The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an International Financial Institution and a Specialized United Nations Agency whose mission is to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty. IFAD's headquarters is in Rome, Italy, and is present in more than 90 countries to develop and finance programmes and projects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and incomes. |
| Division Context The Programme Management Department (PMD) is responsible for the overall lending and grant programme of the Fund, and is composed of five regional divisions, the Policy and Technical Advisory Division and the Environment and Climate Change Division. |
| Duties and Responsibilities Under the general supervision of the Senior Operations Management Adviser, PMD, and in consultation with the PMD divisions, the incumbent plays a significant role in ensuring effectiveness of PMD's programme operations by coordinating departmental strategic planning and budget activities and validating alignment with IFAD's Medium-Term Plan, PMD's departmental management plan (including country presence) and the strategic workforce plan. A) PMD operational matters: - Provide strategic advice and documentation for departmental discussion/decision on matters related to the implementation of the annual lending and country grant programme. Monitor progress of implementation of annual lending programme and country grant programme with proposed funding levels and propose reallocations where appropriate.
- Lead the Planned Project Activities (PPA) process including projects/programmes/grants to be approved and approved through the lapse-of-time procedure (LOT) and Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes (COSOPs).
- Provide strategic advice and information/inputs of an operational nature for, inter alia: IFAD¿s Medium-term Plan, Country Presence, the Annual Report; Executive Board Preparatory Meeting and Convenors and Friends¿ meeting; external parties (e.g. FAO/IC, Board members, and donors).
- Manage the preparation of the summary of projects/programmes and grants during each Executive Board session and prepare two-page information notes on new planned projects/programmes and updates for publication on IFAD's public website.
B) PMD programme of work and budget: - Provide support and contribute to the departmental Strategic Workforce planning exercise.
- As focal point for departmental budget-related matters, prepare guidelines for the preparation of the annual departmental programme of work and budget and the carry forward procedures.
- In cooperation with PMD Divisions, the Budget Section, Accounting and HR, facilitate and coordinate the timely consolidation of the annual departmental budget (in Oracle Business Intelligence/OBI) while ensuring that this is aligned to corporate/departmental guidelines.
- Prepare strategy reports on the proposed departmental budget, past trends and budget utilization, including analysis of staffing patterns and expenditure in project development and direct supervision costs.
- Prepare the PMD front office budget.
- Provide strategic analysis and inputs for the High-Level preview and annual work programme and budget documents, including review of the subsequent Board documents during clearance.
- Monitor departmental budget utilization and prepare quarterly budget execution reports in compliance with budget decentralization procedures and review carry-forward requests.
C) Other assignments: - Identify proactively issues requiring decision/follow-up at departmental level.
- Oversee the work of the Operations Assistant.
- Contribute pro-actively to knowledge sharing.
- Represent PMD in meetings, committees and inter-departmental fora with respect to operational/budget/HR/IT-related matters, including resolution of IT-related issues with regard to PeopleSoft/OBI, including budget decentralization procedures.
- Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
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| Education and Experience - An advanced degree (or an university degree and an advanced professional qualification) in a finance-related discipline, business administration, social sciences or a closely related field;
- Minimum of eight years of progressively responsible experience in finance, planning and budgeting;
- Good understanding of IFI lending and grant programmes and rural development project cycle;
- Ability and proven track record in leadership of small groups;
- Knowledge of ERP systems (e.g. PeopleSoft and Oracle business intelligence) and Microsoft Office Suite; knowledge of statistical software tools an asset.
- Knowledge of corporate-level project and loans/grants databases would be an asset.
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| Technical/Functional Competencies - Planner and organiser/decision-maker ¿ you will have excellent judgement and the ability to think strategically, assessing and responding to corporate/departmental objectives. You will be able to set clear priorities within a boundless and often challenging agenda with tight deadlines.
- Results-Oriented Team Worker/builder with excellent organizational abilities who can coordinate a reliable platform of services regarded for quality and attention to detail
- Excellent Net-worker who combines technical excellence with professional acumen in establishing and fostering professional relationships
- Analytical skills: you will have strong numeric and analytical ability and thorough understanding of socio-economic issues as well as the capacity to lead specific analytical work.
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| Communication - Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including the ability to set out a coherent argument in presentations and group interactions, working knowledge of an additional IFAD language (Arabic, French, Spanish) an asset;
- Capacity to communicate fluently with different stakeholders (civil society, government authorities, local communities, project staff).
- Excellent working knowledge of electronic communication.
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| Other Information Applicants should note that IFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD, and they may be assigned by him/her to any of the activities of IFAD, including field assignments and/or rotation within IFAD.
IFAD reserves the right to appoint a candidate at the appropriate grade commensurate with experience and knowledge.
Interested candidates are requested to apply by completing IFAD's Personal History Form (PHF) in English. A separate CV may be attached if you so desire, only as a supplement and not a substitute to the PHF. The application should be made through the online system only.
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 take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews. | |
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Operations and Strategic Planning Officer P-4 - Front Office Programme Management Division - deadline: 17 April 2012
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