Senior Youth Empowerment Specialist

Senior Youth Empowerment Specialist

IsDB – Islamic Development Bank

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Job Purpose

The Purpose of this position is to: (i) provide specialised support and expertise to Country Operations Managers, Operational Team Leaders (OTLs), Project Management Specialists and Executing Agencies (EAs) in in the Regional Hubs in identifying, mainstreaming and monitoring youth empowerment in Bank operations during the identification, preparation, appraisal, implementation, and completion stages (throughout project lifecycle); (ii) design and carry out in close coordination with the regional hubs the specific initiatives, programs and projects to empower youth in the member countries; (iii) coordinate the operationalization and implementation of the 5-years action plan linked with the IsDB Youth Development Strategy and any other relevant operational strategies and policies of the bank; (iv) develop and contribute to establishment of partnerships as well as mobilization of resources, particularly grants, to strengthen and complement the Bank’s youth development initiatives; (v) contribute to the evaluation, improvement and dissemination of the Youth Development Strategy; and (vi) contribute to the formulation, development and effective implementation of IsDB’s strategic initiatives relevant to youth empowerment including knowledge products, capacity development activities, and provide high level advisory, guidance and tools to the Regional Hubs and Member Countries.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic and Operational Planning and Implementation:

• Contribute to the overall Bank’s efforts to support the member countries to empower youth.
• Contribute as an expert and participate in project appraisal, design as well as processing and approval process as team member along with relevant regional hubs.
• Contribute to provision of input on youth empowerment while ensuring that the Bank’s policies, strategies, and interventions are adhering to the IsDB Youth Development Strategy and the associated action plans.
• Contribute and mainstream youth empowerment in Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) formulation, country dialogues and engagements with relevant departments at HQ and regional hubs.
• Coordinate to the development of strategic policies, plans, guidelines, analytics, and other products related to youth empowerment with Women and Youth Empowerment division and with other Global Practices in Director General – Global Practices and Partnerships Complex.
• Lead the design and development of youth empowerment initiatives, programs, and projects of the Bank to support the member countries.
• Implement the frameworks, tools, and operational guidelines of the Bank to guide the Bank’s staff in supporting the member countries to empower youth.
• Monitor and assess initiatives related to youth empowerment programs and projects
• Contribute to the formulation of the operational programs/portfolios which maximize the utilization of resources and concentrate on results-based impact on youth empowerment in the member countries.
• Closely work with relevant units of the Bank and provide intellectual leadership on positioning the Global Practice (GP) internally and externally in relevant domains.
• Provide advisory on GPs work on youth empowerment, identifying staff and learning needs and setting competencies and standards for their global, regional, and country-specific solution areas to support the national youth empowerment agencies and institutions.
• Provide the regional hub staff with the necessary technical guidance and expertise in operationalizing the Youth Development Strategy of the Bank and associated action plan.
• Closely work with the Lead Youth Empowerment Specialist to design and update policies, strategies and actions aiming at empowering youth in the member countries.
• Provide expert advisory on the delivery of selected global engagement products on youth empowerment, and when needed, directly lead and participate in country dialogues and deliverables, in addition to capacity development interventions and events in member countries.
• Lead the monitoring of the implementation of IsDB Youth Development Strategy and associated action; review and revise the subject documents to align with any changes in the overall strategic direction of the Bank.
• Identify, contribute to and report on projects mainstreaming youth empowerment in the different sector interventions of the IsDB
• Participate in the formulation of relevant policies, sector guidance notes and any other relevant operational or fiduciary frameworks taking into account the dimension of youth development and empowerment
• Liaise with clients, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and development partners as required and in coordination with relevant divisions/departments/hubs to promote youth empowerment in line with the objectives and goals of the IsDB Youth Development Strategy
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships with leading institutions, think-tanks, philanthropists and donors, private sector, academia, among others in order to mobilize both technical and financial resources with the aim to advance the goals and objectives of the Bank and member countries in youth development and empowerment.
• Formulate/organize and contribute to national, regional and international platforms and events in order to enhance the visibility of the Bank in youth development and empowerment. Benefit from such platforms and events in order to enhance internal policies and strategic documents on youth empowerment.
• Lead the organization of knowledge sharing and dissemination events on youth empowerment of the Bank.

Capacity Development:

• Identify, assess, and monitor overall capacity development needs of internal stakeholders in the IsDB Group, the hubs as well as relevant external partners on the subject of youth development and empowerment with the aim to design and administer relevant capacity development interventions
• Develop and administer as needed technical assistance (TA) and youth empowerment grants and other training programs for capacity development.

Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization:

• Work, in coordination with the Women and Youth Empowerment Division and others, on the leading work on women empowerment within the IsDB, and academia, MDBs and other key partners, outside IsDB, on the relevant research/ analysis, events and outreach.
• Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts to increase concessional and grant resources for the Bank to strengthen and promote youth development and empowerment.
• Liaise with the international youth development and empowerment institutions in order to promote and increase the visibility of IsDB’s interventions on youth development and empowerment.

Knowledge Sharing & Innovation:

• Track external issues and processes relevant to the best practices in addressing youth empowerment. Keep abreast of external developments and provide technical support to management on engagement in key external processes on these issues. This includes, among others, IsDB partnership with specialized UN agencies, multilateral development banks, bilateral finance institutions.
• Coordinate forums for knowledge generation, exchange and dissemination on issues of youth development and empowerment across the bank functions (with relevant GPs and Regional Hubs).
• Coordinate knowledge generation and advisory on youth empowerment with external stakeholders of relevance to IsDB’s activities including, but not limited to, member country institutions and agencies (including public, private and third sectors), IFIs, think-tanks and consultants.

Reporting & Communication:

• Contribute to the preparation of progress reports on thematic related activities in compliance with the Bank rules and procedures.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in youth development, social development, economics, business administration, or any related field.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience (of which 3 years are in a developing country context).
• Master’s degree/PhD in relevant field is preferred.
• Master’s degree in relevant field is equivalent to 2 years of experience.
• PhD in relevant field is equivalent to 4 years of experience.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of youth empowerment.
• Demonstrable professional experience in socio-economic development, youth empowerment, civil society organizations and their work on youth development, and mainstreaming youth issues in development programs and projects, developing results-oriented partnerships, resource mobilization.
• Experience working with IFIs/Development Agencies/Multilateral Development Banks preferred.

Skills & Necessary Knowledge

• Demonstrable analytical skills to assess institutional and country capacity and to design/review practical arrangements for implementing complex projects’ youth empowerment aspects.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to high-level analytical work and policy dialogue in IsDB Member Countries.
• Planning & organizing / project management skills
• Analytical thinking
• Problem solving
• Sound knowledge of development finance
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Excellent writing skills including reports, speeches, articles, communications material, etc.
• Presentation and public speaking skills
• MS Office skills

Languages

• English – Mandatory
• Arabic – Preferred
• French – Preferred

Apply Now