Director, Country Economics at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank (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: Director, Country Economics

Reference: ADB/17/493
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: EL5
Position N°: TBA

The Complex

• The Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is the Bank’s spokesperson on economic matters and the Vice-president for the ‘Economics Governance and Knowledge Management Complex’.
• The Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the generation of analytical works to inform operational policy; (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies.
• The Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management will inspire, generate and provide direct support to the President and Senior Management of the Bank on a broad range of technical and management issues within the broad remit of economic, finance, public financial governance, management and social economics.

The Hiring Department

• The Country Economics Department is located in the Chief Economist/Vice-Presidency for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management (ECVP) Complex. The Country Economics Department manages, coordinates, harmonizes and ensures the high quality of the work of Lead and Country Economists across the Bank. The Department plays a critical role of strengthening the links between economic knowledge and the Bank’s operations.
• It leads the development of high quality and analytic country strategy papers, the monitoring of economic and social conditions and policies in regional member countries and, the generation of country-relevant, timely and analytically sound advice to support policy reforms in regional member countries.
• The Country Economics Department is currently engaged in major initiatives aimed at improving the economic analysis content of country strategy papers, improving the harmonization of the approaches and tools, and the management, of the Bank’s Lead and Economists through the establishment of the economics Sector Board, and strengthening the country economic analysis underpinning the Bank’s support to economic reforms in regional member countries with a view towards improving the development impact of this support.

The Position
Led by the Director, the key work objectives of the Country Economics Department are the following:

• Implement the new Development and Business Delivery Model mandate relating to strengthening the links between economic knowledge and the Bank’s operations.
• Manage, coordinate, ensure the high quality of the work of Lead and country economists, who have been transferred to the ECVP Complex as part of Bank’s efforts to enhance the development impact of its operations under the DBDM.
• Ensure the harmonization approaches and tools used by the Bank’s Lead/Country Economists.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the overall guidance of the Chief Economist and Vice-President, the Director - Country Economics Department will perform the following:
• Develop and implement high-quality, publishable country economic assessments with a focus on sustained growth and job creation, drawing on department resources and collaboration from across the African Development Bank Group.
• Work closely with ECVP departments in ensuring that country the High Five priorities inform African Development Bank country engagement and advisory services in promoting the achievement of development objectives.
• Engage with African Development Bank regional directorates and other Bank Group units to support strategy formulation and policy dialogue, through various exercises, aimed at achieving the High 5’s.
• Ensure that African Development Bank management as well as investment and advisory project teams draw on high-quality country economic expertise and analyses and operational support.
• Build a strong network of collaboration and coordination on Country Economics across the African Development Bank and also with operational teams at the World Bank Group, the IMF, economic research institutes and other organizations, including think-tanks and private sector organizations across Africa.
• Work with the Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management and in partnership with the ECVP’s leadership team to ensure the achievement of the key strategic priorities of the Complex in alignment with African Development Bank’s overall strategy.
• Work closely with the Director of the African Development Institute (ECAD) to develop new ways for building and retaining capacity for economic policy design and implementation in African countries.
• Deliver the agreed upon work program through cost effective use of resources and ensuring timely delivery of high quality outputs.
• Manage the department and its staff to a modern standard and high level of performance, with special attention to diversity objectives.
• Drive and inspire technical excellence within the department by creating an environment of learning, innovation, and knowledge sharing.
• Lead the preparation of analytic, country-relevant and knowledge-based country strategy papers.
• Ensure that the best economic research generated by the Macroeconomics, Policy, Forecasting and Research Department and other sources inside and outside the Bank, are customized for economic policy solutions tailored to the specific circumstances of each Regional Member Country.
• Lead the production of country-relevant, timely, analytically sound, and reliable policy advice for Regional Member Countries, and of flagship reports on country economic issues.
• Monitor economic conditions and policies in Regional Member Countries and provide policymakers with well researched insights about developments in their economies.
• Develop partnerships with the other knowledge departments in the Complex, and inside and outside the Bank, to ensure that the highest level of knowledge is incorporated in the design of Bank strategies and operations;
• Develop and ensure effective implementation of harmonized approaches, tools and standards of quality for use by the Bank’s Lead and country economists towards strengthening the development effectiveness of Bank’s country strategies and operations.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Hold at least a Doctorate/PhD Degree from a reputable university in Economics, Applied Macroeconomics or other relevant discipline.
• Have a minimum of ten (10) years of highly relevant experience, five (5) of which should be in a leadership capacity, in country and regional strategies development and implementation, analysis and monitoring of macroeconomic and social conditions and policies at the country and regional level, and operational policy development and implementation gained in a multilateral development finance institution, government agency or reputable organization.
• Ability to carry out sound macroeconomic analysis
• Ability to identify a need for economic reforms and develop and assess the required economic reform measures.
• Ability to quickly master.
• Private sector experience is an added advantage.
• Innovation and creativity.
• Communication.
• Client orientation.
• Problem solving
• Team working and relationships.
• Operational effectiveness.
• Proven ability to build and lead a team of motivated staff, and utilize the talents and expertise of team members in a productive way.
• Capacity to initiate and manage innovation and drive change.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other.

Application Closing Date
12th December, 2017.

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