Senior Education Economist at African Development Bank

THE POSITION:

• Under the supervision of the Division Manager, Education and Skills Development and working closely with internal and external stakeholders, the Senior Education Economist will identify, design and support the implementation of human capital development, notably higher education, TVET and skills development programs/projects, policies and studies. She/he will be the focal point for the Bank’s operations and activities on human capital development in Kenya and East Africa. He/she will promote activities related to improving demand responsiveness of the education and training system to the skills needs of the labour market and for job creation on the continent. This aligns with the Bank’s Skills for Employability and Productivity in Africa (SEPA) Action Plan (2022-2025). SEPA aims to contribute to building a critical mass of innovative, productive and skilled workforce to drive economic transformation and job creation in Africa through two mutually reinforcing areas of intervention: (i) Expand infrastructure necessary for the development of demand-driven skills, and (ii) Strengthen enabling environment for skills development.
• This is a national position based in the East Africa Regional Office (RDGE-Nairobi) of the African Development Bank Group.

KEY FUNCTIONS:

Supporting Bank Operations (Business development)

• Initiate and engage in high-level dialogue with governments and sector players on human capital development to identify sector priorities and develop a pipeline of potential lending operations. Create awareness of Bank instruments and opportunities among regional member countries and private sector players. Support RDGE and AHHD in analysing requests for financing from Regional Member Countries in light of the priorities identified by the Bank.
• Lead the human capital development dialogue with respective country managers, country program officers and country economists while developing country strategy papers to ensure prioritisation and inclusion of human capital projects in the rolling pipeline.
• Identify, prepare and appraise human capital development projects, notably higher education, TVET and skills development, for Board approval in collaboration with the Borrowers and relevant Bank departments. Facilitate negotiations for loan agreements in preparation for Board submissions.
• Support NSO portfolio development and management in the education and skills development sector at the county and regional levels
• Identify opportunities for co-financing of projects from other Bank instruments such as Trust Funds and other external bilateral and multilateral partners on human capital development.
• Identify and seek opportunities for financing non-sovereign operations such as public-private partnerships (PPP) and private sector operations on human capital development.
• Lead in integrating human capital development in other sector operations such as transport, energy, water, agriculture and general budget support operations. Provide technical expertise in identifying, preparing, and implementing identified integrated projects.

Supporting Bank Operations (Portfolio management)

• Follow up on signature and effectiveness of approved projects with the National Treasury/ Ministries of Finance in collaboration with the country program officers to facilitate timely project start.
• Organize orientation of new Project Teams from the Borrowers and Project launches to facilitate effective project implementation.
• Lead on project implementation, supervision, mid-term reviews and project completion reviews of approved operations on human capital development, in line with the Bank’s operations manual
• Facilitate field supervision of projects in collaboration with the Executing Agencies and relevant Bank departments at least every six months to identify and address emerging challenges. Prepare aide-memoires, implementation progress reports, back to office reports and follow up on agreed actions from supervision missions.
• Review project procurement documents and processes in collaboration with the Bank Procurement Officers, in line with the Bank procurement policy and procedures and facilitate the issuance of no objections on time in line with the delegation of authority matrix. Provide technical support to implementing agencies on preparing terms of reference and bidding documents.
• Assist Governments and implementation agencies in utilising and justifying revolving funds and other disbursement activities.
• Follow up for timely submission of quarterly progress reports, environmental and social mitigation plan reports, updated procurement plans annual audits from respective Executing Agencies.
• Draft communication to respective governments on audit findings following reviews by the financial management department, in line with the Bank’s Delegation of Authority Matrix. Follow up on implementation of audit recommendations by the Executing Agencies.
• Lead on record keeping and management for all assigned operations on human capital development through Bank systems such as SAP, RASME. Facilitate access to documents and information for critical Bank processes such as internal audit, and IDEV reviews.
• Support documentation of human-interest stories and best practices from projects for inclusion in relevant sector and Bank reports and to increase visibility of Bank investment on human development.
• Seek opportunities for collaboration with other ongoing Bank-financed projects within the sector. Participate in country and sector portfolio review meetings and provide input on assigned projects.

Non-lending support/Knowledge work

• Undertake analytical work and provide technical guidance in human capital development and social development in general and provide guidance to AHHD and other Bank units on the integration of human development within Bank operations.
• Lead in economic sector work on human development in collaboration with country economists to provide data for key processes such as preparation and completion of country strategy papers, country portfolio investment analysis, economic outlooks and preparation of new sector operations. Facilitate dissemination of findings internally and externally.
• Participate in country team meetings, provide technical input on projects, and participate in peer review of project concept notes, appraisal reports, completion reports, and other studies. Review and give opinions on documents, studies and other reports by the Bank.
• Provide input on Bank documents, studies and processes such as AHHD monthly and annual reports, Bank annual reports and other documents as requested occasionally. Support the preparation of briefing notes, talking points and status reports for management.
• Work in collaboration with operations assistants and country program officers to ensure budget allocation for critical processes such as missions and project preparations in SRAS.
• Seek opportunities to collaborate with other development partners on human capital development to identify synergies, best practices, co-financing, increase visibility of Bank support and avoid duplication of investments. Represent the Bank in sector development partner coordination for a and where possible, seek to chair the technical working groups occasionally.
• Maintain close engagement and collaboration with relevant government ministries at strategic levels, participate in policy dialogue and key processes such as review of country and sector strategies.
• Represent the Bank at technical meetings and key events on human capital development.
• Lead in identifying, recruiting and managing consultants as appropriate.
• Undertake any other duties as may be assigned by the Manager AHHD1/Director General RDGE.

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience and knowledge):

• Hold at least a master’s degree in education/ economics/ social work/ business economics/ business administration/ development studies or its equivalent in a related field;
• Extensive experience in technical vocational and higher education and skills development;
• Have a minimum of five (5) years relevant professional experience in vocational education and skills development, program/project design and management, with specific expertise in implementation and management of donor-funded projects in infrastructure development for the education and skills development;
• Previous experience working in multilateral financial institutions or similar large organizations and performing such roles as project preparing, appraising, supervising or implementing donor-funded projects;
• Proven planning and organizational skills, with the ability to think strategically and rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendations;
• In-depth knowledge of job-related social, economic and environmental development issues in the African region;
• Proven ability to interact competently with Government and donor agencies on issues relating to aid coordination;
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage;
• Ability to work in a team and work in a multicultural environment;
• Ability to work effectively in partnership with clients and seek feedback to improve work processes;
• Communicate verbally and write effectively in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language; and
• Competence in using standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.