Country Director – Cairo, Egypt

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 Programme Management Department (PMD), under the leadership of an Associate Vice-President, is responsible for the overall programme of loans and grants of the Fund and is composed of five (5) regional divisions and the Operational Policy and Results Division (OPR). The five regional divisions are: Asia and the Pacific (APR), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), West and Central Africa (WCA),East and Southern Africa (ESA) Near East, North Africa and Europe (NEN) where this position is located.

Country Directors work under the strategic management, policy guidance, and direct supervision of the relevant Division Director. They also receive first-level operational support from the Country Director/Head of IFAD Multi-Country Office (CD/Head of MCO), or assigned Country Director at a senior level.

The Country Director is accountable for the IFAD core values of integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of the assigned portfolio. Accountabilities/key results also include advocating for and enhancing national government programmes that improve poor rural people’s access to natural resources, agricultural technologies, financial services, markets, employment opportunities and enterprise development.

The Country Director additionally promotes capacity building of key government counterparts and the rural poor in terms of the skills required for their participation in national and local policy and programming processes.

The Country Director plays an active role in engaging with the private sector and other local stakeholders.

1. COUNTRY STRATEGY MANAGEMENT: The Country Director leads strategic positioning and country strategy development. The incumbent is accountable for leading and managing the development and implementation of medium to longer-term strategies (COSOP) for IFAD’s collaboration with governments and other national stakeholders for agricultural development and rural poverty reduction following the principle of ownership, alignment and harmonization. This entails analysis of the dynamics of agricultural development and rural poverty reduction, the development of relevant country-specific strategies, and the definition of IFAD’s value added in this context.

2. COUNTRY PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT: The Country Director manages IFAD programme and related IFAD-funded projects within the portfolio assigned by the Division Director. The incumbent leads the design and supervision of the projects as well as loan and grant negotiations, all in accordance with IFAD’s applicable policies. The Country Director is accountable for analysing relevant information, assisting in the periodic monitoring and evaluation of results achieved and reporting on and disseminating findings. The incumbent contributes effectively to the IFAD organizational change agenda, with reference to issues related to IFAD’s direct supervision and implementation support modalities.

3. INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT: The Country Director ensures IFAD presence at country-level. The incumbent contributes to catalysing effective 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. Additionally, they enhance IFAD’s relationships and collaboration with in-country partners focusing on synergies and coordinated strategies with multilateral/bilateral donors and civil-society organizations involved in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction. The incumbent represents IFAD on the UN Country Team, acting as the primary point of contact for transmitting IFAD’s decisions, provides support in the coordination of operational activities for development, and contributes to all international and national/thematic groups meetings.

4. CONTRIBUTION TO POLICY LEADERSHIP: The Country Director contributes to corporate level strategy on core IFAD policy positions within the assigned portfolio, led by Division Directors. They maintain and promote 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. 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 Country Director supports the relevant CD/Head of MCO in managing the utilization of allocated resources. As such, the incumbent supports the management of human resources, contracting goods and services, and financial management. The Country Director also supports budget preparation, management, and monitoring of expenditures.

The Country Director provides technical and managerial leadership to the substantive development and execution of the assigned country programme(s), including providing:

• Day-to-day managerial direction to Programme Analysts and Officers (up to P-3 level), Country Programme Officers (CPOs), Country Programme Assistants (CPAs) and Administrative Assistants (AAs);
• Effective country presence and representation with government counterparts and other programme collaborators; and
• The ability to anticipate and manage potential risks to programme success.

COMMUNICATIONS: The Country Director serves as the IFAD spokesperson in the country concerned and, in carrying out this role and when required, draws on the advice and expertise of IFAD’s Communications  Division (COM). The Country Director holds regular consultations with IFAD counterparts – line ministries and governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, civil society organizations – to enhance the effectiveness and impact of IFAD operations. The Country Director also seeks to improve coordination among IFAD, the government 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. The incumbent serves as IFAD’s liaison with project authorities and helps address administrative and programme-related substantive issues, such as targeting and identifying needs for technical backstopping. The Country Director proactively works with project management to ensure compliance with IFAD policies and overall orientation towards the achievement of results and impact. As a senior expert on country programme formulation and delivery, the effectiveness of the Country Director as an advocate and trusted counterpart substantially affects IFAD’s image as a reliable and creative partner. 

The Country Director originates and manages new country-level projects or programmes in the assigned portfolio. Going beyond established procedures or models, their substantive contributions reflect new approaches that materially expand the range of services or programmes delivered at the country level. Programme design and development activities reflect authoritative technical capacity in performing the Head of Country Programme role. 

Externally, the impact on the overall IFAD programme is significant in projecting the organization’s role/capacity as a reliable partner with a qualitative edge at the national level.

Organizational Competencies:

Level 2:

• Strategic thinking and organizational development: Strategic leadership 
• Demonstrating Leadership: Leads by example; initiates and supports change 
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating: Challenges, innovates and contributes to a learning culture 
• Focusing on clients: Contributes to a client-focused culture 
• Problem solving and decision making: Solves complex problems and makes decisions that have wider corporate impact 
• Managing time, resources and information: Coordinates wider use of time, information and/or resources 
• Team Work: Fosters a cohesive team environment 
• Communicating and negotiating: Acquires and uses a wide range of communication styles and skills 
• Building relationships and partnerships: Builds and maintains strategic partnerships internally and externally 
• Managing performance and developing staff: Manages staff and teams effectively  

Education:

Education includes Advanced university degree from an accredited institution listed on https://whed.net/home.php in rural development, agriculture, 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 eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in rural development, agriculture, rural finance, development policy or other job related fields, with a preference for economics. 

Two (2) years in an international organizations, rural development/financial institutions or government services providing support on a global scope. 

Position-specific experience: Experience may include project design, development, implementation and evaluation preferably in area of implementation and supervision of rural development programmes. 

Languages:

• English (4 – Excellent)
• Arabic (3 – Good)
• Desirable: French 

Skills:

Job role specific  

• Topical expertise – Programme Management for Agricultural Development, Expertise specific to position, e.g., in agricultural and rural development, policy-oriented, programme based pro-poor approaches, results-based agriculture rural development projects, country-specific knowledge, migration, etc. 
• Policy dialogue, Know-how in holding regular and effective consultations with IFAD counterparts – line ministries and governmental bodies at all administrative levels, donors, civil society  
• Evidence-based policy: Know-how in the formulation of concrete and actionable policy recommendations based on hard evidence (going beyond simple data interpretation) 
• Loans & Grants: Know-how in designing loan and grant operations and managing loan and grant preparation process
• Advocacy, Know-how in advocacy, to maintain and promote constructive dialogue around IFAD’s vision to external actors
• Project/Programme management (incl. coordination, design, development), Know-how in Project design and evaluation 
• IFAD governance & mandate, In depth knowledge of IFAD’s governance structure, mandate, strategic priorities and technical work 
• 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 actors
• Performance management, Know-how in managing performance so that staff supervised deliver on the agreed objectives and meet their development needs while meeting the needs of IFAD.
• Proficiency in establishing clear performance goals (operational and behavioural) and learning plans as well as in evaluating the performance of staff against the set goals
• Interpersonal skills, Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with others (e.g. visitors, clients, callers, etc.), including senior individuals (e.g. high-level meeting participants)
• Risk 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 strategies; (e.g. reputational)

Position specific  

• Rural finance, Expertise in inclusive rural finance: i.e. pro-poor rural and agricultural financial services (including savings, credit, insurance, payments, remittances, etc.), customer demand and capacities, financial service providers, financial systems and markets, and policy and regulations (micro, meso and macro level adapted support)

IFAD 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 and policy to prevent and respond to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

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In 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. Applicants are invited to use the ICSC compensation calculator to estimate the salary and benefit entitlements. See here. 

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.

This position is also included in the pool of positions made available to IFAD staff members in the context of the 2024 reassignment exercise. Priority will be given to internal staff in reassignment who are deemed appointable.