Open Positions at World Bank Group

Duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Provide full logistical, administrative, and executive support to business related activities, including: (i) organizing meetings/events/workshops/missions, (ii) coordinating  schedules taking priorities into account, monitoring and communicating changes and other information to the appropriate staff, inside and outside the immediate work unit, including IFC stakeholders, (iii) maintaining up-to-date work project and other files (both paper and electronic) and (iv) drafting a variety of routine documents, applying effective proofreading and grammar skills in English, (v) assisting in preparation of various presentation materials in power point, and arranging travel schedule.
• Providing high quality support to the departmental team, including scheduling of appointments, monitor documents for signature/approval; monitor and follow up on issues and priorities; handle incoming correspondence and internal and external queries; draft and handle routine correspondence.
• Providing primary assistance in the implementation of the teams work program, including some specialized support in a specific area(s), e.g. task management, Review Meeting set up and documentation, procurement, database management, information technology, editorial assistance, etc.
• Suggesting ways to enhance work organization and effectiveness.
• Exercising the quality enhancement function for project and other documents by ensuring adherence to departmental, and institutional guidelines.
• Serve as an information resource on status of projects/products and any news relevant to industry program; and draft a variety of standard project-related correspondence.
• Undertake ad hoc duties that may be assigned by the Principal Country Officer or the designated Country Office supervisor.
• Work will involve frequent interaction with the following: internal contacts: other VP units, World Bank as well as staff in all locations, locally and internationally.\External contacts: Government Officials, Consultants, External Organizations, and other Service provider
• As the first line of contact with an extensive network of contacts, both internal and external visitors, callers and dignitaries, the Program Assistant will be expected to exercise judgment, tact and discretion in answering and or redirecting inquiries to appropriate sources and in dealing with sensitive or highly confidential matters, making decisions when multiple courses of action are possible. 
• Follow-up with clients on project related issues, appointments, getting hold of documents. 
• Attend meetings, drafting minutes and ensuring timely clearance and distribution.
• Handle administrative and logistical arrangements for various events, such as senior official visits, visiting missions, conferences, workshops, retreats. Ensure timely submission and review of briefing materials and appropriate follow-up actions. 
• Process payments and expenses related to projects, consultants and events. Maintain liaison with local contractors and supplies concerning the provision of negotiated services. 
• Be accountable for the integrity of all projects documents and ensuring that the files of all projects are filed, organized and maintained in the right database.
• Coordinate and monitor work and activities to ensure IFC policies and management decisions and directives are properly carried out.
• Coordinate with other ACS for cross regional support. 
• Identify and resolve diverse issues/problems as they arise, which often requires interpretation of existing procedures and processes and independently determining the appropriate application.
• Provide specialized support in a specific area(s), e.g. task management, procurement, database management, information technology, editorial assistance, etc.
• Act as back-up to other Administrative & Client Support (ACS) colleagues in the office in their absence or during a busy period.
• Undertake ad hoc duties that may be assigned by the Country Management Unit or the designated Country Office supervisor.

Selection Criteria

• Bachelors’ degree with at least 5 years of relevant experience, with solid knowledge of IFC / WBG operational procedures (preferred) or demonstrated strong capability to understand and implement corporate policies and Procedures.
• Prior experience in any of the sectors where IFC operates (FIG, MAS, INR) is a plus.
• Previous relevant experience in a multinational organization and private sector experience is an asset.  
• Good knowledge of and demonstrated experience in administrative / operational support functions, including task management and major event planning and ability to apply relevant procedures, processes and systems.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to interact diplomatically with clients and staff at all levels, recognized ability to exercise good judgment in interpersonal dealings at all levels and in handling confidential information. 
• Excellent organizational, administrative and time management skills.
• Experienced working within tight deadlines and under pressure; flexibility to work overtime during peak periods on a short notice. 
• Effective analytical, research, and problem-solving skills. 
• Strong attention to detail and excellent communication skills.
• High degree of motivation, initiative, flexibility and reliability.
• Proactivity and capacity to apply a forward-looking vision to the office work.
• In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and proficiency of technology or/and systems relevant to functional area. 
• Demonstrated skills in retrieving, gathering and obtaining information from various sources (Internet, etc.) and pulling them together in a usable format.
• Excellent verbal and writing/editing skills in English including the ability to draft a variety of relevant correspondence and edit / translate materials using proper grammar, punctuation and style. 
• Ability and commitment to develop a positive and productive work environment.
• Excellent skill in preparing PowerPoint and other visual presentation tools. 
• Ability to handle time-sensitive assignments and to produce high quality work under pressure.
• Willingness to perform ad hoc tasks and to travel occasionally.

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Duties and Accountabilities:

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Business Development Support

• Perform desk research and analysis with respect to the market landscape across the Africa region (with a focus on East & Southern Africa), considering various in-country data sources to get granular country level understanding of issues and advisory opportunities. 
• Keep abreast of the market intelligence and developments globally, conducting desk research and preparing initial reports with findings, graphs, etc.
• Develop financial modeling and budget analysis for projects and business line, as relevant.
• Participate in key projects and take a lead on project/client analytics and report generation. 
• Participate in diagnostic missions, conduct quality review of the diagnostic reports of banks’ work streams, and help refine output quality. Help add market context and detailed analysis in the presentations and reports. 
• Support project teams to organize, manage and budget scoping and appraisal missions, and prepare meeting minutes.
• Based on scoping or appraisal mission findings, support development of proposals for clients (including budget, pricing, and costing research).
• Contribute to the development of project concept notes and implementation plans and assist with approval processes.
• Support project leads in conducting IDD on clients.
• Calculate and report on IDGs. 
• Prepare request for funds memos and legal agreements.
• Assist in procurement of appropriate experts for advisory assignments and develop TOR in coordination with project leader and middle office.

Portfolio Management Support:

Project Support

• Assist in the preparation of project supervision and completion reports, particularly tracking of key performance indicators against targets established at the outset of the project.
• Monitor project timelines to ensure objectives updates are completed within the allowable timeframe.
• Ensure adequate data quality in all project documents and provide supplementary data gathering support for evaluations.
• Assisting in planning the contents and context of conferences and other knowledge management events, including training and workshops.
• Collaborate with project team and senior consultants to conduct specific tasks including desk reviews, data analysis, financial projections, preparation of notes, taking minutes of meetings, writing memoranda, preparation of briefs and presentations.
• Work in partnership with Project Leads and the donor relations team to prepare initial drafts of semi-annual donor reports, based on project supervision documents.

 Finance and Budgeting

• Monitor and update project budgets regularly to ensure that financial reporting is accurate, timely and aligned with SAP/IBIS reports produced by the finance team.
• Manage interface with finance team on timely collection of client fees in line with legal agreements and submission of consultant invoices to ensure accurate financial reporting within a quarterly period.
• Manage allocation of consultant and other project costs. 
• Monitor charging of staff time to ensure accurate cost allocation against available budget.
• Monitor and update budgets and spend at both the project and aggregate levels and contribute to the financial projections’ reports.
• Track Trust Fund spend and availability monthly and alert the project manager when funds are running low and support process of topping up trust funds. 
• Liaise with donor team and FIG Upstream/Advisory Middle Office team for ESA on establishing new trust funds and charge codes to ensure optimal TF structure.

Practice Group Support

• Assist relevant practice group lead(s) in strategy building, coordination, and implementation of projects
• Work closely with project managers and analysts on selected projects and provide analytical and technical support. 
• Proactively collect and share data with practice group and middle office, ensuring a strict adhesion to timelines around CNs, IPs, change memos, PSRs, PCRs, etc. 
• Support project leads to achieve a high degree of standardization in client deliverables (pitch, proposals, workshops, product programs, strategy documents etc.) and enhance the quality in terms of contents and analytics.

Selection Criteria

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 3-5 years of relevant experience, preferably working with consultancies, bilateral/multilateral development institutions, and/or financial institutions.
• Demonstrate some technical capability and professional knowledge of the financial sector and (ideally) one or more of the aforementioned themes (base of the pyramid, banking, financial infrastructure).
• Team player with good problem solving, organizational and analytical skills, with an ability to execute tasks in a timely and effective manner.
• Strong communicator with good writing skills and the ability to convey ideas clearly, confidently, and properly.
• Strong command over English (written and verbal) is necessary.
• A command of French would also be a plus.
• Ability to analyze, collect and aggregate information from a variety of sources in to distill and present data effectively to internal and external clients.
• Advanced user level proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, Word is necessary.
• Proficiency in relevant research tools (e.g., Factiva, IBM, MIX, Bloomberg, EIU, advanced google search, WBG databases).

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Duties and Accountabilities:

• Independently manage, as Project Leader (PL), the preparation and delivery of a select number of ESG AS projects (including ESG operations-led projects, or ESG components of engagements led by other units in the region) and provide E&S cross-support to other PLs and projects.
• Lead or contribute to the design and implementation of E&S related aspects of IFC’s ESG AS projects in Africa focused on clients and markets.
• Support the preparation of new ESG AS projects including identification of project countries and key areas of support, undertake baseline assessments, design project components and activities, develop project budgets and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Frameworks, and draft high-quality project documents including concept notes and implementation plans. 
• Lead on technical implementation of all project activities (e.g. led engagement with all project partners, prepare technical inputs and feedback on ESG guidelines and regulations, develop course materials and deliver workshop/trainings, undertake diagnostics of client’s ESG practices, preparation of Advisory Services proposals and taking the lead on Advisory Services support delivery) and oversee all tasks supported by consultants, ensuring highest levels of product quality and client service at the project level.
• Engagement and follow up with local partners including leading discussions on activities to be supported, preparation of project implementation plans, development of cooperation agreements and execution of all project activities.
• Draft and process all program related documents including workplans, terms of reference, Integrity Due Diligence project budget updates, extension memo’s etc. in line with IFC’s AS governance procedures.
• Identify and anticipate financial project needs, develop detailed project budgets, and manage and report on financial performance according to plans, and undertake procurement for all project related activities.
• Monitor development results, collect and enter all relevant evidence to substantiate project results in Advisory Services Operations Portal (ASOP), and ensure legal agreements are filed.
• Prepare Project Status Reports and ensure supervision reports for all projects managed, including ASOP and M&E Framework updates are submitted in time in accordance with IFC’s AS operational guidelines. 
• Prepare Project Completion Reports that are of high quality and adhere to the Independent Evaluations Group evaluation criteria.
• Work with donor team to manage current project donor relationship, including (but not limited to) preparing donor reports, attending meetings, and managing donor relationships in local country offices.  
• Manage internal and external reporting, communication and ESG AS Program promotion across key stakeholders.
• Consolidate and analyze lessons learned from project implementation experiences and sharing with team members and colleagues across the Region and globally.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced degree (Masters) in science, engineering, sociology or other relevant disciplines.
• Minimum of seven years professional experience working on E&S management, monitoring and/or due diligence, with a preference for private sector experience in the Africa region. 
• Experience working with IFC/World Bank/E&S Policies and Standards. 
• Willingness to travel regularly. 
• Strong analytical skills, ability to think strategically, analyze and summarize diverse sources and draw conclusions from limited data.
• Demonstrated track record of designing and delivering training on E&S.
• Ability to communicate effectively and concisely on complex E&S issues in spoken and written form.
• Excellent project management skills including work planning, budgeting; monitoring and evaluation. Strong organizational skills with ability to prioritize, deal with frequent unexpected changes, and manage multiple tasks under tight deadlines. Attention to detail a must. 
• Driven self-starter with a high degree of responsiveness, proactivity and excellent collaboration skills. 
• Good team player with strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work as a member of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team, work effectively in and influence a team, and network effectively across boundaries. 
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously under tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt to changing circumstances, organize and prioritize deliverables, and maintain attention to detail.
• High personal integrity and emotional intelligence, with the ability to handle sensitive matters in a discreet and respectful manner, respond diplomatically and remain calm under pressure.