Country Operations Analyst (Local Recruitment Dakar, Senegal)

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 Programme Management Department (PMD), under the leadership of an Associate Vice-President, is responsible for the overall programme of loans and grants of the Fund and is composed of five (5) regional divisions and the Operational Policy and Results Division. A Multi-country Office (MCO) is an ICO that serves several countries, including those Offices led by Country Programme Officers (CPO-led), and has at least two Country Directors. It is established for programmatic and/or efficiency reasons (e.g. travel connections).

The position is located in West and Centra Africa (WCA) division. The Country Operations Analyst works under the direct supervision of the CD/Head of MCO Dakar. 

The Country Operations Analyst is accountable for a range of administrative and programme support functions pertaining to coordination and execution of field operations.

The incumbent provides services to the Country Directors (CDs) and Country Programme Officers (CPO) within the Multi-country Office (MCO) on both programme and resource related matters on which s/he may also receive guidance from the Country Programme Officer, the Senior Regional Procurement and the Regional Directors' Front Office, as appropriate. S/he may provide technical guidance and support to the Country Programme Assistant (CPA) and/or Administrative Assistant (AA) in Multi-country Office, collaborates closely with staff at IFAD HQ and collates information and data to ensure consistency, cohesion and synergy in administrative and programme related matters.

1. PROJECT AND PROGRAMME SUPPORT: The Country Operations Analyst supports IFAD staff within  the Multi-country Office in the efficient and effective delivery of IFAD-supported projects. This involves substantive support to mission-related activities, monitoring deliverables against established deadlines, data analysis, and support to oversight of project procurement, as required. Responsibilities may include: 
· Supporting the organization and announcement of missions, including support to preparation of Terms of Reference and maintaining consultant rosters; 
· Performing analysis on programme-related financial data (e.g. annual work plans and budgets, disbursements, audits), including extracting and professional use of data from IFAD's Grants and Investment Projects System (GRIPS) and Operational Results Management System (ORMS); 
· Following up on timely submission of financial and audit reports and reports indicating action taken on supervision mission recommendations; 
· As appropriate, supporting activities related to the oversight of project procurement in coordination with and under the overall guidance of the Senior Regional Procurement Officer, including: review of procurement provisions and arrangements of new projects to ensure their adequacy; review of AWPBs and procurement activities subject to IFAD no-objections; participating in project procurement reviews and following-up on recommendations with relevant project stakeholders. 

2. EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT PROVISION OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT: The Country Operations Analyst is responsible for ensuring efficient day-to-day handling of financial and non-financial resources (incl. HR matters, as required) pertaining to all IFAD staff and country programmes within the Multi-country Officethrough corporate IT tools and systems and ensures that practices follow established regulations, rules and procedures. S/He ensures effective coordination with the host agency at the country level and works collaboratively with relevant staff at IFAD HQ. Responsibilities may include: 
· Ensuring full compliance of administrative activities with IFAD rules, regulations, policies and procedures; · Supporting the Budget Holder(s) within the Multi-country Officein providing inputs to annual work plan and budget and to the regular management of allocated budgets; 
· Under the overall responsibility of the Budget Holder, administering, executing and monitoring allocated budgets (incl. accruals) and certifying administrative expenditures, including travel administration and purchasing consultancy services, other goods and/or services through PeopleSoft HR and Financials Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system; 
· Analysing and reconciling financial discrepancies and assisting in reviewing documents with budgetary implications and making recommendations; 
· Administering country office assets (incl. maintenance of IFAD office furnishings and equipment, inventory control and vehicle/fleet management, if any) and supporting the management of relationships with the hosting agency; 
· Liaising with IFAD HQ Security on security related matters and attending the Security Management Team meetings on behalf of the CD as required. 

3. COUNTRY-SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE BUILDING AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING SUPPORT: The Country Operations Analyst supports the collation and dissemination of good practices, lessons learnt and results in close collaboration with the country and regional team and other IFAD staff. This may include identification of project training needs, organization of related trainings and workshops and contribution to capacity building of project staff in program implementation, financial and budget management. S/He will also support organizing knowledge sharing events at country-level, and prepare short analytical knowledge management papers on relevant thematic issues to promote knowledge sharing between various programmes, within the division and the remainder of IFAD. 
 

4. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The Country Operations Analyst is accountable for integrity and transparency in the administration of IFAD resources. S/he is accountable for upholding IFAD's core values and code of conduct, including integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources.

Technical analysis and synthesis of information and data, including database management, creates the foundation for IFAD’s decision-making processes, and for ensuring quality of policy and programme advice provided to regional staff and/or the government. Analytical documents and linked monitoring frameworks (programme log frames inform the IFAD Results-Based Country Strategic Opportunities Programme [RB COSOP] objectives and the Results Management Framework) are used in the development and evaluation of IFAD’s country programmes. Thus, the Country Operations Analyst contributes to upholding of the Country Office’s reputation by showcasing IFAD's capacity for successful programme delivery, which enhances IFAD's recognition as a reliable development partner. The key results have an impact on the efficiency of the Multi-country Office. Accurate analysis and presentation of information, thoroughly researched and fully documented work strengthens the capacity of the hub and facilitates subsequent action by the supervisors. Incumbent’s own initiative is decisive in results of work and timely finalization.

In the context of programme design and delivery, the Country Operations Analyst ensures the exchange of technical information between the programme team, as well as, forming and maintaining collaborative working relationships with counterparts and other relevant partners in the country, to enhance consistency and reliability in IFAD's development assistance to the government. A positive outlook of IFAD as a credible/reliable development partner is emphasized in the maintenance of relationships with counterparts. S/He also provides programme/project logistical support to both the country offices as well as the local authorities, as required.

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:

Education includes Advanced university degree from an accredited institution listed on https://whed.net/home.php in accounting, business administration, development, economics, finance, international relations or related field is required (*):
(*) 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 one (1) year of progressively responsible professional experience in development institutions and/or government service.
  
  Position-specific experience:
• Qualifying work experience in operations management and/or loan/grant administration with International financial institutions, development cooperation agencies, etc., would be an asset.

Languages:

• English (4 - Excellent)
• Desirable: Spanish or Arabic (3 – Good) 
• Position specific: Excellent command of French

Skills:

• Budgeting, resource management: Know-how in budget administration and accounting, resource allocation and planning at divisional level
• Procedure adherence: Ability to strictly adhere to established, formal guidelines, including in new situations
• Data management: Data collection, cleaning, transformation and consolidation; data-base architecture & development; data presentation
• 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
• 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
• Basic ICT & digital fluency: High level of digital literacy and ability to quickly get familiar with new digital tools (e.g. ability to carry out EPR data entry and extraction when budgeting; monitoring security systems, uploading content to inter/intra-net websites, etc.)
• 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)
• Problem solving: Strong systemic and structured thinking, ability to identify and dissect problems into components and formulate a comprehensive set of creative viable and sustainable solutions and strategies
• 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.)
• 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)

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.

Applicants for vacancies in the National Professional Officer (NPO) category should be nationals of the country in which the position is located.