Programme Officer - co-terminus position

*  This  is  a  three-year  fixed-term  co-terminus  position  fully  financed  with  supplementary funds.  Contract  renewal  depends  on  the  fund  availability  and/or  duration  of  the  project. There is no guarantee of renewal or conversion into another kind of contract.

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 Strategy and Knowledge Department (SKD) provides expert guidance on IFAD's strategic direction, thematic priorities and technical quality of IFAD’s operations. It plays a critical role in providing technical expertise to operational teams to enhance development effectiveness, by generating  and  disseminating IFAD’s development knowledge and evidence on strategic themes, and encouraging innovative application of cutting-edge global knowledge and evidence in IFAD investments to support countries tackle their most complex development challenges in fostering inclusive and sustainable rural transformation. SKD is composed of the (i) Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division (ECG); the (ii) Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI); and the (iii) Research and Impact Assessment Division (RIA).

ECG is composed of two clusters: (i) Environment and Climate Change Cluster; (ii) and the Social Inclusion Cluster. ECG takes the lead in integrating cross-cutting themes of environment and climate, nutrition, gender, youth, and indigenous peoples into IFAD's portfolio, with the aim of strengthening the quality and impact of IFAD’s operations. ECG also contributes to the generation of evidence and knowledge on these themes, and facilitates their use in IFAD-funded projects and activities. In addition, ECG provides guidance and support to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups, particularly women, indigenous peoples and rural youth, into IFAD operations. Addressing environmental, biodiversity and climate change issues are inseparable from IFAD’s mission to overcome poverty.

IFAD competitively sources and manages climate change finance, which it uses to help mainstream climate change sustainability and resilience into its regular agricultural development work, an IFAD11 priority. This is done by strategically matching interventions funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Adaptation Trust Fund (ATF) and/or the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to IFAD's investments as one package to address rural poverty and climate change resilience.

IFAD is hosting the Gender Transformation Mechanism (GTM) in Climate Adaptation Facility to support countries in their gender transformative goals in agriculture. The GTM goal is to incentivize governments to invest in and scale up the capacities and activities required to achieve gender transformative results in their agricultural programming. Through the GTM, IFAD leverages the scale of its loans and grants, and builds on its experience from testing a set of practices shown to bring about gender transformation.

The Programme Officer works under the overall policy and management guidance of the Director, ECG , and the  direct supervision of Lead Technical Specialist – Gender and Social Inclusion.

The Programme Officer is responsible for coordinating programmes and/or projects within the assigned portfolio.

1. COUNTRY STRATEGY AND COUNTRY PROGRAMME SUPPORT: The Programme Officer provides a solid understanding of international practices and of IFAD's policies and procedures to ensure activities of a programme or project within her/his assigned portfolio enhance the related technical quality of IFAD activities within the relevant country, through effective programme (COSOP) and project (grants and loans) design, supervision, implementation, monitoring and evaluation (RIMS), reporting (PSR) and completion (PCR) activities. S/he also provides substantive contributions to the development of advice and technical guidance in support of sustainable government strategies, policies and programmes to improve agricultural development and rural poverty reduction. The Programme Officer is further accountable for capacity-building activities including identifying, analyzing, documenting, harmonizing and disseminating both national and local issues as well as conditions and best practices and lessons learned among partner development agencies. Capacity-building activities include coordinating meetings, workshops and seminars with project management teams, government, partners and other stakeholders.

2. COUNTRY OFFICE SUPPORT: The Programme Officer is accountable for day-to-day administration and reporting in support of the Supervisor and for supervision of assigned Country Programme Associate/Assistant. In addition to human resources management, s/he has accountability for financial and material resources and related processes including managing contracts for services. S/he provides inputs to budget preparation and monitors expenditures, manages contract completion and certifies payments.

3. SUPPORT TO PARTNERSHIP BUILDING: As a key PMD team member, the Programme Officer enhances IFAD's relationships and collaborations with in-country counterparts by identifying synergies and proposing coordinated strategies with multilateral/bilateral donors and civil society organizations involved in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction. S/he establishes and maintains counterpart contacts to promote programme and project collaboration and harmonization as well as identifies financing opportunities with other donors.

4. POLICY DEVELOPMENT/KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: The Programme Officer 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 develop an enabling environment for sustainable, pro-poor development. From an international best practices perspective, s/he analyzes evidenced based recommendations from projects to link the realities on the ground and the voices of the poor with the policies and programmes of the government. S/he contributes to IFAD's policy intelligence with regular updates and information exchange with her/his supervisor on relevant policy discussions and ensures a continuous knowledge flow with peers in accordance with the knowledge management mechanism in place. This will serve to enhance the empowerment of the rural poor and disadvantaged so that they can enter into partnerships at all levels of policy dialogue.

5. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The Programme Officer is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources.

Position specific: 

• Support the integration of gender transformative approaches in the design and implementation of projects and country strategies, embedding the GTM initiative into IFAD portfolio through appropriate contextual measures, lessons and innovations;
• Support the setup of gender-sensitive data system to monitor and evaluate results generated by the GTM, as well as of the targeting and gender strategies promoted in the context of IFAD Programme of Loans and Grants.
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of technical studies, strategic innovations, and approaches in the field of gender transformation and pro-poor targeting ;
• Support the provision of up-to-date professional advice on policy, institutional and technical issues related to gender equality, women’s empowerment and gender transformative work to IFAD staff and partners
• Supporting the overall functioning of GTM facility, ensuring coordination with country level teams and divisions in charge of impact assessments and results, measurement.
• Contribute to provide technical support to staff, field missions, government staff and project management units at all stages of the programme cycle on gender equality, gender transformation and women’s empowerment; 
• Participate in design, implementation support and supervision missions; providing monitoring and evaluation inputs to ensure, monitor and analyse poverty outreach, gender equality, women's empowerment and social inclusion; contributing substantively to build synergies with the corporate mainstreaming agenda of climate, youth and nutrition;
• Sharing knowledge and experiences generated through activities such as analytical studies, publications, Occasional Papers, journal articles, capacity building events, seminars and workshops, through electronic media and the development of new knowledge products and operational tools that are informed by GTM data, evidence and learning from the field; 
• Supporting the coordination of relevant knowledge development and dissemination with institutions outside IFAD, globally and with national institutions of countries piloting the GTM.
• Developing appropriate technical and operational approaches related to gender transformative work for corporate strategies and country strategies and programmes
• Support the development of partnerships with complementary technical organizations, NGOs, research institutions, and specialized departments of other development agencies as potential operational and strategic partners at country, regional and global levels;
• Support IFAD's representation and communication in policy and technical dialogue/processes and strategy issues related to poverty targeting, gender equality, women's empowerment, gender transformative work and social inclusion (including supporting IFAD's representation at international, regional, inter-agency meetings, seminars, conferences, etc…) and
• Contribute to mobilizing additional resources for IFAD, in collaboration with GPR, through partnerships and outreach activities

The Programme Officer maintains the standards for IFAD’s competence in development in her/his assigned portfolio. S/he has demonstrated technical expertise and credibility in portfolio management and creates the foundation for IFAD’s capacity and reputation for programme delivery and enhances its recognition as a reliable development partner. S/he provides substantive support in the development of country strategy, project design, partnership building and policy development and the foundation for enhancing sustainable government strategies and policies to improve the livelihoods of the poor and other disadvantaged groups.

In the context of programme development and delivery, the Programme Officer ensures the exchange of information, advocates for programme and policy enhancements and ensures consistency and reliability in the provision of development assistance to the government. In collaboration with other members of the UN country team, bi-lateral development agencies, NGOs and country programme counterparts, s/he establishes and maintains relationships and projects the image of IFAD as a credible/reliable partner striving for harmonization of development activities.

Organizational Competencies:

Level 1:

• Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains effective working relationships
• Communicating and negotiating - Communicates effectively; creates understanding between self and others
• Demonstrating leadership - Personal leadership and attitude to change
• Focusing on clients - Focuses on clients
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Continuously seeks to learn, shares knowledge & innovates
• Managing performance and developing staff -
• Managing time, resources and information - Manages own time, information and resources effectively
• Problem-solving and decision-making - Demonstrates sound problem-solving and decision-making ability
• Strategic thinking and organizational development - Personal influence
• Team working - Contributes effectively to the team

Education:

• Level - Advanced university degree from an accredited institution listed on https://www.whed.net/home.php *

• Areas - rural development, agriculture, economics, rural finance, development policy or other job related fields.

(*) 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 five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in, developing pro-poor, gender transformative and social inclusion strategies across different thematic investments and regions at international level, carrying out participatory poverty/livelihoods and institutional analysis to inform project's strategies.
• Experience in the design, implementation, supervision and performance monitoring and evaluation of poverty targeting, gender equality, women's empowerment and social inclusion in an agricultural or rural context.
• Experience in international policy frameworks related to rural poverty, gender equality & women's empowerment and social inclusion; 
• Experience with supporting management and coordination of programmes or grants in support to gender transformative work, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Languages:

• Required English (4 – Excellent) 
• Desirable: French

Skills:

• 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
• Analytical skills: Outstanding ability to analyse and synthesize qualitative and/or quantitative information from a variety of sources and filter out key insights and recommendations
• Time management: Adherence to deadlines under time constraints and pressure (e.g. to deliver governing body documents on time); ability to coordinate and manage complex workflows and in-house and external teams
• Initiative and good judgment: High sense of proactive initiative-taking and good judgement (including on security matters)
• 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)
• Verbal communication: Clear, succinct and convincing verbal communication; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language
• Written communication: Clear, succinct and convincing written communication in the language needed for specific role; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language (e.g. for drafting of position papers, briefings, etc.)
• 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

*  This  is  a  three-year  fixed-term  co-terminus  position  fully  financed  with  supplementary funds.  Contract  renewal  depends  on  the  fund  availability  and/or  duration  of  the  project. There is no guarantee of renewal or conversion into another kind of contract.

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.

Please be aware of fraudulent job offers. IFAD does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process. Official communication from IFAD will always come from e-mails ending in @ifad.org.

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.