Principal Urban Planning Officer 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. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 - 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Principal Urban Planning Officer

Reference: ADB/17/436
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50093730

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization is central to the Bank’s mission of developing the private sector, improving infrastructure and accelerating industrialization.
• The complex main functions are to (i) strengthen the enabling environment for private sector [and financial sector] development conducive to inclusive growth and sustainable development, (ii) support the development of reliable and sustainable infrastructure, including cities and urban development, and (iii) place renewed emphasis on industrial and trade performance in support of structural transformation across Africa.
• The Complex leverages knowledge, co-financing, and partnerships to attract private capital and work with governments on delivering the Bank’s development agenda.

The Hiring Department

• The role of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department is to foster infrastructure and urban development in Africa through appropriate policies and strategies as well as projects and programs interventions which the Bank might finance on national, regional or continent-wide basis.

The Position
The Principal Urban Planning Officer will lead or support the development of policies, strategies and project and programs related to urban development initiatives supported by the Bank in regional member countries.

The purpose of the job is as follows:

• To be an active member of the Bank's team of experts on urban planning with particular emphasis on cities development strategies and urban and regional development planning.
• To contribute in strengthening and maintaining the Bank's understanding of the urban development and planning and its role in the development of African cities and towns.
• To advise on ways and means to addressing the social inclusion of the poor, vulnerable and excluded groups through accountable institutions, and future investments in the sector by the Bank and its regional member countries.
• To lead the identification, preparation, appraisal, and implementation supervision of urban development projects and programs.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the general guidance and supervision of the Division Manager, the Principal Urban Planning Officer will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

Urban development Policy, strategy, business plan:

• Contribute and collaborate in revising the urban development policy, strategy and business plan of the Bank in consultation with internal stakeholders and taking account of long-term trends in urbanization on the continent;
• Contribute to the appropriate implementation of the business plan through communication and advice to all relevant stakeholders in the Bank, particularly operations functions, and define a monitoring framework;
• Consult as necessary with external partners and Regional and non-Regional Member Countries on the form and efficacy of the policy, strategy, and business plan.

Urban Development Knowledge:

• Collaborate with a team to develop and maintain the Bank's expertise on urban development and Services to support the development goals of the Bank and the continent;
• Devise with other members of the urban team the Bank's contribution to key urban development  themes and represent the Bank at global, regional and national conferences and workshops on urban development;
• Coordinate and work alongside key partners, such as other Multilateral Development Bank and the United Nations organizations to design urban development programs and solutions for the orderly spatial development of Africa’s cities and towns;
• Publish major studies and reports on urban development and services, taking into account the comparative advantage that the Bank can bring to bear to any specific subject or theme. Convene associated workshops and media events to solidify the learning across Africa;
• Develop and maintain, in collaboration with other team members and partners, urban information databases, publications, and economic models relating to urban development and services, and the state of African cities and towns;
• Contribute to identify appropriate urban development training for internal and external stakeholders.

Urban development Projects and Programs:

• Act as a task team leader in providing advice to Regional Member Countries on urban planning and cities development strategies and lead dialogue with governments in advancing decentralization policy, urban institutions reforms;
• Lead the development of technical assistance programs to provide cutting edge advice on urban land use planning, the urban-rural transition, local development, land tenure, management and information systems;
• Lead the origination and financial structuring of urban development and public private partnership (PPP) projects in regional member countries in collaboration and with the support of operations staff based in the regions and ensuring the optimum use of all the Bank's financing instruments;
• Advise and support operational staff based in the regions on urban development projects implementation and ensure appropriate coordination of actions in supporting clients during the project procurement, execution and monitoring phase.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in Urban development, Urban Planning, Public Policy, or related discipline.
• Dual academic qualification in urban planning/development and public policy, public administration, finance or urban economics is desirable.
• Have at least six (6) years of experience in urban development, city and regional planning, urban services planning and delivery in the public or private sector.
• Public and/or private sector experience in urban planning and cities development strategies in developing countries is desirable.
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Develop and deliver innovative solutions to clients - Proactively addresses clients’ needs.
• Collaborate within teams and across functional boundaries, provides own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
• Ability to make sense of complexity, interpret a wide range of information and make smart decisions.
• Effective consultation and advisory skills coupled with a client orientation to ensure relevancy.
• Range of inter-personal skills and an ability to vary their use according to the audience.
• Create, apply and share knowledge across the Bank to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
• Thorough knowledge of urban Planning, urban policies, strategies, Institutions and regulations.
• Foundational knowledge of urban services delivery, with ability to apply/recommend operationally relevant solutions and lessons for clients.
• Knowledge and experience in development and understanding of policy making process; project and program design, execution, monitoring and evaluation.
• Policy dialogue skills – Ability to identify and assess critical policy issues and actively dialogue with governments and/or other stakeholders to develop solutions.
• Ability to lead a team of specialists and to take forward projects, often in collaboration with other partners.
• Attention to detail to create quality output and to set standards for the team.
• Mentoring to develop skills within the team and to improve the quality of output and outcomes.
• Ability to assess cost/benefits of alternative options, select optimum solution and allocate budget and resources to achieve results.
• Ability to articulate clear objectives, set ambitious bur achievable targets and monitor execution and results.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other.
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint). Knowledge of SAP is desirable. 

Application Closing Date
13th October, 2017.

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