Senior Operations Officer

The IFC is recruiting a highly motivated candidate for a to  provide  operations support to the Regional Director and the regional management team in Southern Africa. The position will report to the Regional Director with a secondary reporting line to the RHO. It will also involve working closely with the Africa leadership team. The selected candidate will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa ; or other location in Southern Africa as may be agreed with the RD.

This is a unique role that provides an opportunity to gain a broad understanding of IFC’s business strategy across the region; investment, advisory, and upstream operations; and the management responsibilities of the Regional Director.

The selected candidate must be a self-starter, capable of taking initiative to cover a range of tasks and be able to work independently with minimal supervision. S/he will be required to handle sensitive information, exercise good judgment, and provide well-reasoned advice and support to the Regional Directors and other members of the regional management team. 

The position is based in Port Louis, Johannesburg, South Africa, and reports to the Regional Director Southern Africa.  

Duties and Accountabilities: 

• Manage the workflow of activities for the RD. • Coordinate inputs, analysis, and recommendations on matters for RD review/decision/action and ensure timely flow of information and decisions to and from the RD.
• Prepare and attend meetings with the Regional Director; and ensure appropriate follow through on subsequent actions, decisions, and commitments.
• Work with relevant teams to prepare and review briefs, presentations, speeches, talking points and other meeting materials as required.
• Establish systematic interaction with the Regional Vice President (RVP) Front Office, other Regional Directors, and the Africa Leadership team to ensure that matters requiring RD response are promptly addressed.
• Support the Regional Director’s role in the ADM governance processes for investment, advisory, and upstream project approval including review of Concept Notes, Implementation Plans, Portfolio documents for investment, advisory and upstream projects.
• Work with the RHO to oversee the overall regional advisory and upstream program portfolio; coordinate the annual Country Driven Budgeting process for all units in the region; and ensure cross-unit coordination of Advisory and Upstream activities including overall alignment of donor-funded activities with regional and country strategies.
• Facilitate information flow from Managers, Resident Representatives, Country Officers, Heads of Office etc. to the RD and ensure consistent resolution of administrative issues.
• Coordinate drafting and review briefs required by the Regional Director and by the Senior Leadership Team and attend to any submissions required by the Regional Vice President and by the Managing Director Front Offices
• Coordinate implementation of the RD’s communication plan with the Communications team
• Attend and contribute to leadership team meetings as and when requested.
• Work with the RD/RHO on handling various organizational matters and undertake any other tasks that may be assigned by the RD
• Track and oversee the preparation of senior visiting missions/trips to the country.
• Contribute to the preparation of board papers and other documents, as needed.
• Prepare/coordinate high-quality briefs for WBG senior management.
• Assist by providing visibility for IFC through organizing/participating in high profile events (high-level visits, press interviews, seminars, and conferences).
• Ensure internal and external requests are addressed.

Selection Criteria:

• Master’s degree or equivalent professional qualification in Business, Finance, Economics, or another relevant field.
• 8+ years of relevant experience, preferably in areas such as management consulting, investment and/or advisory.
• Good understanding of IFC’s strategic priorities as well as IFC investment and advisory business lines, their products, how they complement each other, and how they may be leveraged to match client needs.
• Prior experience of working with counterparts in IBRD, MIGA and other development institutions would be a plus.
• Ability to interact directly and independently with the senior management, potential clients, as well as senior government officials.
• Team player with strong leadership and influencing skills, and track record in working in a matrix structure.
• Strong client service orientation and an ability to resolve challenging issues.
• Excellent people skills, openness to feedback, new ideas, and ability to guide, and motivate others.
• Excellent critical thinking, analytical and presentation skills, and ability to work with or supervise the use of data utilizing standard office software including Excel, Word, PowerPoint etc.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English are required; fluency in Portuguese and/or French would be an added advantage.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=29716&site=1