International Finance Corporation (IFC) a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. The Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in every country.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Operations Officer

Job No.: req30508
Location: Lagos
Grade: GG
Sector: Advisory Services
Term Duration: 3 years 0 months

Description

• The IFC 3.0 strategy aims to stimulate more investment activity across emerging markets, especially in Low-Income Countries (LICs) and Fragile and Conflict-affected States (FCS). We aim to create, deepen, and expand markets and design and develop impactful investment projects.
• This strategy is, in part, premised on improved country/sector diagnostic, strategic, and public sector engagement capabilities, which seek to: 1) resolve obstacles to private sector growth via diagnostic and strategic work that informs both IFC operations and relevant IBRD/IDA policy operations; and 2) overcome the shortage of investable projects in priority markets by proactively improving the private sector ecosystem at the country and regional level.
• Country Advisory and Economics Unit for North, West, and Central Africa within the Africa Vice Presidency was recently established due to the re-organization to drive the strategy.
• IFC Nigeria has one of the largest investment portfolio in Africa. It also has a rich and diverse set of advisory projects with a wide range of stakeholders.  CAE supports all of these activities through strong analytics and policy dialogue.
• CAE also serves a critical bridge between IFC and IDA.  In this role, the selected candidate, reporting to the Manager, CAE North, West and Central Africa, will contribute to CAE work program and lead some CAE engagements in Nigeria with the view to help IFC expand the frontier, particularly at the sub-national level dialogue.
• The position is based in Lagos. We seek a motivated and dynamic professional with strong analytical skills and policy-relevant experience in private sector development.

Duties and Accountabilities

• Contribute to and lead selective business and project development in line with client and market needs while working collaboratively across WBG
• Contribute to and selectively lead the implementation of projects by participate in senior level client meetings to provide technical advice and monitor progress in implementing relevant reforms to unlock investment. Moreover, support client in implementing recommendations and help trouble shoot as needed.
• Ensure high quality of project supervision and completion documents and provide quality control over client deliverables.
• Contribute to and selectively lead the engagement with the relevant teams at the World Bank and IFC for reforms needed to unlock new markets and work collaboratively with Upstream teams.
• Ensure adequate portfolio management of advisory projects in Nigeria  and potentially in other Central Africa and Anglophone Africa cluster.
• Contribute to and selectively lead the engagement with the Government officials and private sector to improve the visibility of IFC.
• Organize knowledge sharing sessions across the region,
• Contribute to and selectively lead research and diagnostics relevant to our clients and stakeholders and to push our knowledge frontier on policy dialogue.
• Manage resources – budget, STCs, etc. for effective project implementation
• Develop technical capabilities of the broader practice group team through mentoring, coaching, and knowledge sharing.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s Degree in Finance, Business, Economics or a closely related field, or professional certification (CPA, CFA).
• At least 8 years’ experience in private sector development, with a focus on delivering private sector oriented reform projects in delivering advisory engagements.
• Strong track record of having successfully negotiated and implemented reforms.
• Experience in Nigeria is a plus.
• Understanding of IFC and WBG products/ instruments and where there are opportunities for cross-organizational collaboration. Demonstrable experience working on IFC and WBG products will be an advantage.
• Ability to design, negotiate and lead efforts to develop client offerings that reflect in-depth knowledge of thematic area and understanding of business case for how thematic focus will help client to improve their business.
• Ability to conceptualize and conduct research and analytical projects that could ultimately lead to the opening of new markets and/or reframe thinking on thematic approaches to better meet IFC and WBG mandates.
• Excellent knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and aptitude to learn new systems is a must.  Ability to use project management systems is a plus.
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills plus fluency in English is must. French is a plus.

Application Closing Date
4th December, 2024.