African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964,  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.

POSITION : Principal Strategy Officer - Operational Procedures (COSP)

The Complex

• The Senior Vice-President is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve it strategic objective, and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The SVP 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 SVP will lead senior management discussions, decisions-making process and the implementation of key board and management decisions.

The Hiring Department/Division

• The Primary role of the Strategy Department (COSP) is to contribute to shaping a corporate vision and a strategic perspective for the AfDB, including through policy, strategy and operational procedures development. The recent approval of the Bank’s 5 new high priority areas of focus (epitomized as the “High 5s” and its new Development and Business Delivery Model (DBDM) requires refining the role of the Bank in the global development architecture and calls for scaling up financing and accelerating delivery and development impact.
• To implement the High 5s successfully and ensure rapid achievement of results, the department is expected to play a major role in backstopping and monitoring implementation of High 5s. The Department will ensure a close alignment of these business priorities and enable the Bank to quickly respond to the needs of its clients.
• COSP will be providing analytical guidance and coordination support on the High 5s both internally and externally.
• COSP advices the President and Senior Management on strategy and policy issues of the Bank. COSP assists with the communication of the Strategy to all stakeholders, and monitors and facilitates the implementation of related Presidential decisions.

The position

• Under the general supervision of the COSP Director, the main responsibility of the Principal Strategy Officer - Operational Procedures is to provide strategic advice and support on COSP matters to the Director and the rest of the Department team in planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of the Department, with particular focus on the development and dissemination of operational procedures.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Principal Strategy Officer duties and responsibilities will include the following:

• Participate as part of the core COSP team in corporate strategy development and its subsequent monitoring, reporting, updating and refinement in line with sustainable lending and resource options;
• Coordinate the preparation of major COSP strategy reports such as the Annual Strategy Review, for senior management, including preparation of the mid-term review and periodical and special updates and reports.
• Contribute to/coordinate the preparation of Board documents on selected process enhancement recommendations;
• Provide support to Senior Management in the formulation of strategic policy objectives, and ensure their alignment with the strategic planning orientations, the High5s and the Bank Strategy 2013-2022;
• As part of the core COSP team, ensure that all new policy proposals and initiatives, across the institution, are aligned with the Bank’s planning directions and strategy;
• As part of the core COSP team, participate in and coordinate the Bank’s Strategy and policy development work, as and when required;
• Provide support to the office of the President as required, in particular on recent policy developments, and on the Bank’s response to emerging international issues;
• Prepare as requested, planning and strategy documents;
• Lead in the preparation of Bank’s Guidelines and Operational procedures, as related to the project cycle;
• Lead in the regular updating of the Bank Group’s Operational Manual and its dissemination platforms;
• Provide the Operations Complexes with advice on policies, strategies and procedures to ensure their operations are smoothly processed and implemented, while being compliant and duly aligned with Bank’s priorities;
• Manage a helpdesk on the Bank Group’s Operations Manual;  
• As part of the COSP core team, provide support, as appropriate, to the Operations, Research, Finance and Corporate Management Vice-Presidencies to formulate their work programs and specific strategies driven by the planning process and the Strategy of the Bank;
• Provide, as requested, up to date research on environment and business trends and keep up to date on new ways of doing strategic planning itself;
• Participate (on behalf of the COSP Department) in the preparation of selected Bank’s country and regional strategies and mid-term reviews;
• Participate (on behalf of the COSP Department) in Bank’s operations aimed at supporting policy and/or strategy development at country and sub-regional/regional levels;
• Represent the Department, as requested, at key policy decisions and institutional reforms meetings and initiatives;
• Represent the COSP department as requested at selected key strategy meetings and on important missions.
• Serve as a focal point and spokesperson, as requested, on strategy issues to internal and external constituencies and expert strategy groups;

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master’s degree (or its university equivalent) in economics, macroeconomics or development economics, finance, strategic management, engineering or related development fields and a broad knowledge in development issues;
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience: proven combination of hands-on operational experience with solid analytical skills; good understanding of development economics and specificities of Regional Members countries (RMCs); previous exposure to international, multicultural contexts would be an asset;
• Strong experience in the design, appraisal, implementation and evaluation of projects and programs for development;
• Proven exposure to the Bank’s operations and mission with a good understanding of the Bank’s overall strategy.
• Ability to provide advice, assistance, and coaching on Strategy related matters;
• Good leadership skills, lateral thinking; high sense of professionalism;
• Good command of budgetary and operational management matters;
• Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous and shifting demands, priorities and tight deadlines with the capability to work within specified time limits. Capacity to diagnose and resolve multiple, concurrent problems; High level skills in communication and negotiation as well as ability to build partnerships with a broad range of clients and deliver results that meet the needs and long-term interest of clients within and outside the Bank;
• Excellent written and verbal communications in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of ERP Systems (preferably SAP) and standard MS office applications (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint), and good knowledge of operational management systems.