Managing Director – Office of Development Effectiveness
July 2024
About IFAD
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
Organizational Setting
In an effort to enhance its support to rural people to overcome poverty and food insecurity and to foster food system transformation, IFAD is establishing the Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE). This new office will be responsible for managing, measuring, and facilitating the effectiveness of IFAD operations through a focus on results, including in mainstreaming areas. ODE will be responsible for (i) designing operational policies and procedures to enhance the quality of design and delivery of IFAD’s supported operations to drive the kinds of productive, inclusive, sustainable and resilient transformative results that can be scaled to make significant impacts in eliminating global rural hunger and poverty; (ii) assessing the quality of IFAD-financed sovereign and non-sovereign operations, grants, country strategies and operational strategies and policies in terms of overall quality at design and the compliance to countries’ and IFAD’s policies and commitments; (iii) assessing the impact of IFAD’s operations, and monitoring and reporting on the performance of IFAD’s portfolio, including mainstreaming issues; (iv) managing the allocation of IFAD’s resources throughout
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.
each replenishment cycle; (v) being a knowledge broker by consolidating lessons learnt, identifying and enhancing knowledge, and innovative practices and facilitating their use within the organization; (vi) contributing to positioning IFAD in the global development agenda, particularly the one related to SDG2 and food system transformation; Provides expert guidance on IFAD’s strategic direction and contributes to corporate and operational policy discussions.
The Office works in close coordination with other departments, offices and divisions in IFAD and the Managing Director, works under the direct supervision of the Vice President of IFAD.
*The structure of IFAD is currently undergoing a recalibration process. The definite set-up of the Office of Development Effectiveness is being finalized and is subject to confirmation of institutional process requirements, which will be confirmed during the recruitment process.
The Role
Managing Director - Office of Development Effectiveness
Department:
Office of the President and Vice-President
Division:
Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE)
Salary:
D-2 grade based on the UN salary scale. Salary will be adjusted by location and experience.
Benefits:
Excellent benefit package including relocation, health insurance and education allowances. More information can be found on our website.
Location: Rome, Italy.
This is a high-level strategic position, thus the need to be based in Rome with limited flexibility on remote work. Hybrid working requires two days minimum in the duty station office.
Frequent travel given there will be global engagement, with increased travel percentage early in the role.
Job Summary
The Managing Director is responsible for managing an IFAD office and serves on IFAD’s senior management team. The main focus of the Managing Director is on strategic leadership of IFAD development effectiveness, innovation and management. The incumbent is responsible for the management and delivery of the Office’s programme of work within an allocated budget.
The Managing Director, manages and directs the human, financial and material resources of ODE and holds responsibility over the effective and efficient delivery of its programme. The incumbent provides authoritative and technical advice to senior management on the Fund’s Strategic Framework, strategic planning, policy, and office programme and operational management. Managing Directors, provide inputs and advice based on ODE products at the request of the President, Vice President and senior management.
The Managing Director is a member of the IFAD Executive Management Team with a corporate responsibility for the Fund.
Key Functions and Results
1. Strategic Programme Direction and IFAD’s Mission
The Managing Director leads the work of IFAD’s Office of Development Effectiveness by providing strategic leadership and guidance to staff on IFAD’s mandate. The incumbent also guides the direction in the development and interpretation of major policies, regulations and rules, and systems that govern the work of the office and ensure they support office goals and objectives within the overall Fund mandates and strategies. The Managing Director also serves as the chief Quality assurer for the IFAD programmes and projects, as well as a trusted business/ programme advisor with a significant role in authoritative policy advice within the Fund at the senior management level as well as in policy dialogue in their representational activities.
2. Organizational Change and Policy Strategy
The Managing Director acts as a champion for change, promoting and endorsing solutions to intractable challenges and has an entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry. They encourage evidence-based knowledge generation and its dissemination in all activities and contribute to resource mobilization activities and to evidencebased policy making at the international, national, and local level to advocate for the extreme poor and food insecure in rural areas. The incumbent advocates the Organization’s policy positions and expands the Organization’s external visibility and positioning. In order to promote organizational change and keep abreast of technology advancement they set clear priorities for the Office and lead by example.
3. Corporate Development and Results Based Management
The Managing Director leads and contributes to the corporate development effectiveness agenda and plans, monitors and leads IFAD’s collaboration with its institutional partners and member countries on resource mobilization and corporate partnerships, in accordance with agreed priorities, approved programme/ budgets, strategic objectives and corporate policies. They promote the development of rigorous evaluations, reviews, analysis, and lessons to inform IFAD’s lending and non-lending portfolio (including country programme strategies, policy engagement initiatives, etc.), particularly on issues surrounding food security, agriculture, and rural development. The incumbent oversees the development and implementation of the annual programme and budget of the Office in the context of IFAD’s Strategic Framework and IFAD Replenishment Commitments and provides guidance in the assessment and reporting of corporate impacts of IFAD’s funded projects.
4. Representation and External Relations
The Managing Director develops and maintains political and business relationships with key donor Member States and strong collaboration with strategic partner organisations, including borrowers, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, UN agencies, funds and programmes, international financial institutions (IFIs), non-governmental organizations and academic institutions, which among other partnership priorities, can help drive mobilisation of resources from the financial sector and private sector as desirable. Managing Director serve as designated representative of the Fund in official United Nations committees and networks, and in IFls, multilateral and bilateral meetings, symposia, fora and Global conferences upon request of the President, and build organizational networks with peers in major private, public and international institutions.
Key Functions and Results
5. Management of Resources
The Managing Director is responsible for ensuring the transparent, equitable, and efficient management of IFAD’s resources, including human, financial, and material resources. This includes managing staff through workforce planning, recruitment, performance management, and career development. They are also responsible for managing the division’s budget, ensuring accountability and fiduciary integrity. Additionally, they are responsible for managing material resources and promoting knowledge and content management to achieve innovative outcomes and cost-effective processes. The Managing Director also leverages information technology to improve business results, reporting processes, and client services.
Given that the Office of Development Effectiveness is a new Office in IFAD’s corporate structure, the Managing Director is responsible for leading the establishment of the office, including fine-tuning of roles and responsibilities and the definition of specific lines of collaboration to ensure smooth vertical and horizontal collaboration with other IFAD departments and offices to foster smooth operational and knowledge sharing.
In parallel with the establishment of the Office, the Managing Director is responsible for providing intellectual leadership and an authoritative contribution to the integration of knowledge and innovation into IFAD’s operations and overall business model.
The key responsibilities for the Managing Director, include:
• Leading the design of operational policies and procedures and assessing the quality of design of IFAD’s supported operations and policies for improved development results and sustainability of benefits. This includes leading on:
– Operational policies and procedures for country strategies and operations
– Compliance of key operational building-blocks, such as procurement and Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) procedures, and corporate commitments
• Managing operational resources in line of corporate policies and priorities as well as tracking results and performance including mainstreaming priorities. This includes overseeing:
– Management of the Performance-Based Allocation System (PBAS) and Borrowed Resource Access Mechanism (BRAM)
– The system for monitoring and reporting on the delivery of the programme of loans and grants
– Management of the self-evaluation architecture, corporate reporting on operational performance and results and efforts for greater transparency
– Coordination of the development of corporate ICT systems and databases for operations
– Management of external reporting with the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) and other external partners
• Advising and overseeing the results tracking system, facilitating the incorporation of knowledge and innovative practices into the operations, and the assessment of the impact of IFAD’s supported operations. This includes overseeing:
– Monitoring and evaluation and conducting impact assessments to understand whether changes in the lives of project participants can be attributed to the project itself and report on the overall impact of IFAD’s portfolio
– Provision of evidence-based support and strategic guidance on innovations that can enhance operations and institutional function
– Brokering the knowledge, innovation, and lessons learnt and facilitating the incorporation of knowledge management from country strategies and first stages of design through implementation and assessment.
– Liaison points for strategic planning and technical content for food system transformation and other global fora
• The Managing Director leads the secretariat of the arms-length analytic and technical reviews of the design quality at entry of country strategies and operations and acts a secretary of the Operational Strategy and Policy Guidance Committee.
Key Parameters
Senior Leadership
This role will (most likely, not confirmed) manage 4-5 line reports, each with significant departmental responsibilities. Thus, high level, institutional senior leadership experience is a requirement. The individual will be skilled in developing internal business partnerships reducing silos within the departments. They will be an empowering leader, able to build and develop high performing teams with a high degree of emotional intelligence. They will also be able to provide external leadership capacity in representation, stakeholder engagement and thought leadership.
Operational Experience and Finance
Given this is a programmatic position, it requires strong operational and programme management experience at division-level, combined with substantial financial knowledge (blended finance). The agricultural or rural development background is not mandatory as it can be learnt (but is desirable)but a sound knowledge of the broader development environment is important. The individual will be well versed in financial and programmatic monitoring and evaluation, with an agency similar in scale of funds marshalled.
Strategic Guidance
Ability to provide expert guidance on IFAD’s strategic direction with development, including being able to remain at the cutting edge of development practice. The ability to contribute to corporate and operational policy discussions.
Programming Experience
We are looking for someone who has the practical experience of translating policies in the field, can understand delivery of programmes & projects, and understands practical issues and how to improve policies.
Mission Driven
The incumbent will need to be highly motivated and curious, with a more corporate approach, analytical and strategic thinking skills to analyse data from a variety of sources, able to connect the dots and have an impact on the field. Not an “office bureaucrat”.
Ideal Organisations
The fact that IFAD is a UN agency financial institution and that the role requires substantive relevant experience at an international institutional level, it seems logical to focus our search on Multilateral Development Banks and Organisations, International Financial Institutions, Bilateral Organisations, UN agencies and other Development Finance related Organisations and Funds.
Key Performance Indicators
Managing Directors establish IFAD’s priorities and provide leadership to division-level programme and operational management activities, ensuring a results-based approach to meeting assigned goals and objectives.
Leadership activities include the optimal utilization of human, financial, technology, and material resources for greater efficiency and effectiveness.
The Managing Director, ODE is responsible for IFAD’s operational effectiveness, providing strategic leadership and assisting the President and Vice President.
The Managing Director works with the executive management team to establish operational goals and strategies, overseeing their implementation to ensure IFAD’s sustainability in delivering quality assessments in support of IFAD-funded programmes and projects.
Working Relationships
Managing Directors are responsible for building and maintaining strong working relationships both within and outside of IFAD. Internally, they provide strategic advice to the President and Vice-President and collaborate with other departments, offices and divisions to ensure effective coordination of programme planning and activities. Externally, they develop strategic partnerships with a range of institutions, including borrowers, development agencies, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations, for the purpose of programme
cooperation, knowledge sharing, policy dialogue, and resource mobilization. Managing Directors also represent IFAD in official committees, meetings, and conferences, and build organizational networks with peers in major private, public, and international financial institutions.
As a member of IFAD’s senior management, the Managing Director, supports the President and Vice President in providing vision and oversight, as well as reporting to governing bodies.
How to Apply
All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.
The document should be saved in PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Pat-Jones-CV-0724-IFAD or Pat-JonesCoverLetter-0724-IFAD.
After being assessed by OxfordHR candidates will be asked to register and apply via the IFAD portal. Applications will not be considered otherwise. Candidates who have previously applied to the role of Chief Economist will not be considered for this role. Candidates will not hear back from Oxford HR on the outcome of their application and will only hear from IFAD if they are taken forward for interview.
Timeline
Closing Date: 5th August 2024
First stage interviews: TBD
Final interviews: TBD
Selection Process
All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.
Equality Statement
Equality and diversity are at the core of IFAD’s values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.
Queries
If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at jsawyer@oxfordhr. com in the first instance.
About Oxford HR
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Oxford HR is a global leadership consultancy dedicated to searching for and supporting remarkable leaders and teams in purpose-led organisations.
We understand the nuances of purpose-led leadership because we’ve worked in organisations across the breadth of the sector ourselves. We’ve also worked with such organisations since 1995; so we appreciate just what benefits impactful people can bring.