Research Assistant, BDEV2 - African Development Bank

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).  The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.

THE COMPLEX:

The Board of Directors provides oversight and strategic direction to the African Development Bank Group. It is composed of Executive Directors who are representatives of the African Development Bank member countries. Specifically the Board is responsible for the conduct of the general operations of the Bank, and carries out the following functions: (1) determine the general structure of the Bank’s services; (2) approve the financing policy and take decisions concerning loans, guarantees, equity investments and fund loans by the Bank; (3) determine the interest rates of loans and guarantee commissions; (4) approve the Bank’s operations program and administrative budget; (5) prepare the work of the Board of Governors ; and (6) submit accounts and annual reports, as well as the administrative budgets for the approval of the Board of Governors. The Board does its work through a series of permanent Committees that review and discuss policy and program documents and make appropriate recommendations to the whole Board. Independent Development Evaluation Department (BDEV); Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (BCRM); Secretariat to the Sanctions Appeals Board (BSAB); Administrative Tribunal (BATR) report to the Board.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT:

The overarching mission of the African Development Bank’s Independent Development Evaluation is to enhance the development effectiveness of the Bank in its regional member countries through independent and influential evaluations, oversight over self-evaluation processes and products, and proactive engagement in evaluation partnerships and knowledge-sharing activities. The core mandate of the Independent Development Evaluation Department is to conduct independent evaluation studies, provide relevant lessons, develop and harmonize standards and practices, support evaluation capacity development together with partner agencies and attest to the validity of both processes and the results of African Development Bank’s self-evaluation activities. The Independent Development Evaluation Department also collaborates and exchanges information with bilateral and multilateral development agencies’ evaluation departments, and undertakes joint evaluation of co-financed projects and programs.

The Independent Development Evaluation Department has three divisions: the Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration Evaluations Division (BDEV.1), the Agriculture, Human Development, Governance, Corporate and Country Evaluations Division (BDEV.2) and the Knowledge Management Outreach and Capacity Development Division (BDEV.3). The Divisions 1 and 2 focus on undertaking evaluations whilst the Division 3 on Knowledge Management Outreach and Capacity Development.

The BDEV.2 division is primarily responsible for evaluations related to country programs and strategies, institutional processes and reforms, as well as interventions related to the Bank's two Top priorities of "Feeding Africa" and " Improve the quality of life of African people "and the governance, out of the Top 5.

THE POSITION:

BDEV conducts evaluation studies of the policies and operations of the African Development Bank. The main objective of the Research Assistant’s position is to provide support for these studies, normally under the day-to-day supervision of a Principal Evaluator.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Task Manager, the Research Assistant identifies sources of relevant data and information, compiles, analyses and presents this information for internal use - for the preparation of evaluation background documents and final summary reports, presentations, and dissemination products.

The incumbent undertakes the following specific duties:

1. Identifying and accessing possible sources of existing information relevant to the subject of study (normally Bank Group policies, projects and programmes) and extracting the information;
2. Assisting in the preparation of evaluation missions conducted by professional staff and/or consultants and participating on missions as required;
3. Providing logistical support to the BDEV team during evaluation conferences and workshops both within and outside of the Headquarters;
4. Identifying and contacting internal and external sources and other stakeholders to seek required information.
5. Consolidating, categorizing and maintaining background information and records on relevant issues, developing related databases and information systems and updating them accordingly;
6. Reporting on developments within the work programme; and
7. Performing other duties as may arise.

Selection Criteria

1. Holds at least a Bachelor field (such as economics, development studies, political science, international relations, business administration, policy analysis, statistics, or other related field).
2. At least five (5) years of experience working in development organizations and/or in research institutions in areas related to data analysis.
3. Experience working in independent evaluation function.
4. Operational effectiveness.
5. Problem-solving.
6. Demonstrates professional expertise.
7. Client orientation.
8. Team working and relationship management.
9. Knowledge of independent evaluation principles, standards and procedures.
10. Knowledge in data analysis techniques and tools.
11. Knowledge of design, implementation, management and monitoring of policies, programmes and projects.
12. Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other.
13. Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications and preferably SAP.
14. Competence in the use of quantitative / qualitative analysis tools (SPSS, STATA, Atlas.ti, nvivo, for example).