Short Term Staff – Unit Assistant needed at African Development Bank

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s High 5s priorities of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The Complex objectives are (i) to develop policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department

• The Agricultural Finance and Rural Development Department works closely with the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department and the Regional Directorates to provide support for the delivery of Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025.

The Agricultural Finance and Rural Development Department focuses on delivery of the following:

• Design, finance and promote Public-Private Partnerships and private sector-led Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ);
• Finance, scale and catalyze capital flows of commercial lending and private investment into agribusinesses;
• Accelerate agriculture transformation through private sector actors;
• Design and support disaster risk financing structures to mitigate the financial impact of natural disasters and climate-related events on vulnerable populations in Africa through private sector led and enabled insurance and hedging mechanisms;
• Support Agri-small medium enterprise (SME) financing through catalytic mechanisms including but not limited to concessional and blend financing;
• Catalyze and support capital flows to scale SMEs by establishing risk sharing facilities and other products.
• The Department has a front office and is structured into two Divisions: (i) Agriculture and Rural Finance Division; and (ii) Rural Infrastructure Development Division. The Front Office of the Director hosts key initiatives that aim to advance access to innovative financing for Agri-SMEs including the use of insurance.

The Position

• The Short-Term Staff – Unit Assistant will support and ensure the smooth flow of work in the Special initiatives within the front office of the AHFR Director with respect to administrative activities of the unit and its teams.

Specifically, the purpose of the job are as follows :

• To provide administrative support to the Special Initiatives and their respective teams with direct though the direct report is the Coordinator of the Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) Programme;
• To relieve Teams of details of administration through duties which are connected with their jobs;
• To support the execution of required tasks, processes and activities in the team thus ensuring that management decisions are effectively carried out within the department;
• To serve as an intermediary between the teams and external audiences.

Key Functions
Under the Supervision of the Lead Agri-SMEs and Innovative Finance, the Unit Assistant will perform the following:
Workflow Management:

• Undertake such transactional tasks and processes that support the smooth running of the work of the Teams;
• Provide support and follow up on routine administrative correspondence and processes;
• Undertake correspondence and tasks in accordance with the Bank’s accepted formats and check on probable typographical errors, presentation, completeness and procedural accuracy of all documents submitted to the Manager / Team Leader for clearance, approval or signature;
• Review and prioritize important correspondence and tasks for execution;
• Follow-up and ensure that tasks are completed with dispatch and within given deadlines.

Communication and Liaison:

• Receive visitors and telephone calls with tact and discretion, and act according to the nature and urgency of each, including redirecting to the concerned division members or action parties as appropriate;
• Facilitate the arrangements for meetings with respect to their timings and booking of venue;
• Provide support to the Manager / Team for appointments with official visitors and/or staff members;
• Follow up on work deadlines for routine and assigned tasks;
• Schedule meetings for the Manager / Team, according to schedules and Agenda for the week;
• Arrange time and venue for meetings, and provide support required for their success;
• Write meeting reports/minutes.

Record Keeping and Documentation:

• Maintain a filing system in both hard and soft copies to meet the needs of the ADRiFi Team;
• Keep a weekly calendar of activities that shows all meetings to be attended by the Manager / Team Leader as well as by other staff members. It also includes all external visits to the Department;
• Obtain briefing and background materials for meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to be attended by the team’s staff, checking their availability and ensuring they have the appropriate briefing files and documents;
• Maintain Contact address / Mailing directory of partners working with the Division / Team.

Office Administration:

• Make travel arrangements for the manager / Team including tickets, hotel reservation, etc.
• Support the preparation of presentations as required.
• Photocopy and send electronic communication when the need arises.
• Undertake any other related tasks as assigned by the Manager / Team Leader.

Competencies:
Skills, Experience and Knowledge:

• Hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent in Business Management, Commerce, Administration or related discipline or a related field; 
• Have a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in administrative and secretarial roles, in an office of international Organizations, Development Banks or similar institutions;
• Proof of citizenship or evidence of permanent residency or work authorization in the proposed country of employment;
• Proficiency in the use of standard equipment (computer, fax, scanner, photocopies etc.);
• Demonstrable commitment to delivering excellent customer service focused reception and administration service;
• Ability to manage simultaneous and shifting demands, priorities and tight deadlines;
• Able to work under pressure in the dynamic setting of an international and multicultural setting, handling speedily and efficiently internal and external requests;
• Good written and oral skills in French or English with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access). Knowledge of SAP is an added advantage.