Organizational SettingThe position advertised is co-terminus, i.e. subject to limited duration and funding. The successful candidate will be granted a co-terminus appointment strictly limited in duration to the funding of the specific project and/or assignment. Any extension, if applicable, will be contingent upon the availability of the same funding source, the continued existence of the position, and functional needs. Effective 1 January 2025, co-terminus appointments will also be subject to a maximum total duration of seven years, including contract extensions. This type of appointment does not carry any expectation, legal or otherwise, of conversion to any other type of appointment with IFAD, regardless of the length of service.The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.The Department for Country Operations (DCO) oversees the origination, design and management of IFAD investments, including sovereign and non-sovereign operations, as well as the design and implementation of non-lending activities within country programmes, including policy engagement and SSTC. DCO is the department that primarily interfaces with governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to deliver IFAD's programme of work and to provide oversight to ensure quality of the portfolio.DCO is led by an Associate Vice-President and is composed of five (5) regional divisions: Asia and the Pacific Division (APR), East and Southern Africa Division (ESA), Latin America and Caribbean Division (LAC), Near East, North Africa and Europe Division (NEN) and West and Central Africa Division (WCA), the Private Sector Operations Division (PSD), and two (2) units: the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Unit (SSTC) and the fragility unit (FRU).The Regional Division WCA is led by a Divisional Director, based in the IFAD Regional Office in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The Division leads on the design and delivery of IFAD country and regional programmes in WCA. The precise country coverage of the division varies across replenishment periods. Job RoleThe Programme Manager is an experienced professional with substantial programme management and leadership capabilities and strong ability to coordinate complex initiatives in the domains of rural and agricultural development. The incumbent brings IFAD's core values of integrity, transparency, and equity into the management of the SD3C Programme and coordination and coherence of current and future pillars of the 1Sahel Initiative. Her/his accountabilities/key results also include leading advocacy for, enhancement of, and coordination among IFAD co-funded national government programmes and regional programmes that improve the access of poor rural people to natural resources, agricultural technologies, financial services, markets, employment opportunities, and enterprise development support. The incumbent works to ensure that IFAD Country Directors and their teams are able to effectively implement and coordinate in the context of regional programmes, and that they can effectively promote capacity building of the rural poor to fully participate in relevant regional, national and local policies and programming processes.The Programme Manager has direct overall management of the SD3C Programme, managing the staff and resources of this programme supporting and coordinating in country work led by IFAD country teams and is responsible for leading the SD3C fundraising strategy. The incumbent also acts as the overall coordinating focal point for the 1Sahel Initiative. This includes leading and liaising with managers in OTD responsible for the daily management of AICRM and IGREENFIN to understand and track alignment of implementation across 1Sahel Initiative pillars, as well as any future support pillars designed to increase impact in the region. As the overall coordinator, the incumbent leads in oversight and ensuring coherence of the pillars with the goals of the overall 1Sahel Initiative objectives. The incumbent works closely with the WCA Regional Director, DCO and other relevant IFAD colleagues supporting other pillars of the 1Sahel Initiative to develop, document and disseminate procedures and processes that ensure that IFAD regional programmes like the 1Sahel Initiative are efficiently implemented and serve as catalyst for other similar regional or sub-regional programmes. The key results expected comprise six broad areas:Regional Programme StrategyProgramme Operational Delivery/ Regional Initiative CoordinationPartnership Building Resource Mobilization and donor relationsOperational leadership at projects / programme levelKnowledge management Key Functions and Results1. REGIONAL PROGRAMME STRATEGY: The Programme Manager leads strategic positioning and sub-regional strategy development for the Sahel. The incumbent is accountable for leading and managing the development and implementation of medium to longer-term sub-regional Sahel strategies for IFAD's collaboration with governments, other regional and supranational stakeholders, development partners and the UN regional and country teams for agricultural development and rural poverty reduction following the principle of ownership, alignment and harmonization. This entails, inter-alia: leading the analysis of the dynamics of agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in the region; developing relevant regional-specific strategies; and defining IFAD's value added in this context of strategy development. 2. PROGRAMME OPERATIONAL DELIVERY/ REGIONAL INITIATIVE COORDINATION: The Programme Manager manages IFAD's regional programme and related IFAD-funded projects within the Regional (Sahel) portfolio assigned by the WCA Regional Division Director. The incumbent ensures day-to-day management of the overall SD3C Programme and supporting IFAD country teams as appropriate, leads the design and supervision of the relevant regional programme as well as related loan and grant negotiations, all in accordance with IFAD's applicable policies. For this the incumbent will work with the Country Directors and their country teams to ensure smooth coordination and synergies with the anchor projects and the whole country portfolios. The incumbent oversees their budget preparation, management, and monitoring of expenditures, and synergy of actions in the field with the anchor projects, country portfolios, and between all relevant stakeholders and across country borders. The incumbent is also directly responsible for maintaining coordination with with the AICRM & IGREENFIN managers to monitor the overall 1Sahel programme delivery and ensure coherence and close alignment across the 1Sahel Initiative. The Programme Manager is accountable for analysing relevant information, assisting in the periodic monitoring and evaluation of results achieved and reporting on and dissemination of findings for the SD3C Programme and the broader 1Sahel Initiative follow-up actions. In this connection the incumbent contributes effectively to the IFAD organizational change agenda, with reference to issues related to IFAD's direct supervision and implementation support modalities particularly for regional and sub-regional programmes. The incumbent will chair the IFAd working level co-ordination committee and act as Secretary for the Director level steering committee.3. INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATION, AND PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT: The Programme Manager strengthens IFAD's presence at regional and/or country-level in the Sahel. The incumbent provides authorititative advice on strategic partnerships and catalyzes such partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction, including government and non-governmental institutions, bilateral and multilateral financing institutions, civil society organizations, research centres and the private sector. The incumbent enhances IFAD's relationship and collaboration with regional partners focusing on synergies and coordinated strategies with multilateral/bilateral donors and civil-society organizations involved in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction, particularly across the region or sub-regions. The incumbent represents IFAD on the relevant UN Regional fora and RBA co-ordination mechanisms, acting as the primary point of contact to transmit IFAD's decisions, and contributes to the coordination of regional operational activities for development and to international and national meetings/thematic groups meetings related to the Sahel region. The incumbent Sahel also leads on developing and implementing a SD3C fundraising strategy, co-ordinating with other RBAs to mobilise additional resources to complement ongoing regional activities in the Sahel. Given the significant profile of SD3C and the 1 Sahel among donors and IFAD and RBA Board members, The incumbent is responsible for ensuring strong external communications.4. CONTRIBUTION TO POLICY LEADERSHIP at project/programme level: The Programme Manager contributes to corporate level strategy on core IFAD policy positions within the assigned portfolio including corporate learning on regional programming under the leadership of, the Director Steering Committee . The incumbent maintains and promotes constructive dialogue on the development of pro-poor agricultural development and rural poverty reduction policies and in enabling the rural poor to advocate for institutional transformation. The incumbent regularly participates in relevant policy meetings and events of interest to IFAD's target groups and which involve the government, donors, and civil society, including NGOs, to render the policy dialogue agenda both credible and sustainable. The incumbent contributes to IFAD's policy intelligence with regular updates and information exchange on relevant policy discussions and ensure proper knowledge management is in place. Such policy dialogue focuses on seeking to link the realities on the ground and the voices of the poor with national policies and programmes.5. OFFICE MANAGEMENT: The Programme Manager supports the Director WCA, Head of the Multi-Country Office Dakar and country in managing the utilization of the allocated resources for SD3C. As such, the incumbent contributes to the management of human resources, contracting goods and services, and financial management of the SD3C Programme ' and supports budget preparation, management, and monitoring of expenditures for activities within her/his remit, The incumbent also leads in coordinating these areas for linked operations though close engagement with OTD for the remaining two pillars of the 1Sahel Initiative. Key Performance IndicatorsThe Programme Manager delivers technical and managerial leadership to the substantive development and execution of the assigned regional portfolio, including providing (i) day-to-day managerial direction to Senior staff (up to P-4 level), programme analysts and officers (up to P-3 level), country programme officers and assistants as well as administrative assistants from all fundings sources of the SD3C programme; (ii) strategic advice and counsel to OTD counterparts in relevant domains to ensure alignment (iii) effective representation with government counterparts, regional entitities, other programme collaborators, and donors and external partners interested or concerned by the Initiative of the Programme(s); and (iv) ability to anticipate and manage potential risks to the success of regional initiatives and programmes under her/his responsibility. Going beyond established procedures or models, S/his substantive contributions reflect new approaches that materially expand the range of services or programmes delivered at the regional and country-levels. Leading programme design and development activities reflect authoritative technical capacity in performing the Programme Manager role. Externally the impact on the overall IFAD regional and country programmes is significant in projecting the organization's role/capacity as a reliable partner with a qualitative edge at the national and regional levels.Assigned areas may include sub-regional clusters of countries or politically sensitive, high profile or highly complex countries as identified in the country classification matrix. Working RelationshipsCOMMUNICATIONS: The Programme Manager serves as the IFAD spokesperson for regional matters concerning SD3C and, in coordination with relevant OTD colleagues, for the 1Sahel Initiative more generally. In carrying out this role and when required, the incumbent draws on the advice and expertise of Country Directors involved in the operations, OTD teams leading implementation of other pillars of the 1Sahel Initiative, as well as IFAD's Communications Division (COM). The incumbent holds regular consultations with IFAD counterparts - line ministries and (inter)governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, UN Rome-Based Agencies and others, and the civil society - to enhance the effectiveness and impact of IFAD operations. The incumbent also seeks to improve coordination among IFAD, governments and key development partners with a view primarily to ensuring synergy and a common approach to emerging agricultural development and rural poverty reduction strategies, policies and investment programmes in the region. In close coordination with the IFAD Country Directors, the incumbent serves as IFAD's liaison with the authorities of specific anchor projects, and helps in addressing administrative and programme-related substantive issues, such as targeting and identifying needs for technical backstopping. The incumbent proactively works with relevant project management to ensure compliance with IFAD policies and overall orientation towards the achievement of results and impact. As the senior expert on the formulation and delivery of relevant projects and programmes under the SD3C Programme to be anchored within the WCA Sahelian country programmes, the Programme Manager's effectiveness as an advocate and trusted counterpart substantially affects IFAD's image as a reliable and creative partner.Thus, the incumbent serves as a senior technical leader and focal point for regional-level programme promotion for the Division. The incumbent also serves as the interlocutor for advising OTD management teams on alignment and coherence of the 1Sahel Initiative across pillars. Combination of credible authoritative capacity with independent responsibility for originating specific programme initiatives creates opportunities for maintaining and expanding new client relationships. The incumbent contributes to resolving complex issues with governments, regional partners and cooperating institutions and donors. Representation at the highest levels of the government is delegated only within the context of established programmes and policy guidance of the WCA Regional Division Director, and when appropriate the Country Directors. Job Profile RequirementsOrganizational Competencies:Level 2:Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains strategic partnerships internally and externallyCommunicating and negotiating - Acquires & uses a wide range of communication styles & skillsDemonstrating leadership - Leads by example; initiates and supports changeFocusing on clients - Contributes to a clientfocused cultureLearning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Challenges, innovates&contributes to learning cultureManaging performance and developing staff - Manages wider teams with greater impact on others and on the organizationManaging time, resources and information - Coordinates wider use of time, information and/or resourcesProblem-solving and decision-making - Solves complex problems and makes decisions that have wider corporate impactStrategic thinking and organizational development - Staff in management and/or strategic leadership rolesTeam working - Fosters a cohesive team environment Education:Education includes Advanced university degree from an accredited institution listed on https://whed.net/home.php in rural development, agriculture, economics, agricultural engineering, rural finance, development policy or related field is required (*).(*) Note: For internal candidates, this requirement will be assessed in line with the provisions set forth in IFAD's Human Resources Implementing Procedures.Experience:At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience in rural development, agriculture, economics, rural finance, development policy or other job-related fields and at least 4 years of programme management and leadership preferably including at country director level.Four (4) years in a multi-cultural organization or national organization providing support on a global scope.Working in international organizations, rural development/financial institutions or government services, preferably in area of implementation and supervision of rural development programmes.Knowledge of the countries in WCA area. Experience may include project design, development, implementation and evaluation.At least 2 years (of the total 10) experience in resource (human, financial and material) management in an international organization is an asset.Languages:Required: English and French (4 - Excellent)Desirable: Spanish or Arabic (3 - Good) Skills:Economic evaluation: Know-how relevant to specific role in Evaluation roles (e.g. Monitoring and managing evaluation processes and methodologies, carrying out Programme/Project evaluation, Impact evaluation, Corporate-level evaluation)IFAD partners: Knowledge of IFAD's partners' functioning and mandate , such as the public sector (e.g. governments and policy, institutions and system), non-state actors (NGOs, CSOs, Foundations, etc.) and private sector actorsAnalytical skills: Outstanding ability to analyse and synthesize qualitative and/or quantitative information from a variety of sources and filter out key insights and recommendationsRisk management (e.g. reputational): Identification and assessment of potential liabilities and risks in IFAD's activities, particularly vis-à-vis third parties; ability to handle risks via contingency and mitigation strategiesStakeholder management: Strong alignment capabilities and consultation skills, building on effective interactions and relationships with different stakeholders (e.g. for the co-creation of communication material with member states) and ability to build and maintain a strong network (e.g. with journalists, media outlets, etc.)Initiative and good judgment: High sense of proactive initiative-taking and good judgement (including on security matters)Integrity and ethics: Strong emphasis on acting with honesty, not tolerating unethical behaviour, demonstrating equity, impartiality and sensitivity in exercising authority and interacting with staff, and other stakeholders. Conduct must be guided by IFAD core values, the Code of conduct and a high sense of ethics.Problem solving: Strong systemic and structured thinking, ability to identify and dissect problems into components and formulate a comprehensive set of creative viable and sustainable solutions and strategiesVerbal communication: Clear, succinct and convincing verbal communication; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic languageWritten communication: Clear, succinct and convincing written communication in the language needed for specific role; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language (e.g. for drafting of position papers, briefings, etc.)Evidence-based policy: Know-how in the formulation of concrete and actionable policy recommendations based on hard evidence (going beyond simple data interpretation)Policy dialogue: Know-how in the representation of IFAD as a trusted and strategic partner, advocating and promoting IFAD's mandate and vision; effective consultations with IFAD counterparts - like ministries and governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, civil societyProject/Programme mgmt (incl. coordination, design, development): Know-how in Project design and evaluation. Other InformationIFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD. In accordance with IFAD's Human Resources Policy, the President can decide to assign them to any of the activities of the Fund. All International Professional staff members are required to be geographically mobile and positions in the professional category are subject to changes in location at any time in line with strategic priorities and reform initiatives in IFAD.IFAD is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic, social or political background, colour, nationality, religion, age, gender, disability, marital status, family size or sexual orientation in line with its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy (https://webapps.ifad.org/members/eb/134/docs/EB-2021-134-R-9.pdf) and the Policy to prevent and respond to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse (https://www.ifad.org/documents/38711624/42415556/SEA_e_web.pdf/85275c4d-8e3f-4df0-9ed8-cebaacfab128?t=1611326846000).Please be aware of fraudulent job offers. IFAD does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process. Official communication from IFAD will always come from e-mails ending in @ifad.orgIn accordance with IFAD's provisions, all new staff members will normally be placed at the first step in the grade level for which they have been selected. For information on IFAD's remuneration package, please visit IFAD's compensation and benefits page on our website (https://www.ifad.org/en/careers/compensation-and-benefits). Applicants are invited to use the ICSC compensation calculator to estimate the salary and benefit entitlements (https://commonsystem.org/cp/calc.asp).Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.The position advertised is co-terminus, i.e. subject to limited duration and funding. The successful candidate will be granted a co-terminus appointment strictly limited in duration to the funding of the specific project and/or assignment. Any extension, if applicable, will be contingent upon the availability of the same funding source, the continued existence of the position, and functional needs. Effective 1 January 2025, co-terminus appointments will also be subject to a maximum total duration of seven years, including contract extensions. This type of appointment does not carry any expectation, legal or otherwise, of conversion to any other type of appointment with IFAD, regardless of the length of service. 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