World Bank recruis 01 Principal Upstream Officer

World Bank recruis 01 Principal Upstream Officer – Agribusiness

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities where they are needed most. Visit www.ifc.org.

IFC has embarked on an ambitious new growth strategy (IFC 3.0) to stimulate more investment activity, especially in Low Income Countries (LICs) and Fragile and Conflict affected Situations (FCS). This strategy calls for generating our own opportunities by proactively working “Upstream” to create, deepen, and expand markets and to imagine, design and implement investment projects. It requires taking a systematic approach to understanding the regulatory and sector bottlenecks that prevent the flow of private capital into productive investment in our member countries, and addressing these bottlenecks through World Bank Group engagement on policy reforms and programmatic interventions at the country and sector level. It also requires capacity to leverage WBG programs and projects to develop our own proactive sector interventions and to imagine and design projects even in the absence of reforms.

IFC is seeking a Principal Investment Officer with deep expertise in early stage project development in the Agribusiness sector (experience in the development of agricultural value chains for both crops and livestock; agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation, warehousing and logistics; and public and private sectors would be an added advantage). The selected candidate will coordinate a team of investment and operations officers focused on addressing the shortage of investment-ready/bankable projects by providing development capital and mobilizing IFC expertise to develop high-quality Upstream pipeline in the Agribusiness sector under the supervision of the Regional Upstream Lead for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for Sub-Saharan Africa. S/he will also support policy work and other interventions across the World Bank Group to prioritize various initiatives and to maximize the impact of Upstream efforts. Please visit our website for more information on IFC’s work in Agribusiness and Forestry.

Role & Responsibilities

The role and responsibilities of the position will include but not be limited to:

Business Responsibility

Contribute to the formulation, development, dissemination and monitoring of IFC’s Upstream Strategy, in coordination with the Regional Upstream Lead for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for Sub-Saharan Africa, to identify, assess, and prioritize new opportunities.
Identify and assess Upstream opportunities based on country and sector strategies and market creation potential.Lead and oversee team to develop feasibility studies and implementation plans for Upstream projects that lead to IFC investments.Support Investment Officers in structuring, processing, documenting and managing early stage project development engagements.
Coordinate and harmonize conditions across projects regionally and advise Investment Officers and regional management on early stage project development in the region.
Work with regional leadership to ensure identified early stage project development engagements activities are properly staffed.
Lead the design and implement scalable solutions and platforms similar to “Scaling Solar” that can be replicated across markets.Spot game-changing trends, technologies and business models that can bring solutions to emerging markets.
Produce regular reports on the assigned Upstream portfolio including monitoring progress against project milestones and KPIs.
Conduct sector-specific data analysis and stress-testing of various operating models to help generate ideas for new projects, new products and platform businesses.
Work with the World Bank to identify and help implement sector and regulatory reforms that are needed to unlock opportunities for private investment.
Collaborate with stakeholders and form partnerships with staff across IFC and the World Bank Group, sponsors, clients and other external parties to enable delivery of Upstream projects.

Knowledge Capture and Management

Facilitate knowledge flow across IFC and the World Bank Group, and promote adoption of new approaches and best practices for Upstream activities and early stage project development.
Help build external recognition of IFC’s distinctive capabilities in early stage project development and working Upstream to catalyze greater flow of investment opportunities in the sector.

People and Resource Responsibility

Support the Regional Upstream Lead in staff recruitment, mentoring and skills development as needed.Support the creation of incentives to motivate and reward upstream activities.
Support in managing admin budget.

Selection Criteria

PhD or Master’s degree or equivalent professional qualification in Business, Finance, Economics, International Relations, Science, Engineering, or other relevant field.
At least 10 years of relevant experience in project development for a private sector project developer, including familiarity with project management, contract/deal negotiations (concessions, EPC and O&M contracts, etc.), and financial structuring.
Hands on experience producing feasibility studies, hands-on advisory and/or consulting functions and deep understanding of investments in emerging markets.
Deep understanding of financing constraints for projects, especially greenfield projects in the agribusiness sector in developing countries.
Genuine commitment to development and to the World Bank Group and IFC’s mission, strategy and values.Understanding of IFC’s strategic priorities and changing business model against the backdrop of IFC 3.0.
Capacity to innovate and challenge the status quo and a proven track record in new idea generation, business development, and creating projects/programs from scratch.
Strong understanding of the relevant sector and ability to link policy reforms, advisory interventions, investment, and mobilization to deliver solutions at a country level via the Cascade approach.
Experience engaging with private sector clients, local and national governments and other stakeholders to encourage pioneering business and market development.
Experience in project/program management, including executing against implementation plans with defined business development milestones.
Experience in monitoring and reporting on a portfolio of projects/programs/initiatives.Outstanding analytical and critical thinking skills; demonstrated ability to synthetize complex information and make concrete strategic and tactical recommendations.Excellent people skills, openness to feedback, new ideas, and ability to guide, and motivate others.
Strong written and verbal communications skills in English; French preferred.

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.

Closing Date: 5/11/2020 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC