Technical Specialist P4 (DC)

Introduction

Youth unemployment and underemployment are major development challenges for African countries. In 2019, the youth unemployment rate for Africa reached 11.2 per cent, compared with 5.5 per cent for adults aged 25 and above. Working poverty remains high at 63 per cent and has been falling much more slowly in Africa than in other world regions. Consequently, there are millions more who are employed in low productivity jobs, which are not in line with the increasing educational levels and aspirations of Africa’s youth. The COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated the situation as young women and men were hit with multiple shocks disrupting their education, school-to-work transition and employment.  

Employment, especially for youth, has always been an important dimension of African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) activities. Important progress has been achieved, but further enhancements to the Bank’s own processes can still be made.

The project Supporting Youth Employment in Africa by Strengthening the Capacity of AfDB and its Regional Member Countries (RMCs) will contribute to the overall goal of fostering the creation of more and better jobs for African youth, by implementing a set of measures to accelerate the implementation of the respective AfDB strategy, which will support efforts to improve employment opportunities for young people on the continent. The objective of the project is to accelerate the implementation of the respective AfDB Strategy by strengthening the AfDB’s internal capacity through: a) Devising, testing and implementing a Jobs Marker as a main anchor of employment-related aspects of Bank operations; and b) Strengthening the capacity of task managers and investment officers in terms of including employment considerations into their daily work.

The project will recruit a Technical Specialist to provide technical and operational leadership on the project, provide supervision and technical expertise to support the project’s activities in advisory services, capacity development, and knowledge development, aligning these with the ILO’s broader work related to employment impact assessments and employment creation. The position will be based in Abidjan with the ILO’s Regional Office for Africa (ROAF).

Reporting Line

The Technical Specialist will work under the overall responsibility and the direct supervision of the ILO’s Regional Director for Africa. S/he will coordinate closely with technical specialists of the Development and Investment Branch and further collaborate with other relevant technical units and departments at Geneva Headquarters, and specialists in relevant Decent Work Teams (DWTs) and Country Offices (COs).

Description of Duties

1. Lead the implementation of the project technically and operationally and supervise the work of the project’s other staff to ensure effective delivery of the project.

2. Lead the development of a Jobs Marker for AfDB’s project appraisal process in close collaboration with the AfDB task manager by assessing the AfDB’s own project appraisal process and benchmarking it with those of other development finance institutions; by consulting with relevant stakeholders about the set-up of the Jobs Marker, analysing feasible solutions, and drafting a conceptual paper on the marker; by preparing necessary AfDB-internal approvals through extensive formal and informal consultations; and by considering received feedback for integration into the Jobs Marker concept.

3. Identify and coordinate suitable economic and sector work to be done in support of the Jobs Marker implementation. 

4. Organize the familiarization of AfDB task managers and investment officers with the Jobs Marker. 

5. Train AfDB task managers and investment officers on the application of the Jobs Marker by conducting a training needs assessment, develop training and guidance material, and conceptualize and conduct training measures on the Jobs Marker as well as to mainstream employment considerations into AfDB investment projects. 

6. Identify consultants/external collaborators for the timely delivery of the project’s deliverables and assure their quality by establishing clear review procedures; prepare job descriptions for project staff and terms of reference for consultants/external collaborators, jointly with contributing ILO specialists; and provide guidance and supervision for consultants/external collaborators.

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7.Ensure effective linkages to related activities and projects of the ILO to evaluate employment contributions of development interventions, including collaborating with technical specialists at HQ, ROAF and DWTs. 
8. Participate in project Steering Committee meetings and liaise with concerned ILO colleagues in Geneva to assure good communication and working relations with the donors and the project’s institutional partners.
9. Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of project activities and discuss any revisions with the project Steering Committee, jointly with other senior ILO staff involved in the project. 
10. Provide timely reporting to supervisors on the progress of all aspects of the project, including expenditures, the delivery of reports, and the development and implementation of training and workshops.
11. Take responsibility for assuring that all work items indicated in the project documents are carried out in a timely and effective manner.
12. Take responsibility of assuring that all documents required for the evaluation of the project are carefully organized and available in a timely manner, including mission reports.
13. Any other duties as requested by supervisors.

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree in economics, development studies or a related discipline, with specialization in economic development preferred.

Experience

At least seven years of professional experience in the formulation, management, implementation, evaluation or funding of technical cooperation projects, of which at least three years at the international level. Experience within the operations, particularly the appraisal process, of a development finance institution an asset. 

Languages

Excellent level in English and a working level in French.

Competencies

• In addition to competencies required at P4 level job specific competencies include the following: 
• Excellent knowledge of technical cooperation principles, concepts and techniques.
• Sound knowledge of the roles of development finance institutions in supporting economic development and of their operations. 
• Knowledge of economic and social conditions of various countries. 
• Demonstrated skills and ability to perform complex analyses on a wide range of factors, requirements, policies and priorities for the assessment and implementation of projects. 
• Excellent troubleshooting and problem solving skills. 
• Ability to successfully mobilize resources. 
• Ability to represent the office. 
• Ability to plan and organise work and to provide guidance and training to staff members.
• Knowledge of and experience utilising computers including word processing and database software, and ability to use computer based terminological and information tools. 
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. 
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team. 
• Ability to present information in readily understandable forms. 
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to adopt non-discriminatory and gender sensitive behaviour.

This recruitment is conditional on receipt of funds.