Call for Interest - Temporary Professional Officer SAFIN

This Call for Interest is for a Temporary Professional Officer (TPO) position, which is a short-term contract. The appointment of a short-term staff member carries no expectation of continuous employment or conversion to any other type of appointment with IFAD. The intital duration of the assignment is 6 months. 

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 support countries efforts to tackle their most complex development challenges in fostering inclusive and sustainable rural transformation. This is mainly achieved 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's investments. SKD comprises 3 divisions, namely the (i) Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division (ECG); (ii) Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI); and the (iii) Research and Impact Assessment Division (RIA).

The Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI) provides technical support to IFAD Country Programs to ensure the proper application of corporate quality standards required for achieving development results and impact in key thematic areas, including food production systems (i.e. fisheries, livestock, and agronomy), land, natural resources management, water and rural infrastructure, financial services, rural markets and enterprises and rural institutions. It also contributes to the generation of evidence and knowledge on these themes, and facilitates their use in IFAD projects and activities.

The Private Sector, Advisory and Implementation (PAI) Unit: IFAD has been developing several new initiatives to leverage additional investments for smallholder agriculture in alignment with its Strategic Framework 2015-2025 and the IFAD11 Reform Agenda. These initiatives include the ABC Fund, or platforms such as the SAFIN or the Food Systems Action. Similar initiatives are envisioned in the future, especially in light of the forthcoming update Private Sector Strategy (PSS). These initiatives are expected to be among the instruments that IFAD could use to implement its PSS. Note that most of these initiatives require cross divisional coordination through formal mechanism. A decision was therefore taken recently to create the Private Sector, Advisory and Implementation (PAI) Unit to ensure cross-departmental coordination and implementation of key activities.

The Secretariat of the Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN) is housed in IFAD under the SKD Department and located in the PAI unit within PMI. Its mandate is to support the full set of SAFIN partners, including IFAD. In this context, the SAFIN Secretariat is a team of professionals providing authoritative expertise in their field of finance and investment related policy and strategy.

The SAFIN Senior Coordinator plays a catalytic role managing the secretariat and supervising the work of a small team of experts , and optimizing the use of available resources and successful delivery of SAFIN strategic objectives and work programme. S/He acts as an authoritative professional expert and leads and manages the SAFIN Secretariat and all related partnership activities.

Accountabilities and key results of the position are, accordingly, about:

• Partnership building and resource mobilization
• Leading the Secretariat Team
• Policy engagement and  strategy advice and development
• Knowledge management and capacity development
• Managerial functions

The SAFIN Senior Coordinator works under the general supervision of the Director PMI and the direct supervision of the Head of the Private Sector, Advisory and Implementation (PAI) Unit as well as of the SAFIN Steering Committee. S/he works collaboratively with other staff in the PAI Unit and with other units in the PMI Division and in the rest of IFAD.

1.SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVICE & PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION : The incumbent provides technically authoritative advice to improve the capacity of IFAD to position itself as an influential global player in these domains, and to improve related national government policies and programmes and ensure IFAD is regarded as a trusted and valued partner. Accountabilities may include but are not limited to: (a) Providing IFAD staff and partners with up-to-date professional advice on policy, institutional and technical issues by ensuring coordination with country level teams, government counterparts, and relevant divisions. (b) Contributing to ensure that IFAD senior management is regularly and adequately briefed to engage effectively in high level fora with policy implications (c) Providing senior level technical expertise to the preparation of knowledge products aiming to advance IFAD’s voice in the global debate on rural transformation, in close collaboration within SKD and IFAD. 
2. KNOWLEDGE AND ADVISORY SERVICES: The incumbent enhances the development of viable and sustainable policies and supports regional and global thematic input through authoritative technical knowledge sharing for his/her area of specialization. S/he will ensure access to the latest sources of knowledge and innovation, strengthen technical capacity and establish new knowledge and advisory partnerships. Accountabilities may include, but are not limited to: (i) Supporting intelligence gathering and analysis of debates relevant to inclusive and sustainable rural transformation in the global debate and facilitating knowledge sharing and experiences in this area within SKD, IFAD and other stakeholders in the global arena; (ii) Supporting the coordination of the relevant knowledge development and dissemination with institutions outside of IFAD, within the region concerned and national Institutions, disseminating knowledge and lessons learned with external partners and stakeholders through publication of Occasional Papers, journal articles, seminars and workshops, through electronic media and the development of new knowledge products and operational tools that are informed by learning from the field; (iii) Participating in IFAD-wide thematic discussions and developing appropriate technical and operation approaches of relevance to the country/divisional strategies and programmes; (iv) Planning and leading learning events to strengthen IFAD’s knowledge and capacity to engage in global debates with policy implications for rural transformation. 
3. PARTNERSHIP BUILDING AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES: The incumbent develops and maintains a network of strategic partnerships that can help advance IFAD’s mandate and messages around rural transformation in the global debate. S/he develops peer contacts inside and outside IFAD to keep up-to-date on activities at the country and regional levels, to support joint advocacy and for knowledge sharing to enhance the Fund’s profile as a highly competent and viable partner in development. Accountabilities may include: (a) Building partnerships with centers of excellence, complementary technical organizations and specialized departments of other development institutions (including United Nations agencies, International Financial Institutions, bilateral cooperation agencies, non-governmental organizations, and others) as strategic partners; (b) Strengthening IFAD’s representation and communication in policy processes (including representing IFAD at international, regional, inter-agency meetings, seminars and conferences); (c) Developing and cultivating alliances in key global policy forums to strengthen IFAD's influence over time, with a strategic focus on specific themes. 
4. MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING: The incumbent supports the Director/Lead Technical Specialists in knowledge management and other monitoring and reporting activities to enhance country level programme and funding decisions.
5. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The Incumbent is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources. This includes, among others, people management through support to recruitment of technical specialists and technical leadership/capacity development, coaching and mentoring of new and/or more junior staff, supervisory role and evaluation of performance of professionals and general service staff under his/her purview.

6. POLICY AND STRATEGY ADVICE AND DEVELOPMENT: On the basis of the state-of-the-art knowledge and analysis of current global conditions, emerging challenges, financial resources for development and the state of rural poverty globally, the SAFIN Senior Coordinator coordinates all SAFIN activities, including by:

• The preparation of SAFIN core strategy and knowledge documents (narratives, concept notes, governance documents, policy briefs, publications)
• Directing the design of all major SAFIN events (conferences, workshops, side events) aiming to influence and inform policy and strategy decisions in the global smallholder inclusive agri-SME finance ecosystem
• Conceptualization of all SAFIN work streams and supervising their implementation, based on an annual work plan agreed by the SAFIN Steering Committee

7. LEADING THE SECRETARIAT TEAM: The SAFIN Senior Coordinator is responsible for:

• Setting the work plan for the SAFIN Secretariat and for SAFIN as a whole, in close coordination with the SAFIN Steering Committee, and overseeing its implementation in an adaptive manner, aiming to respond to the evolving priorities and opportunities around and within the network
• Reporting on progress on SAFIN to IFAD Senior Management
• Acting as Secretary to the SAFIN Steering Committee and reporting to the Steering Committee on progress in the implementation of annual work plans

8. PARTNERSHIP BUILDING AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION: The SAFIN Senior Coordinator develops and maintains a network of key stakeholders for SAFIN and is responsible for enhancing the profile of the network in the global ecosystem for agri-SME finance and in global forums and debates on development finance. Accountabilities include:

• Ensuring sustained support from current funding sources and identifying and cultivating potential new sources of funds for SAFIN
• Ensuring increased, consistent, and strategic visibility for SAFIN and positioning it to exert greater influence by expanding partnerships and mobilizing more investments towards smallholders and agri-SMEs through the activities and funding instruments of partners (including IFAD)
• Representing the network in meetings and dialogue with officials of intergovernmental organizations and international financial institutions, as required

9. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT: The SAFIN Senior Coordinator is responsible for:

• Establishing and maintaining effective methods for regular communication and knowledge sharing between SAFIN and other key stakeholders
• Ensuring on-going analysis, monitoring and reporting on SAFIN activities for the Steering Committee, partners and IFAD senior management
• Overseeing the development of strategic knowledge products and activities to advance SAFIN and its agenda of more smallholder inclusive and sustainable agri-finance ecosystems
• Leading knowledge generation and sharing to inform strategic decisions among partners (including IFAD) concerning    the development of new programmes, financial instruments, and policies in the area of agri-SME finance and investment support
• Ensuring efficient communication and knowledge sharing with other relevant initiatives within the PAI Unit, within PMI, and in other parts of IFAD

10. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The SAFIN Senior Coordinator is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of SAFIN Secretariat resources. This includes:

• Setting annual work plans to be reviewed and agreed by the SAFIN Steering Committee
• People Management through recruitment, capacity building, coaching and mentoring of SAFIN Secretariat members, supervision and evaluation of performance of consultants, short-term staff, interns and staff under his/her purview
• Overseeing the use of the SAFIN budget and the preparation of budget reports

Assignments require the provision of authoritative technical expertise in the field of specialization. The impact of work by the incumbent directly affects the overall country programme and contributes to regional and corporate policy and strategy. Senior Technical Specialists design and contribute to the delivery of a country programme. The impact on the overall IFAD country and regional programmes is significant in projecting the Fund’s role/capacity as a reliable, viable partner in development. Work is intricate in that it requires consideration of a wide range of technical factors and related data, national policies relevant for the economic policy concerns of the international organization. Senior Technical Specialists also monitor and guide the work of external consultants and participate as experts in field missions and in the servicing of intergovernmental and expert group meetings of a technical nature. 

The work relationships of Senior Technical Specialist involves the provision of technical advice and the negotiation and resolution of problems that arise in technical project design and appraisal, supervision/implementation support and in the preparation of studies and reports. S/He serves as an expert in rural infrastructure and renewable energy and works with full technical independence in the provision of technical expertise and methodological guidance at the country level, as well as regionally as required. Contacts are with counterparts and senior officials within other United Nations organizations having related programmes and with officials of governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, research institutes and academia. In servicing intergovernmental bodies, expert groups and other meetings, the Senior Technical Specialist provides technical expertise and recommendations for policy formulation and official conclusions in a consultative and Specialist capacity; s/he also may provide information regarding the organization's policies, and act as the representative of the organization. Maintain contacts to identify and evaluate emerging developments.

The SAFIN Senior Coordinator works collaboratively with other staff in the PAI Unit and with other units in the PMI Division and in the rest of IFAD. The SAFIN Senior Coordinator serves as a senior expert within the network as well as within IFAD as host institution for SAFIN. S/he exercises wide professional latitude in developing and maintaining strategic partnership and collaboration with key contacts in order to expand partnerships and increases resources for the SAFIN target group. This includes the provision of authoritative technical advice and the negotiation and resolution of problems that arise in corporate and operational planning, technical/financial initiatives or the preparation of studies and reports. 
S/he acts as a credible voice of the network providing technical leadership and methodological guidance to partners and IFAD management and representing SAFIN with officials of intergovernmental organizations and international financial institutions, development partners and other staff in the areas of specialization. 
 

Education 

• Advanced university degree from an accredited institution in Finance, Economics, Agriculture,  Business administration, or related field

Experience

• At least 8 years progressively responsible experience in providing strategic policy advisory services and proven operational experience in the area of facilitating access to finance for of Smallholder and Agri-SME, notably through private sector transactions.
• Experience and knowledge of rural development and finance frontier topics

Language requirements

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Working knowledge of another official language (Arabic, French, or Spanish) is desirable.

Technical / Functional competencies

• Technical expertise and advice at all levels of inclusive finance and Agri-SME investment, experience in assessing private sector proposals aiming to enhance rural SMEs and Smallholders access to finance, review of transactions and complex facilities and interventions using regular and blended finance, and recommending investment decisions would be a strong asset. 
• Authoritative expertise with the demonstrated ability to formulate new approaches in respect of partnership building and resources management and build strong relationships with clients, focusing on impact and results.
• Ability to share technical guidance/knowledge at peer levels as well as to inspire more junior specialists and operational staff in the development of viable new operations targeting rural SMEs and smallholders.
• Ability and skill in identifying best practices and implementing innovations in the field of work and adapting them to partnership issues.
• Strong results-oriented decision-making ability with capacity to translate business strategies and needs into practical solutions.
• Strong skills and expert experience in diplomatic communication, effective convening, facilitation and negotiation with the ability to develop a close and effective working relationship across multiple complex stakeholders  at the appropriate levels, demonstrated by a track record of developing and sustaining effective partnership building  with clients and stakeholders.
• Ability to be proactive and to take initiative; system thinker, net entrepreneur and self-starter.
• Ability to multi-task and deliver/meet the deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to motivate the team/collaborators with a positive mindset.

A Temporary Professional Officer (TPO) is a short-term staff member. The appointment of a short-term staff member carries no expectation of continuous employment or conversion to any other type of appointment with IFAD. The intial duration of the assignment is 6 months. 

In general, an appointment of a short-term staff member may be renewed upon mutual agreement and satisfactory performance, provided however that short-term appointments granted by the same Division/unit shall not exceed 18 cumulative months (including extensions). In no case the total duration of short term appointments shall exceed 36 cumulative months (including extensions). Once the short-term staff member has completed the cumulative 36-month limit, that staff member may not be re-employed by the Fund on a short-term appointment. 

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.

Candidates may be required to participate in interviews.