Operations Officer - Sustainable Business Advisory E4E

The International Finance Organization (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reducing poverty and improving people’s lives.

IFC in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has offices located throughout the region, covering 20 countries from Morocco to Pakistan. IFC Advisory Services comprises four Business Lines: Access to Finance, Sustainable Business Advisory, Investment Climate, and Public-Private Partnerships. IFC Advisory Services in MENA are undertaken through a multi-donor technical assistance facility, managed from Cairo with offices located throughout the region. Its objective is to stimulate private sector development by a) improving business enabling environments, b) helping to develop financial markets, c) strengthening the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, and d) forging public-private partnerships.

Sustainable Business Advisory Business Line – MENA

In line with IFC’s vision and the mandate of developing the private sector, the overall objective of the Sustainable Business Advisory Business Line in MENA (SBA MENA) is to support the private sector to mobilize and attract investments into businesses that accelerate creation of jobs and increase food security in a sustainable and inclusive manner. We do this by working with potential investors and investees to mobilize and attract finance; supporting firms in key sectors with high potential for job creation to improve their competitiveness; and empowering the private sector to reduce their resource intensity and support low carbon growth.

E4E Initiative for Arab Youth

The E4E Initiative for Arab Youth was jointly launched in 2011 by the IFC and the Islamic Development Bank with the release of the report “Education for Employment: Realizing Arab Youth Potential” (found at www.e4earabyouth.com). Arab youth suffers over 25 percent unemployment, amongst the highest rates in the world, while labor market participation rates are amongst the lowest. This is against the backdrop of an education system that yields graduates with skills largely incongruent with labor market needs, and growing numbers of dropout and excluded youth, especially female. The primary focus of the E4E Initiative is to provide youth with those skills that are relevant to the marketplace by investing in education, engaging stakeholders, and enabling solutions so that Arab youth earn a better future.

The E4E Initiative complements other efforts addressing youth employability. It focuses on the supply-side of the employment and job creation equation, by recognizing the role that the private sector can play in both the demand and supply of quality, relevant education and training for post-secondary youth—a role that accounts for the majority of education provision in emerging markets such as Malaysia and Brazil. The E4E Initiative strategy addresses both cross-cutting eco-system enablers and particular sectors constrained by skills gaps by:

• Catalyzing private sector investments in employment-driven education;

• Improving the enabling environment for quality and relevant education and training;

• Changing mindsets on the complementary role the private sector can play in education, improving the perception of vocational and workforce-readiness training as a viable choice for enhancing employment prospects, and promoting the provision of information to enable more informed choices.



The Sustainable Business Advisory (SBA) Business Line in MENA is now looking to recruit an experienced Operations Officer to develop, support, and oversee the SBA-related E4E Initiative for Arab Youth Advisory projects in MENA countries. The Operations Officer should be able to recognize opportunities, foresee future trends, forge alliances with other programs, and actively develop and implement demand driven programs that have a substantial impact on the MENA skills development agenda. The Operations Officer will jointly report to the SBA Business Line Regional Program Manager and the E4E Initiative Regional Head.

Desired Skills & Experience

Business Accountabilities

• Design SBA related E4E projects in line with the overall E4E program strategy, so as to ensure maximized development impact.

• Conduct scoping missions in MENA countries to assess and analyze the current state of education, vocational training, and skills development programs; identify gaps and recommend innovative solutions.

• Engage the private sector in addressing the gaps and work with a wide range of stakeholders including education providers, employers and policymakers.

• Design and implement innovative projects providing E4E solutions entailing quality assurance and certification frameworks, soft skills development, and information transparency.

• Manage the project life cycle project design, project implementation, and sustainable project exit including the management of project budgets, client cooperation agreements negotiation, implementation of identified project activities, hiring and management of consultants, monitoring and evaluation of project progress using the IFC monitoring and evaluation framework, and management of client relations to ensure project expectations are met and exceeded, amongst others.

• Prepare project and program reports and updates for management, donors and other stakeholders.

Relationship Management Accountabilities

• In line with the program strategy, identify potential clients and program partners for E4E Initiative for Arab Youth SBA related projects, and secure strong buy-in and ownership from the client as demonstrated by the client contribution to the project costs.

• Liaise and collaborate with other IFC advisory business lines, IFC Investment, and WBG staff to promote the integration for greater impact.

• Develop and maintain relationships with regional players in relevant sectors and foster strong relationships with regional institutions to identify collaboration opportunities and enhance client and business delivery; and

• Represent the E4E program in relevant conferences/workshops in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Selection Criteria

• Masters degree in business, education, or another relevant discipline;

• A minimum of eight to ten years professional relevant experience;

• Experience in education, technical vocational training, and skills development initiatives across tourism, construction, logistics, and ITO and BPO services is an added advantage, as is work experience in the MENA region;

• Experience in developing standards in education and training (e.g. qualification and certification frameworks) is a plus;

• Strong project management skills and demonstrated ability in developing stakeholders relationships and delivering on project results;

• Vision and demonstrated ability to see the “big picture” of country and regional private sector development;

• Demonstrated potential to develop innovative solutions across the E4E Initiative for Arab Youth focus agenda, coupled with potential to recognize, seize, and design innovative development project opportunities that can have sizeable reach;

• Fluency in English language both spoken and written, as well as in Arabic or French;

• Independent and autonomous, should be able to operate with minimum supervision;

• Strong written and verbal communications skills;

• Strong team player with ability to work effectively across organizational and regional boundaries in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, team environment;

• Professional maturity and excellent business judgment;

• Willingness to travel.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please click the button below to apply through IFC’s website (Job No. 131098).  Only online applications through our careers site will be considered.  This vacancy closes on May 22, 2013.

Company Description

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

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