Operations Officer - Results Measurement Specialist

International Finance Corporation - Johannesburg, South Africa (South Africa)

Job Description

Background / General description

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. It is a global investor and advisor committed to promoting projects in its developing member countries that are economically beneficial, financially and commercially sound, and environmentally and socially sustainable. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses in the developing world.

Achieving positive development results is at the core of IFC’s mission. The Corporation has undertaken a range of initiatives as a standard-setter in development results measurement. These include the Development Outcome Tracking System (DOTS) launched in 2005 to monitor development results; and more recently, the IFC Development Goals (IDGs), a set of targets designed to measure clients’ increased outreach in priority areas as a result of IFC support. The IFC Africa region is now recruiting a Results Measurement Officer to assist in taking the results agenda forward in the region overall and specifically in Sustainable Business Advisory (SBA) Business Line.

The Results Measurement Team in Africa works with operational staff and managers to help tell the story of IFC's impact. The team is engaged with operational staff on project documentation through standard monitoring efforts and innovative evaluations. It also serves to provide critical information for donor relations and to other external stakeholders. The Results Measurement Team is tasked with providing critical intelligence to improve project operations and to disseminate knowledge throughout the region and across the Results Measurement Network globally.
IFC works with a range of clients in the agribusiness, infrastructure, oil, gas, mining, services and manufacturing sector. IFC’s Sustainable Business Advisory (SBA) team works with companies to adopt responsible business practices. Core to the success of SBA’s program is the design and delivery of high quality programs that have a positive impact on improving the sustainability of companies and which create opportunities for people to escape poverty.
The position is based in Johannesburg, with a double reporting line to 1) the team leader of the Regional Results Measurement team, and 2) the SBA Regional Business Line Manager.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Results Measurement Officer will allocate 50% of his/her time to the knowledge management activities of the core Results Measurement team and 50% specifically to the SBA tasks. S/he will build and maintain a deep understanding of the project program life cycle and provide the relevant information to key decision makers in real time.
For the Regional Results Measurement team, responsibilities include:
• Development and delivery of the regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E )team knowledge management Knowledge Management (KM) strategy including assistance to other team members in the preparation of specific KM deliverables such as lessons learned from project completion reports and evaluations.
• Overall support to the Results Measurement Team during specific life cycle periods (i.e. Project Supervision Reports, as well as ad hoc support for strategic programs on Project Completion Reports.
• Lead innovative evaluations and test other innovative ideas, for example Country-based M&E frameworks.
• Coordinate with the Regional Communication team preparation and application of knowledge collection, sharing, and dissemination, including iCollaborate, IFC intranet, social networks, blogs, learning events, webcasts, SmartLessons and Brown Bag Lunches.
For the SBA team, responsibilities include:
• Reviewing/cleaning up the SBA current programs and indicators with a view to aligning with key strategic objectives.
• Going forward, supporting the SBA team in designing high quality programs which have an impact on improving the sustainability of companies and improve people's lives. Specifically, that involves working with operational teams on developing a new generation of SBA projects with a specific focus on key strategic sectors.
• Developing and delivering the SBA Africa knowledge management strategy across the region.
• Leading the assessment of SBA programmatic impact via evaluations or internal validations missions.
• Supporting SBA M&E officer in training staff in project design, reporting, monitoring and evaluation.
• Coordinating SBA IFC Development Goals contribution.
• Conducting research into SBA intervention opportunities in the functional business areas, developing delivery models that respond to IFC’s mission in consonance with SBA.
The Results Measurement Officer will coordinate these tasks with the SBA Results Measurement Officer and the regional communication team.

Selection Criteria

Ideal candidate should have a Masters level degree in Business Administration, Development, Economics or related areas and should meet following selection criteria:
Experience:
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in Project development and management.
• At least five years of global M&E experience.
• In-depth knowledge of evaluations including actual execution and leading field evaluation teams.
• Knowledge of results measurement methods, internal and external policies and procedures, and IFC’s corporate environment (a plus); problem solving; production and interpretation of strategic information; specialized subject matter expertise and knowledge.
• Ability to conduct operational reviews and extract lessons to feed into further design of private sector initiatives in the World Bank Group.
• Ability to provide a clear explanation of expectations on business outcomes and development results if appropriate, and how/why they are important to individual performance and IFC success.
• Ability to apply critical thinking, understanding of IFC‘s vision, and other relevant business variables to assess and recommend opportunities.
• Excellent writing and communication skills and ability to produce reports both for specific management and executive audiences.
• Excellent communication skills in English, with the ability to present ideas and information clearly and concisely. Candidates with French or Portuguese language skills have a competitive advantage.
• Knowledge Management skills to collate, share and disseminate within an organizational context; expertise and experience to proactively innovate and challenge the status quo.
• Strong team player with excellent interpersonal and relationship management skills to develop and maintain effective relations across the World Bank Group and achieve team objectives.
• Excellent organizational and multitasking skills with a sense of initiative and responsibility.
• Results and Client oriented, with the ability to work with minimum supervision in a multi-cultural, highly demanding environment, to meet client needs and work successfully with a large array of stakeholder across business lines and beyond.
• Experience providing substantial contribution to thematic events and knowledge sharing networks.

Company Description

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.