EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT OPERATIONAL QUALITY AND CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Immeuble du HQ
Avenue Joseph Anoma
01 Boite Postale 1387 ABIDJAN 01
COTE D’IVOIRE”
Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery
- Title of the assignment : Operational quality and capacity building activities ;
- Brief description of the Assignment : The Objective of this assignment is to assist the RDVP Front Office to deliver tasks outlined in the Quality Assurance Implementation Plan of the Bank to 1) enhance operational quality, 2) support strengthening of performance culture, and 3) support the implementation of Bank-wide transformational reforms.
Department issuing the request : RDSA
Place of assignment : Abidjan
Duration of the assignment : 12 months with possibility of further renewal, based on satisfactory performance and relevant rules
Tentative Date of commencement : October 2020
Deadline for applications : Sept 16 2020 at 5:00 pm (Abidjan) local time
Applications to be submitted to : [email protected] with copy to [email protected]
Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to : [email protected]
CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT OPERATIONAL QUALITY AND CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES
Terms of Reference
Background :
The Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP) of the African Development Bank (the Bank) leads five Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery (RDIBD) Directorates, one in each region of Africa: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) and is staffed with the relevant sectoral functions and administrative capabilities for rapid delivery of services to client countries. The Regional Directorates provide overall strategic direction to Country Offices within the regions and are responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5s.
Context and Scope :
Following the roll out the AfDB’s Development and Business Delivery Model (DBDM) the Front Office of RDVP (RDSA) coordinates all aspects of planning and execution of RDVP’s activities to achieve lending targets and improve portfolio performance. The Front Office has engaged in shaping and modeling required performance standards for managing quality, risk, and sustainable development results in close collaboration with DGs and Country Managers, Sector and Ecosystem complexes and departments for continuous improvements.
The objectives of the DBDM are to better position the Bank for the accelerated implementation of its High 5s Strategy and its Ten-Year Strategy (2013-2022). This is accomplished by (i) moving the Bank closer to its clients to enhance delivery; (ii) reconfiguring the Bank’s HQ to support the regions to deliver better outcomes; (iii) strengthening the Bank’s performance culture to attract and retain talent; (iv) streamlining the Bank’s business processes to promote efficiency and effectiveness; and, (v) improving financial performance and increasing development impact.
The Bank carried out an assessment of operational quality assurance and discovered that while DBDM reforms have contributed to enhancing efficiency there is a need to strengthen existing reform mechanisms to achieve sustainable operational quality, results and development effectiveness. The Bank’s Independent Development Evaluation Department (BDEV) also conducted a comprehensive exercise to assess the impact of Bank-wide programmatic activities which culminated into the production of the Comprehensive Evaluation of Development Results Report.
Objectives of the Assignment :
The Objective of this assignment is to assist RDSA in delivering all tasks assigned to RDVP Complex in the Quality Assurance Implementation Plan of the Bank to 1) enhance operational quality, 2) support strengthening of performance culture, and 3) support the implementation of Bank-wide transformational reforms.
Duties and Responsibilities :
Under the general guidance of the Front Office Director and direct supervision of the designated Country Programme Coordinators (CPCs) for specific outputs, the consultant will undertake the following tasks :
- Coordinate from the Front Office reinforcement of the knowledge of operations staff through the Operations Academy- in particular:
- Facilitate the development of course content for Country Program Officers Accredited Pathway from 2020-2021.
- Facilitate the development of course content for Country Managers Accredited Pathway from 2020-2021.
- Engage with key stakeholders to produce guidance note on carrying out implementation capacity assessments (Q2 2021)
- Support interventions to strengthen implementation by assisting with the preparation of the Implementation Support Guidance Note in Q4 2020.
- Develop online activities to help embed the culture of quality results by supporting the preparation/update of CPPR Guidelines in Q4 2020.
- Support the organization and facilitation of the work program planning workshops between RDVP, sector complexes and ecosystem.
- As RDSA reports to the Vice President, RDVP, flexibility will be required to also undertake ad-hoc assignments as the need arises.
Expected Deliverables :
For the duration of this contract the consultant will be focused on the following :
- Support the development of course outlines and modules and outline of the Country Managers Accredited Pathway and the Country Program Officers Accredited Pathway
- Plan and coordinate the delivery on-line of operations-support training for Operations Assistants in Regional Offices
- Support the preparation of Implementation Support Guidance Note
- Support the preparation/update of CPPR Guidelines
- Support the preparation of guidance note on carrying out implementation capacity assessments
- Facilitate the organization of the regular Work Program Agreement planning workshops
Qualification :
- Hold at least a master’s degree in Social Sciences, International Development, Economics, Project Management or any other discipline that is relevant to the operations of the Bank ;
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in capacity development, training projects, programs delivery, business development and delivery, project or portfolio management, facilitation, managing and coordinating multi-cultural teams, managing budgets within large and complex institutional settings ;
- Working experience in both the private and public sectors with international development institutions, such as the UN and other multilateral institutions would be desirable ;
- Good knowledge and experience of AfDB Group operations and projects, with working experience at the Front Office of Operational Complexes reporting to Managers, Directors or Vice Presidents and experience consulting and liaising with internal Departments and Complexes would constitute a significant advantage ;
- Ability to collaborate with highly diverse Senior Management teams and responsive to needs of multiple stakeholders, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with strong record of working effectively across institutional boundaries ;
- Ability to make administrative/procedural decisions and judgements, with excellent technical and analytical skills and due consideration of inherent corporate wide risks ;
- Ability to investigate and analyze information and draw conclusions ;
- Ability to analyze and solve problems and produce high quality work on a variety of issues within very short deadlines ;
- Ability to provide strategic leadership advisory and drive results and execution ;
- High degree of professionalism, discretion, tact, integrity and maturity and sensitivity in dealing with internal and external clients is critical ;
- Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English. Working knowledge of French would be an advantage.
Duration and Reporting Requirement :
The assignment will commence at completion of the selection process and upon contract signing. The duration of the assignment will be 12 months with the possibility of further renewal, based on satisfactory performance and relevant rules. The consultancy will subject to a three-month probation period. The consultant will formally report to the Director RDSA and the designated CPCs for specific outputs.
Duty Station :
The consultant will deliver these tasks working from the RDVP Front Office based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. However, due to the prevailing situation, the consultant will work remotely from home until the situation is normalized.
Remuneration for the Assignment :
The Consultant will be paid a round trip ticket from the point of recruitment to Abidjan. No per diem and accommodation will be paid in Abidjan. The consultant will also be eligible for travel expenses (air ticket, hotel accommodation and per diem) while assigned on a Bank mission during the duration of the contract. Payment of honorarium (according to a scale based on years of experience) will be on a monthly basis after satisfactory execution of duties assigned to him/her.
Evaluation criteria :
| Nr. |
Criteria |
Weight |
| 1. |
General qualification and suitability for the task to be performed |
40 |
| 2. |
Similar experience in the area of expertise of the assignment |
40 |
| 3. |
Experience with the Bank and/or multilateral donors |
10 |
| 4. |
Language capacity |
5 |
| 5. |
Knowledge of the region |
5 |