Associate Operations Officer - Portfolio Support- Nairobi, Kenya

Job #:	112451
Title:	Associate Operations Officer - Portfolio Support
Job Stream:	Technical Assistance & Advisory Services
Location:	Nairobi, Kenya
Closing Date:	01/12/2012
Background / General description:
Improving the investment climate in Africa is one of three core priorities of the IFC/World Bank Group strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa. IFC manages the Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group, which comprise staff based in the regional hub offices of Nairobi, Dakar and Johannesburg and across the continent, who work with a team of product specialists in Washington, DC and Istanbul. The Investment Climate Advisory Services have been supporting Sub-Saharan African countries to design and implement investment climate reform programs for nearly a decade, and have scaled up their efforts significantly in recent years. The programs assist client countries to implement a range of investment climate reforms, including economy-wide reforms of aspects of business regulation, supporting international trade and investment, regional integration as well as addressing obstacles to private sector investment in leading industries, such as agribusiness, infrastructure, tourism and health. The team’s objective is to support African countries’ efforts to create a positive investment climate to increase their competitiveness and private sector investment. The Investment Climate Advisory Services are looking to fill a staff position as Associate Operations Officer to be located in Nairobi. The Officer is expected to work in close coordination with the World Bank and IFC's Senior Investment Officer in the country, and with the investment climate team staff in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Dakar, Washington and Istanbul. S/he is also expected to participate in and contribute to the Investment Climate Advisory Services’ support to regional investment climate reforms.
Duties and Accountabilities:
The candidate will support the Project Leaders (PL) in the development and management of their projects, with a focus on the management of the on-line documentation and results measurement elements of the projects. S/he will work in support of Advisory Services Operational Portal- ASOP procedures, Portfolio and Results Management. The main responsibilities will include:- Advisory Services Operational Portal (ASOP) Create projects in the ASOP and advise project leaders on data completion and accuracy in the system throughout the project life-cycle. Support project leaders in the documentation of their program, and of its results measurement. Provide project leaders/Administrative and Client Support (ACS) staff with advice and guidance on filing requirements. Act as a primary point of contact for the system related issues. Address data quality issues and provide feedback to Africa region (SSA) staff, management and HQ on the issues identified and resolutions. Educate project leaders, communications staff and other users of the system on the project life-cycle, their roles, and responsibilities as well as on how to use the system as an information source. Work with project teams to ensure appropriate filing of signed legal agreements; maintain internal database on all signed legal agreements to capture statistics on types of agreements, dates, client contributions etc. Coordinate between SSA and HQ (Project Management Unit (PMU), Corporate Business Technologies (CBT), etc.) to ensure appropriate understanding of changes in ASOP and any other relevant system enhancements. Ensure that project client information is accurately and timely entered in the Partner Panel and Due Diligence is complete. Maintain SSA Team Tab file and alert PMU of any changes/replacements for timely team updates in the ASOP. Work with PMU on identifying Relationship Managers for newly created clients in the ASOP. Portfolio Management Circulate monthly updates on SSA pipeline, active portfolio and closed projects. Prepare monthly updates on planned projects for further dispatch to donors. Alert staff on any upcoming deadlines to ensure quality of SSA portfolio data. Support regional portfolio reviews, including assisting with analysis, data quality reviews and fact-checking Work in close collaboration with the finance team and project managers to ensure budget/client contributions information is accurately recorded in IBIS. Update information on SSA projects during the post-implementation stage when needed. M&E activities Assist in coordination of the Advisory Services (AS) Supervision cycle (semi-annually) and ensure compliance of SSA with relevant deadlines. Work to ensure good understanding of the overall M&E framework requirement, including requirements such as baseline and evaluation criteria, outputs, outcomes, impacts, budgets, plans, target definitions, documentation of roles and responsibilities, risks and issues. This will ensure that staff are provided with advice when needed. Aggregate projects’ operational and investment impact results into a single file after each project supervision cycle and contribute to donor operational and other types of reports/presentations by providing aggregated data. Assist the PL in obtaining all data from primary sources as stipulated in the M&E plan and for their collation and analysis. The position will involve considerable extraction and computer entry of data from program generic reports. Work with the PL to ensure all program M&E documents, data, and other information required for program strategic planning and reporting are prepared and submitted on time and in compliance with the requirements of WBG.
Selection Criteria:
•Advanced degree in economics, statistics, international development, or public policy and administration. •A minimum of 5 years’ professional experience working in an institution focusing on Investment Climate and/or a strong understanding of Investment Climate products with a proven track record. •Strong analytical and problem solving skills and sound business judgment to identify issues and present creative and practical solutions. •Demonstrated capacity and talent for integrating and aggregating issues at all levels - ability to “see the forest” and the “the trees” •Strong familiarity with IFC’s Project Management Systems. •Experience with quantitative research, statistical surveys/analysis and/or demonstrated experience in impact is a plus. •Ability to work successfully in multicultural teams and across boundaries. •Demonstrated teamwork skills with openness to feedback and new ideas. •Good presentation and communication skills. •Fluent in English. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.
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