Chief Quality Officer, SNDR3

African Development Bank

The African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent.

There are 81 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 (2024 – 2033) 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.

The Bank is seeking to build a management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

The Senior Vice-Presidency

The Senior Vice-Presidency is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.

The Senior Vice-Presidency will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions.

The Senior Vice-Presidency will lead senior management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of keyboard of Directors and Management decisions.

The Department for Development Impact and Results

Located within the Senior Vice-Presidency Complex, the Department for Development Impact and Results is at the centre of Bank's efforts to improve operational and corporate performance, accelerate the pace of delivery and increase impact on development.

As part of its mandate, it also works to strengthen the Bank's external and internal accountability for quality and results and promotes a performance-driven culture across the organization.

The Quality Assurance and Learning Division

The Quality Assurance and Learning Division is the operations support unit of the African Development Bank (AfDB) that focuses on enhancing and mainstreaming the quality and results focus of the Bank's strategies and operations.

More specifically, the Division (i) sets quality standards for the Bank's interventions; (ii) develops and strengthens tools and processes throughout the operation cycle; and (iii) enhances staff capacities and facilitating operations related knowledge.

The Position

The main objectives of the position are to:

• Support the Bank's strong focus on the quality of its operations and therefore their development impact, through quality assurance and enhancement activities.
• Design, develop and improve on new and existing quality assurance tools and quality management systems in the Bank.
• Build and disseminate operations related knowledge, including on the effective use of quality assurance tools, and on the drivers of quality and results in Bank operations.

Key Functions

Under the overall supervision of the Division Manager, Quality Assurance and Learning, the Chief Quality Officer will be responsible for:

• Quality Assurance and Enhancement. Conducting and coordinating quality assurance of Bank sovereign operations and country strategies; and in specific cases providing or coordinating proactive support to task teams to enhance quality.
• Tools and Guidelines. Leading or contributing to periodic review and update of quality assurance tools and guidance, including those related to project quality-at-entry, implementation and completion.
• Staff learning and coaching. Spearhead staff development activities, including in the areas of quality assurance and results-based management. This includes development of curricula and training materials on various aspects of Bank operations, facilitation of workshops and learning events for Bank staff and Management.
• Knowledge management and communication. Lead key knowledge dissemination and communication activities, including those based on analytical work produced by the division and sharing of good practices.
• Special assignments. Lead on or contribute to specific studies, analytical work, and events related to operations quality, as required.
• Relationship management. Maintain and build effective working relationships with staff of regional and sector departments, including country offices, as well as key technical support departments to ensure Bank-wide ownership/internalization and effective application of quality assurance tools. Work closely with other departments in charge of staff training and development.

Competencies

The ideal candidate should possess the following competencies:

• Hold at least a master's degree in business administration, economics, development studies or related disciplines.
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant professional experience in project preparation and implementation and/or portfolio management in multilateral development institutions.
• Strong knowledge and practical experience of operations policies, procedures, quality management systems and review processes of multilateral development banks or other development agencies.
• Familiarity with and practical experience of monitoring, evaluation, results and learning approaches in the international development context. Experience in data analytics would be an asset.
• Experience as a trainer, facilitator or instructor for workshops and learning events.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with an established track record in achieving results.
• Strong communication skills, with ability to tailor written and verbal communication for a range of audiences.
• Strong team leadership, project management and coaching skills.
• Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams; proven innovation, creativity and client orientation.
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Strong behavioural competencies, especially in line with the key performance drivers below:
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Client Orientation
  • Team Working and Relations
  • Innovation and Creativity
  • Operational effectiveness
  • Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other.
  • Competence in the use of standard MS office applications (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint) and preferably SAP.

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