Regional Water Sector Manager at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Regional Water Sector Manager, RDGW, RDGN, RDGC

Reference: ADB/20/154
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Grade: PL2
Position N°: 50092538

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on two of the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priorities of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the Vice President will act as the spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The mission of the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex is to contribute to the Bank’s efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development in RMCs. It does so by: (1) contributing to development of country and regional strategies and building sector knowledge; and (2) focusing on project/programme origination and delivery for approval of operations defined under the High 5 priorities. The AHVP complex supports the Regional Directorates in developing the country programmes, and leads in the development of the projects/programmes which constitute the country programmes, and managing the portfolio
• The Water Development and Sanitation Department (AHWS) is responsible for the coordination of the Bank’s water development and sanitation-related activities to enhance synergies and contribute to achievement of all High 5s.
• The Water Security and Sanitation Division 3 (AHWS.3) is responsible for the West, Central and North region and works in in close collaboration with AHWS.2 (Water Security and Sanitation Division responsible for East and South Africa regions and Nigeria) and AHWS.1 (Water Partnerships and Coordination Division) and the African Water Facility (AWF) to provide thought leadership for the Bank in water development and sanitation in Africa. The Department (AHWS) plays a lead role in supporting Africa to attain water security through the provision of technical expertise, generation and dissemination of pertinent sector knowledge and fostering strategic partnerships. Specifically, in line with the mandate of the Department, AHWS  provides guidance to the business delivery units in the following thematic areas, among others: (i) Integrated & Transboundary Water Resources Development and Management for Water Security; (ii) Water Supply for All; (iii) Sanitation for All; and, (iv) Water Sector Governance; as well as the cross-cutting areas including gender, climate change, private sector engagement and fragility.

The Position

• Under the supervision of the AHWS Director, the Sector Manager, West, Central and North serves as the leader of the Division in these regions and empowers the division’s staff in the regions and at headquarters to accomplish their objectives by directing and delegating duties and tasks while supporting, mentoring and engaging with them to deliver the agreed regional work programs.
• He/she coordinates the collaborative efforts with other Divisions of the Department and oversees engagement with other complexes of the Bank to identify business opportunities that have a positive impact on overall achievement of the High 5s.

The key work objectives of the position are the following:

• Lead and contribute to the development and review of water, sector and sanitation policies and strategies; and promote their implementation in relevant Bank operations identified, developed and implemented in RMCs;
• Lead the Division’s contribution to the Bank’s resource mobilization efforts for the water sector by fostering strategic partnerships for leveraging funding and knowledge; and through the development and implementation of innovative financing mechanisms;
• Develop and disseminate knowledge and provide technical guidance and expertise to various Bank units and complexes, directly and in collaboration with various initiatives and trust funds within the Department such as the AWF to maximize the Bank’s contribution to Africa’s development in water and sanitation.
• Supervise and coordinate staff under him in the origination and implementation of Water development and sanitation projects and programs, oversees the processing of Bank financing, mobilizing co-financing, and supports Bank investment transactions in the water sector.
• Provide deep sectoral expertise related to the planning, development, technical structuring and financing, and monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation operations across the water security components, including providing technical assistance on water utility benchmarking, sector reforms, and water access and skills development.

Reporting Line:

• The Sector Manager AHWS.3 reports to the AHWS Director but collaborates closely with the Regional Director Generals for Central region, Northern Region, and Western Region. At the regional level, He/she will work seamlessly with the other Bank units under the guidance of the Director and provide inputs to the overall regional portfolios’ status assessment and workplans.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under direct supervision of the Director Water Development and Sanitation Department (AHWS) and in close collaboration with the Regional Business Delivery Units of the RDVP Complex, the Sector Manager, will perform the following:

Leadership and Management of the Division:

• Lead, supervise and carry out the strategic direction of the AHWS.3 Division, Provide with necessary support for the Bank’s Water sector strategy implementation and Delivery of the water related components of the Bank’s Operational priority 5 “Improve the quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• Lead and manage the Water sector team in the assigned regions and ensure the team remains high-performing, well-motivated and committed to the successful achievement of the objectives of the Division and that of the Water Department.
• Lead the strategic staffing of the Water sector team in the regions under supervision, determines and manages the human and financial resource requirements of the Division; provides management support to the staff and facilitates their full performance in technical work; identifies the staff's needs of training and discuss/implement career development needs; is responsible for their performance evaluations and resolves staff disputes/complaints.
• Prepare and lead the implementation of the work program of the Division, determining priorities and allocating resources for the timely delivery of high quality outputs; foster teamwork and communication among staff in the Division and across organizational boundaries; manage the activities undertaken; and, ensure that the KPIs set for the Division are met in due course.
• Oversee programmatic/administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Division, including preparation of budgets, and reporting on performance;
• Participate in and/or chairs meetings for the Division, the Department, Technical Quality Assurance Committees (TQAC), Water Coordination Committee, donor and partner meetings related to the water initiatives, sanitation initiatives and trust funds under AHWS, as well as other meetings related to the work of the Division.
• Lead technical dialogue in Water and Sanitation sector development, reforms and restructuring, and Control the professional quality of the documents produced by the staff of the Division.
• Foster an environment that stimulates and rewards innovation, creativity and accountability for results, and motivate staff to contribute to delivering significant developmental impact for Africa’s growth.
• Cultivate and ensure a culture of "ONE-Bank" in the entire Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex, other Sector Complexes and Regional Directorates with the highest levels of ethics, fiduciary responsibility and professionalism to protect and enhance the reputation of the Bank.
• Build strong and strategic relationships with private sector developers and financiers, regional economic communities (RECs), river basin organizations (RBOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), United Nations (UN) organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners and Government officials to share information and experiences to develop impactive (socially & economically) investment opportunities and to ramp up co-financing and loan syndications to realize projects.

Water Sector and Sanitation Policy and Strategy Development:

• Provide expertise and leadership in the development and review of Bank Group's policies, rules, regulations, norms and standards especially related to water security and sanitation; and ensure their implementation in the Division.
• Advise on and promote the implementation of relevant sector policies and strategies within the Bank.

Business Development and Management:

• Under the guidance of the Director, AHWS, and in collaboration with the concerned Regional Director Generals, spearhead national and regional business development and investment programs, and drive resource mobilization across the countries to grow and diversify the portfolio of the Bank.
• Manage the delivery of the lending and non-lending programs for member countries in the Regional Business Delivery Units of intervention in accordance with Bank policies and procedures.
• Advance regional integration through the development of, and contribution towards the execution of major regional transformative development projects to attain the Bank’s High 5s: Namely, ‘Light up & Power Africa’, ‘Feed Africa’, ‘Integrate Africa’, ‘Industrialize Africa’ and ‘Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa’.
• Ensure demonstrable impacts are made as per the objectives of the Bank ‘Strategy to Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa’, the ‘Gender Strategy’ and the ‘Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy’ among others.
• Pipeline Development: In collaboration with local, national and sub-regional institutions, build and maintain a diversified pipeline and lending program of investments (SO and NSO) in the water sector across the regions to meet the Bank’s profitability targets while delivering transformative impacts throughout the water security components.
• Identification of Opportunities: Identify and secure project/program co-financing opportunities and collaboration activities with other Development Partners including in the financing of innovative Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Water infrastructure projects.

Sector Knowledge Development and Uptake and Sector Networking:

• Advise the Director on issues related to water security and sanitation and defends before the Board papers originating from the Department.
• Develop and maintain cooperation and co-financing relations with the other development agencies and organizations; may lead important and sensitive missions to the member countries and partner organizations and agencies; may represent the Bank Group in major international conferences and meetings especially on water, human and social development.
• Provide technical support and expertise to the Water Coordination Committee to help maximize the contribution of Bank’s water-related operations aimed at promoting multi-purpose water resources development, developing and implementing quality complex water infrastructure interventions, mainstreaming integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles, and scaling up sustainable and affordable access to water supply and sanitation services.
• Contribute, in support of AHWS.1, AHWS.2 and Africa Water Facility (AWF), to forging strong strategic partnerships with multilateral and bilateral organizations and regional organizations to leverage resources and support business development in regional Business Delivery Units in the area of water security and sanitation.
• Foster coherence of the Bank’s action in water security and sanitation across regions and promote collaboration.
• In tandem with AHWS.1 and AHWS.2, contribute to innovative financing mechanisms knowledge and recommendations implementation, and technical management approaches to promote access to water security and sanitation across regional member countries. This will also entail promotion of private sector participation and improvement of the overall sector governance.
• Has extensive comprehensive understanding to lead the design and execution of major policy and/or research or contributes to Economic and Sector Works to inform and improve the design of new operations for greater impacts;
• Has extensive comprehensive understanding to organizes and/or represent the Bank at high level strategic regional and international discussions on partnership on water security and sanitation.
• Performs other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Selection Criteria

• At least a Master's degree or its equivalent in either Water Resource Engineering, Water and Sanitation Engineering, Economics, Institutional Development, Environmental Engineering, Social Sciences, Financial Analysis, Geo-science or any other relevant field with a focus on water development and climate change. Must hold qualification or certification in project management, water finance, water utilities management or governance, public private partnerships or closely related disciplines with a good knowledge or working experience of water related sector such as agriculture, power, urban planning etc.;
• At least eight (8) years of extensive and progressive experience in an internationally recognized financial or development Institution. Four (4) years of managerial level experience with some experience in Private sector participation in the water sector will be an advantage;
• Broad experience in water and sanitation sector development and policy support in developing countries including in Africa;
• Strong familiarity with the work of other multilateral and bilateral development institutions is preferred;
• Recognized sector expert with deep knowledge of integrated water resources development and Water sector finance issues in Africa, with a successful track-record in working with development finance Institutions, and a focus on research and policy related to water and sanitation;
• Demonstrated extensive experience in delivering high quality operational products and non-lending services (analytical work, advisory service, research advice, sector studies), in management of a portfolio of Water investment projects, portfolio optimization and risk evaluation, project restructuring, and water sector reform in response to changing business environments;
• Demonstrated extensive understanding of sovereign and non-sovereign project cycles and financing structures, including alignment with project identification, development, design, due diligence, risk assessment / allocation and implementation / management strategy (including procurement strategy, communication strategy, knowledge management, capacity building, and other critical success factors);
• Solid extensive knowledge and understanding of the elements essential (i) for the effective delivery and measurement of water and sanitation access development impacts, for building water security environment through projects and programs in Africa and (ii) ability to analyze and evaluate critical matters pertaining to a broad spectrum of environmental health, water and sanitation issues;
• Extensive and comprehensive experience in planning, organizing, managing and coordinating the activities of similar units and supervising staff of high caliber, organizing teams, and providing managerial and leadership support;
• Problem solving - able to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance.
• Client orientation - able to build long lasting partnerships with a broad range of clients and deliver results that meet the needs and long-term interests of clients within and outside the Bank.
• Team working and relations - able to work with others to maximize the effectiveness of the team.
• Vision and leadership - Clearly Communicate the strategic direction and Vision frequently and positively, inspire staff to pursue it, encourage staff to contribute to the strategic debate; Clearly identify and prioritize strategic issues, opportunities and risks, and support assimilation within local plans; Drive for change and improvement, do not accept status quo.
• Performance Management and Staff Development – Conducting Review meetings for monitoring performance and project progress against milestones; Clarify Roles, responsibilities and reporting lines to each staff member; Regularly discuss performances and provides feedback and coaching to staff; actively support the development and career aspirations of staff.
• Empowering Others - High standard Management of individuals and Teams, Effective Delegation of work to others and holding them accountable for results, Setting SMART Goals for staff, Set-up a motivating working environment, and Develop people to improve their capability.
• Building Trust - Provide and environment in which other can talk and act without fear or repercussion; Operate with transparency; Prioritize building long lasting relationship of confidence with colleagues, staff members and clients; Treats sensitive and confidential information appropriately.
• Communication - speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
9th December, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Important Information / Notice

• This position is classified as international recruitment and attracts international terms and conditions of employment.
• Should you encounter technical difficulties in submitting your application, please send an email with a precise description of the issue and/or a screenshot showing the problem to: HR Direct [email protected] (link sends e-mail)  
• To apply for this position, you need to be national of one of AfDB member countries.
• Applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are considered for interview will be contacted. Only online applications submitted with a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and copies of the required degrees will be considered. The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) does not ask for payments of any kind from applicants throughout the recruitment process (job application, CV review, interview meeting, and final processing of applications). In addition, the Bank does not request information on applicants’ bank accounts. The African Development Bank Group declines all responsibility for the fraudulent publications of job offers in its name or, in general, for the fraudulent use of its name in any way whatsoever.