Country Director

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.

The Department for Country Operations (DCO) oversees the origination, design and management of IFAD investments, including sovereign and non-sovereign operations, as well as the design and implementation of non-lending activities within country programmes, including policy engagement and SSTC. DCO is the department that primarily interfaces with governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to deliver IFAD's programme of work and to provide oversight to ensure quality of the portfolio.

DCO is led by an Associate Vice-President and is composed of five (5) regional divisions: Asia and the Pacific Division (APR), East and Southern Africa Division (ESA), Latin America and Caribbean Division (LAC), Near East, North Africa and Europe Division (NEN) and West and Central Africa Division (WCA), the Private Sector Operations Division (PSD), and two (2) units: the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Unit (SSTC) and the fragility unit (FRU).

The Regional Division ESA is led by a Divisional Director, based in the IFAD Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya. The Division leads on the design and delivery of IFAD country and regional programmes in ESA. The precise country coverage of the division varies across replenishment periods.

The incumbent is accountable for the IFAD core values of integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of the assigned portfolio. Accountabilities/key results also include advocating for and enhancing national government programmes that improve poor rural people's access to natural resources, agricultural technologies, financial services, markets, employment opportunities and enterprise development.

The incumbent additionally promotes capacity building of key government counterparts and the rural poor in terms of the skills required for their participation in national and local policy and programming processes.

The incumbent plays an active role in engaging with the private sector and other local stakeholders.

The Country Director plays an active role in engaging with the private sector and other local stakeholders.

1. COUNTRY STRATEGY MANAGEMENT: The incumbent leads strategic positioning and country strategy development. The incumbent is accountable for leading and managing the development and implementation of medium to longer-term strategies (COSOP) for IFAD's collaboration with governments and other national stakeholders for agricultural development and rural poverty reduction following the principle of ownership, alignment and harmonization. This entails analysis of the dynamics of agricultural development and rural poverty reduction, the development of relevant country-specific strategies, and the definition of IFAD's value added in this context.

2. COUNTRY PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT: The incumbent manages IFAD programme and related IFAD-funded projects within the portfolio assigned by the Division Director. The incumbent leads the design and supervision of the projects as well as loan and grant negotiations, all in accordance with IFAD's applicable policies. The incumbent is accountable for analysing relevant information, assisting in the periodic monitoring and evaluation of results achieved and reporting on and disseminating findings. The incumbent contributes effectively to the IFAD organizational change agenda, with reference to issues related to IFAD's direct supervision and implementation support modalities.

3. INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT: The incumbent ensures IFAD presence at country-level. The incumbent contributes to catalysing effective partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction, including government and non-governmental institutions, bilateral and multilateral financing institutions, civil society organizations, research centres and the private sector. Additionally, they enhance IFAD's relationships and collaboration with in-country partners focusing on synergies and coordinated strategies with multilateral/bilateral donors and civil-society organizations involved in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction. The incumbent represents IFAD on the UN Country Team, acting as the primary point of contact for transmitting IFAD's decisions, provides support in the coordination of operational activities for development, and contributes to all international and national/thematic groups meetings.

4. CONTRIBUTION TO POLICY LEADERSHIP: The incumbent contributes to corporate level strategy on core IFAD policy positions within the assigned portfolio, led by Division Directors. They maintain and promote constructive dialogue on the development of pro-poor agricultural development and rural poverty reduction policies and in enabling the rural poor to advocate for institutional transformation. The incumbent regularly participates in relevant policy meetings and events of interest to IFAD's target groups and which involve the government, donors, and civil society, including NGOs, to render the policy dialogue agenda both credible and sustainable. The incumbent contributes to IFAD's policy intelligence with regular updates and information exchange on relevant policy discussions and ensure proper knowledge management is in place. Policy dialogue focuses on seeking to link the realities on the ground and the voices of the poor with national policies and programmes.

5. OFFICE MANAGEMENT: The incumbent supports the relevant CD/Head of MCO in managing the utilization of allocated resources. As such, the incumbent supports the management of human resources, contracting goods and services, and financial management. The incumbent also supports budget preparation, management, and monitoring of expenditures.

The Country Director supervises a small team for the Small and Medium Agribusiness Development Fund (SMADF), which is financed by the European Union through IFAD.

The incumbent provides technical and managerial leadership to the substantive development and execution of the assigned country programme(s), including providing:

• Day-to-day managerial direction to Programme Analysts and Officers (up to P-3 level), Country Programme Officers (CPOs), Country Programme Assistants (CPAs) and Administrative Assistants (AAs);
• Effective country presence and representation with government counterparts and other programme collaborators;
• The ability to anticipate and manage potential risks to programme success.

The Country Director provides guidance to the team for the Small and Medium Agribusiness Development Fund (SMADF).

The incumbent serves as the IFAD spokesperson in the country concerned and, in carrying out this role and when required, draws on the advice and expertise of IFAD's Communications Division (COM). The incumbent holds regular consultations with IFAD counterparts - line ministries and governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, civil society organizations - to enhance the effectiveness and impact of IFAD operations. The incumbent also seeks to improve coordination among IFAD, the government and key development partners with a view primarily to ensuring synergy and a common approach to emerging agricultural development and rural poverty reduction strategies, policies and investment programmes. The incumbent serves as IFAD's liaison with project authorities and helps address administrative and programme-related substantive issues, such as targeting and identifying needs for technical backstopping. The incumbent proactively works with project management to ensure compliance with IFAD policies and overall orientation towards the achievement of results and impact. As a senior expert on country programme formulation and delivery, the effectiveness of the incumbent as an advocate and trusted counterpart substantially affects IFAD's image as a reliable and creative partner.

The incumbent originates and manages new country-level projects or programmes in the assigned portfolio. Going beyond established procedures or models, their substantive contributions reflect new approaches that materially expand the range of services or programmes delivered at the country level. Programme design and development activities reflect authoritative technical capacity in performing the Head of Country Programme role.

Externally, the impact on the overall IFAD programme is significant in projecting the organization's role/capacity as a reliable partner with a qualitative edge at the national level.

Organizational Competencies:

Level 2:

• Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains strategic partnerships internally and externally
• Communicating and negotiating - Acquires & uses a wide range of communication styles & skills
• Demonstrating leadership - Leads by example; initiates and supports change
• Focusing on clients - Contributes to a clientfocused culture
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Challenges, innovates&contributes to learning culture
• Managing performance and developing staff - Manages wider teams with greater impact on others and on the organization
• Managing time, resources and information - Coordinates wider use of time, information and/or resources
• Problem-solving and decision-making - Solves complex problems and makes decisions that have wider corporate impact
• Strategic thinking and organizational development - Staff in management and/or strategic leadership roles
• Team working - Fosters a cohesive team environment

Education:

• Education includes Advanced university degree from an accredited institution listed on https://whed.net/home.php in rural development, agriculture, rural finance, development policy or other job related fields, with a preference for economics

  (*) Note: For internal candidates, this requirement will be assessed in line with the provisions set forth in IFAD's Human Resources Implementing Procedures.

Experience:

• At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in rural development, agriculture, rural finance, development policy or other job related fields, with a preference for economics.
• Two (2) years in an international organizations, rural development/financial institutions or government services providing support on a global scope.
• Experience may include project design, development, implementation and evaluation preferably in area of implementation and supervision of rural development programmes.

Languages:

• Required: English (4 - Excellent)
• Desirable: French, Spanish, or Arabic

Skills:

• IFAD governance & mandate: In depth knowledge of IFAD`s governance structure, mandate, strategic priorities and technical work
• IFAD partners: Knowledge of IFAD's partners' functioning and mandate , such as the public sector (e.g. governments and policy, institutions and system), non-state actors (NGOs, CSOs, Foundations, etc.) and private sector actors
• Performance management: Know-how in managing performance, learning management, establishing learning plans and ensuring staff supervised meet their development needs while meeting the needs of IFAD
• Risk management (e.g. reputational): Identification and assessment of potential liabilities and risks in IFAD's activities, particularly vis-à-vis third parties; ability to handle risks via contingency and mitigation strategies
• Interpersonal skills: Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with others (e.g. visitors, clients, callers, etc.), including senior individuals (e.g. high-level meeting participants)
• Evidence-based policy: Know-how in the formulation of concrete and actionable policy recommendations based on hard evidence (going beyond simple data interpretation)
• Loans & grants: Know-how in designing loan and grant operations and managing loan and grant preparation process
• Policy dialogue: Know-how in the representation of IFAD as a trusted and strategic partner, advocating and promoting IFAD's mandate and vision; effective consultations with IFAD counterparts - like ministries and governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, civil society
• Topical expertise - Programme Mgmt for Agricultural Development: Expertise relevant to the specific role (e.g. For ethics office assistant, procedures outlined in the Code of Conduct, Discipline and Anti-harassment provisions of applicable rules and guidelines)
• Project/Programme mgmt (incl. coordination, design, development): Know-how in Project design and evaluation
• Rural Finance: Expertise in inclusive rural finance: i.e. pro-poor rural and agricultural financial services (including savings, credit, insurance, payments, remittances, etc.), customer demand and capacities, financial service providers, financial systems and markets, and policy and regulations (micro, meso and macro level adapted support)
• Advocacy, Know-how in advocacy, to maintain and promote constructive dialogue around IFAD's vision to external actors

IFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD. In accordance with IFAD's Human Resources Policy, the President can decide to assign them to any of the activities of the Fund. All International Professional staff members are required to be geographically mobile and positions in the professional category are subject to changes in location at any time in line with strategic priorities and reform initiatives in IFAD.

IFAD is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic, social or political background, colour, nationality, religion, age, gender, disability, marital status, family size or sexual orientation in line with its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy and the Policy to prevent and respond to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

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In accordance with IFAD's provisions, all new staff members will normally be placed at the first step in the grade level for which they have been selected. For information on IFAD's remuneration package, please visit IFAD's compensation and benefits page on our website. Applicants are invited to use the ICSC compensation calculator to estimate the salary and benefit entitlements.

Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.

In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.