leadership and quality assurance in the review phases of Project Concept Notes (PCNs) and Project Appraisal Reports (PARs) to ensure that fragility is adequately mainstreamed.
In the context of national or regional projects (partly or fully) funded through the Transition Support Facility (TSF), ensure that the PCNs and the PARs are explicitly identifying drivers of fragility and entry points for interventions under the scope of the project. Appropriate reviews (and direct inputs when necessary) are required to clearly articulate in the PCN and in the PAR how the identified entry points would directly contribute to building resilience.
Represent RDTS and be part of the Regional Operations (ROs) prioritisation and selection exercise. In line with the Revised RO prioritisation framework, verify to what extent proposed Regional Projects and Regional Public Goods (RPGs) are fragility-sensitive both at the level of participating countries and at project design.
In the context of ADF-funded operations, represent RDTS and be part of the Readiness Review process. In line with the 2020 Enhanced Readiness Review Framework, assure the strategic, results, and implementation readiness of the operation as articulated in the PCN/PAR. In the readiness review checklist, verify to what extent drivers of fragility are explicitly contextualized, entry points for building resilience are properly identified, and these are effectively translated into operational interventions.
Provide technical inputs to improve portfolio management in order to enhance project performance (cancellation of older projects, improvement of portfolio management in consultation with implementing project agencies, maintaining a continuous dialogue with governments and other development partners, training of project units, improved projects reporting system and promoting good governance, etc.)
Contribute to RDTS’ efforts for institutionalizing the Fragility Lens application Bank-wide through experiences-sharing, lessons learned, and recommendation of best practices. Along these lines, provide reviews, comments, relevant materials, and appropriate inputs feeding into the preparation of the Fragility Lens Operational Guidelines.
Provide technical leadership in the peer-reviewing of RDTS analytical products, including regional and national full-fledged fragility assessments, the annual Country Resilience and Fragility Assessment (CRFA) Report, Economic and Sector Work (ESW) studies, as well as briefing notes
Contribute to preparing relevant issues in key documents for resources mobilization, especially of the Transition Support Facility (TSF) during the replenishment and mid-erm review discussions of the African Development Fund (ADF) in close coordination with relevant Bank’s units.
Under the “One Bank Approach”, provide technical leadership in RDTS’ participation in the Bank Group’s departmental and inter-departmental working groups and provide technical inputs that help the understanding of fragility issues across Bank projects, programs and policy documents; and provide technical inputs for Bank’s management and decision-makers of RMCs regarding project implementation.
Ensure effective coordination with Bank Regional Delivery Hubs (RDGC, RDGE, RDGN, RDGS, RDGW as well as RDNG) as well as Country Offices (COs) as well as Bank Sectoral and Operational Departments to ensure alignment and optimization of Bank capacities and leverage to deliver on the Bank’s Fragility Agenda.
Work with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and international development partners, as well as peace-building and humanitarian actors for the development of joint programmes and interventions in transition States.
Undertake any other assignments and tasks as requested by the Director (RDTS) and/or the Vice-President (RDVP). Such assignments may involve working with Bank-teams and/or staff within or outside RDTS.

Selection Criteria
The Selection Criteria including desirable skills, knowledge and experience is as follows:

Hold at least a Masters’ or equivalent degree in Economics, Political Science, Social Sciences, International Relations, Organizational Development, Business Administration or related discipline.
Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in the areas of peace and state building, international relations, in preparing, appraising, managing or supervising sustainable development and management of projects and programs, in operations monitoring and evaluation, and/or in preparing and implementing operational policies and guidelines within fragility situations.
Strategic and objective thinking and reasoning including ability to make difficult decisions and being result-oriented including ability to apply business knowledge to the resolution of problems and identifying solutions to the benefit of clients (internal and external) and the Bank.
Ability to assess, design, develop and deliver complex multi-sector projects and programs within dynamic and rapidly changing environments in a timely and effective manner while adhering to tight deadlines and responding to multiple demands.
Strong analytical and modelling abilities and ability to lead operations from inception to completion would be an advantage including good planning and organization skills as well as ability to identify, assemble and lead multi-disciplinary and multicultural technical teams to deliver quality outputs.
Strong familiarity and knowledge of economic, social policy, political dimensions development in general and of fragility in particular and its development dynamics in RMCs at national, regional and continental levels.
Knowledge of the operational policies, procedures and practices of major Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), bilateral and multilateral development agencies including design and implementation of operations in fragile situations.
Demonstrable ability to multi-task and manage their and to work under pressure within a competitive international working environment including facilitation and negotiation skills at the regional, continental and international level.
Excellent communication and Interpersonal Skills and ability to maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
Commitment to the highest professional and ethical standards coupled with excellent interpersonal skills including an innovative and pragmatic approach to find appropriate solutions to key issues.
Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language.
Competence in the use of Microsoft Office software and familiarity with SAP and relevant project processing tools.

Note: This position is classified international status and attracts international terms and conditions of employment.