Senior Operations Officer - Tourism, Pacific Region- Sydney

Job #:	120538
Title:	Senior Operations Officer - Tourism, Pacific Region
Job Stream:	Technical Assistance & Advisory Services
Location:	Sydney, Australia
Closing Date:	03/19/2012
Background / General description:
The Organization: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, pursues its mission of reducing poverty and improving people’s lives by promoting private sector development through investment and advisory services. IFC Advisory Services is structured into four business lines – Access to Finance, Investment Climate, Public-Private Partnerships and Sustainable Business Advisory. The Access to Finance (A2F) business line aims to increase the number of individuals/firms with access to basic financial services, to increase the diversity of financial services available to poor households, and to lower the costs of essential services. The Investment Climate (IC) business line focuses on helping governments implement reforms to improve their business environment and encourage and retain investment, thus fostering competitive markets, growth, and job creation. The Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) program aims to increase access to public services such as electricity, water and sanitation, transport, and health and education. IFC’s Sustainable Business Advisory (SBA) business line works with firms in manufacturing, agribusiness, services, and infrastructure to contribute to the creation of inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and efficient markets. In the Pacific region, IFC is developing an integrated Tourism Program across a number of countries, which will be jointly supported by the IFC investment team and span all four advisory business lines. The program will be complex with multiple components. IFC is looking to recruit a Senior Operations Officer to provide the overall leadership for this initiative in the Pacific as well as take on specific accountabilities for designing and implementing select components of the Program. The Program: IFC’s Pacific Tourism Program (the Program) seeks to increase tourism sector investment in a number of Pacific countries, with an initial focus on Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Tourism is an enduring, crosscutting activity that contributes to poverty alleviation by generating substantial economic and social benefits. It is critical to many of IFC’s Pacific Island member countries, as one of the few sustainable industry options available where comparative advantage is evident. Within these Pacific Island countries, there remain untapped opportunities to enhance tourism’s development impact and value contribution. Whether such opportunities can be harnessed will have a major bearing on the future prosperity of these nations. Together with our development partners, there is an opportunity for IFC to catalyze a new and more integrated approach and to pilot a model for wider adoption in the future. Specifically, the Program will seek to catalyze environmentally and socially sustainable growth in the tourism sector by (a) involving the private sector in overcoming infrastructure bottlenecks to tourism development; (b) improving access to debt and equity finance for the middle and lower segments of the tourism accommodation market; and (c) generating specific tourism sector investments by facilitating transactions; all within IFC’s Sustainability Framework. Reporting Lines: The position reports jointly to the EAP Regional Business Line Manager for Sustainable Business Advisory and to the Regional Manager, Pacific.
Duties and Accountabilities:
Scope of Work: The Senior Operations Officer will act as the overall coordinator for the Pacific Tourism Program and will take overall responsibility for coordinating all aspects of the Program including financial and operational reporting to IFC and donors, team cohesion and communications. In addition, the Senior Operations Officer will be directly responsible for specific program components that will fall into the Sustainable Business Advisory BL, including their design, managerial and financial oversight, day-to-day delivery of advisory services to clients, and overall quality control. The Senior Operations Officer will work closely with all 4 Regional Business Line Leaders and the IFC investment team to make this initiative a success. Specific duties and accountabilities include, but are not limited to: • Program design: Overseeing all aspects of further elaborating the design and implementation of the Program, including impact targets and timelines. Draw on the expertise of global and regional product specialists to ensure Program design exemplifies best practice and lessons learned from similar initiatives globally. Draw on own expertise in the industry to design advisory interventions that address challenges and opportunities the sector while also promoting environmentally and socially sustainable behaviors across all market segments. • General program management including accountability for Program objectives and target: a. Develop a detailed project plan for the Program’s various components in close collaboration with Regional Business Line Leaders from the Investment Climate, PPP and Access to Finance business lines as well as the IFC investment team b. Manage external and internal relationships for successful delivery c. Collaborate with IFC investment staff in identifying and assessing clients d. Work constructively with staff in other IFC business lines who have core expertise to contribute as well as with other market stakeholders as necessary in designing and executing program elements e. Represent the Program to stakeholders at multiple levels (e.g. at industry fairs, thematic seminars, etc.) • Team Coordination: Serve as the focal point for the Tourism Program in the Pacific as it spans all business lines of IFC. For the SBA component, design the team roles and responsibilities, recruit and manage a team of professionals and a resource base of consultants who can deliver on the various objectives: a. Set clear goals and targets for team members b. Manage the performance evaluation process for all team members, incorporating feedback across the institution as per IFC guidelines c. Adapt to different circumstances and demonstrate ability to act decisively when faced with obstacles by identifying innovative solutions and approaches d. Resolve differences across stakeholders and consider interests of multiple stakeholders in addition to clients • Communications and Reporting: a. Manage the communications and reporting required by IFC and donor partners according to IFC standards and guidelines; b. Track project performance indicators against the monitoring and evaluation plan, refocusing activities as required to meet project targets in coordination with other IFC stakeholders including the global product specialist • Budget and Financial Management: develop a detailed program budget, manage and report on financial performance according to plan: a. Ensure that the IFC pricing policy for advisory services is applied b. Control expenditures according to IFC policies and guidelines and within own approval thresholds while achieving maximum results • Knowledge Management: a. Systematically consolidate and analyze lessons learned from project implementation experience and share with team members and colleagues across the region; b. Ensure connectivity with the IFC global product team and other IFC/World Bank programs.
Selection Criteria:
Selection Criteria: The candidate should be a senior professional with comprehensive and in-depth expertise in project/program management, and in providing advisory services. S/he routinely leads complex projects and integrates work of other (often multi-disciplinary) professional staff. S/he can interact with clients at the policy level or with senior counterparts in national governments and/or other organizations with confidence. Minimum Requirements • Master’s degree in economics, finance, business or other relevant discipline required; • At least 10 years of relevant work experience in a position with significant decision-making responsibility, preferably working with/in the tourism sector in an emerging market environment; • Proven ability to conceptualize, design and implement major projects and to produce major/complex reports or studies; • Demonstrated professional leadership and ability to lead a team of professionals in the execution of major project components; • Ability and comfort working with limited supervision and to think independently. • Ability to work effectively under time pressure with high degree of accuracy and with a strong capacity to produce quality work. • Proven ability to demonstrate initiative, monitor issues and tasks, meet deadlines and priorities, and ability to work in a team. • Ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently, articulate issues and recommend practical solutions. • Ability to engage with various stakeholders, effective influencing skills and demonstrated diplomacy; • Relevant experience working in the East Asia and the Pacific region is desirable; • Excellent English written and spoken communication skills are essential; • Willingness to travel extensively in the region. IFC offers a challenging and rewarding work environment, attractive compensation and excellent career opportunities. All applications will be treated in strict confidence. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
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