Job: Portfolio Adviser

Location: Rome 
Deadline: Wednesday, 16 October 2013 

Description

Organizational context

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.

The Programme Management Department (PMD) is responsible for the overall lending program of the Fund. The Latin America and Caribbean Division (LAC) is one of its regional divisions.

Purpose of Position

This position is within the workforce plan of the Division and a crucial and driving element for the delivery of the regional programme of work as well as the IFAD Regional Offices in Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, Haiti and Brazil ICO with regional responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and strategic, policy and management guidance of the Director LAC, the incumbent will work closely with the Country Programme managers (CPM) and other divisional staff to enhance the development effectiveness of IFAD in the LAC region. Particular emphasis will be placed on providing authoritative advice and supportto the Division in its contribution to the corporate management result of Better Supervision and Implementation Support.

Specifically, she/he will

• Advise and assist the Director in portfolio management and supervision related issues at divisional level. In particular, advise and assist the Director and CPMs on the planning, implementation and follow up of the Divisional supervision programme with special emphasis on improving the effectiveness of supervision and focusing on timely start-up of implementation, delivery of project supervision and mid-term reviews. Provide advice on restructuring the on-going portfolios, e.g., in areas of extension of closing dates, cancellation of loans and effective delays.
• Assess the performance of projects and assist CPMs in the development and implementation of action plans for improvement and remedial actions, including redirection and elimination of problem projects
• Analyse and maintain an overview of regional portfolio trends and cross-cutting issues, including in relation to time from project approval to first disbursement, level of disbursements, implementation performance, to generate inputs for strategic and operational planning of activities directed at maximising results and impact of IFAD-financed interventions in the region
• Distil, document and share best practices and lessons emerging from implementation, and give advice on their application from COSOP to project completion
• Advocate and contribute to the building of a results-oriented culture among divisional staff and in-country stakeholders
• Design and deliver, with the support of CPMs trainings and other support required for capacity and skill building at project and executing agency level
• Contribute to the development of strategies, policies and guidelines for IFAD at divisional and corporate levels. Contribute to the improvement of procedures and tools for supervision and implementation support and share experience and knowledge in supervision and implementation support to mainstream good practice within the division
• Lead and coordinate the regional portfolio performance review processes and ensure timely delivery of the annual portfolio performance report.
• Facilitate operational relations with other IFAD divisions to identify gaps and opportunities to improve synergies between divisions and expedite approval and other processes where appropriate.
• On request, lead implementation support missions, providing authoritative advice on resolution of supervision problems
• Elaborate an approach to scale up successful LAC interventions within IFAD.
• Any other related duties as requested by the Director.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Master Degree in Rural Development, Finance, Economics Public Policy or in a field relevant to development.
• At least 10 years professional experience, including operational experience with international organizations, rural development/financial institutions or government services, in the area of design, implementation, loan administration, procurement and/or supervision of rural development programmes.
• Experience from working in Latin America and Caribbean countries is an advantage.

Technical/functional competencies

• Analytical skills: you will possess strong analytical and numerical capacities with ability to research and synthetize data.
• Leader and team worker/builder: you will possess excellent management skills and will be able to deploy these in a multicultural setting. Excellent interpersonal skills and strong team work/ team building abilities. You will have the capacity to lead teams for delivering high quality products and the ability to lead and manage organisational change.
• Planner and organiser / decision maker: you will have excellent judgement and the ability to think strategically and set clear priorities.
• Strong client-oriented working skills.

Communication

• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Working knowledge including the ability to set out a coherent argument in presentations and group interactions in Spanish.
• Working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese will be an asset.

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.
More Info and Application