Operations Officer/Women in Business-Access to Finance- Washington, DC

Job #:	121207
Title:	Operations Officer/Women in Business-Access to Finance
Job Stream:	Technical Assistance & Advisory Services
Location:	Washington, DC
Closing Date:	06/11/2012
Background / General description:
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's Sustainable Business Advisory Department (CSB) works with companies to adopt environmental, social and corporate governance practices and technologies that make them more productive, inclusive, and profitable. The broad adoption of these practices can transform markets and improve people’s lives. CSB hosts IFC’s Women in Business Team (WIN), a small group of advisory professionals charged to develop, promote and mainstream initiatives that leverage the untapped potential of women in private sector development in emerging markets. The Women in Business team primarily supports IFC teams who work on promoting financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs; encouraging women entrepreneurship, creating productive job opportunities for women; and promote women leadership on boards. More broadly, the team also leads a variety of corporate initiatives to promote knowledge and action related to the role of women in business and private sector development more broadly. The position of Operations Officer/Women in Business-Access to Finance is an exciting opportunity opening up specifically to work on promoting financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs. The position is for a highly motivated and experienced professional with a strong background in IFC’s Access to Finance and SME work. The Operations Officer will be part of the Access to Finance Global SME Banking Program, and a member of the cross-departmental Women-in-Business team, working with partners in Financial Markets and Access to Finance, across regions to create products and to promote the delivery of services that particularly leverage women entrepreneur’s untapped potential in private sector development. Specifically, s/he will work with regional SME Banking and WIN champions to enhance banking clients’ ability to increase access to financial services for women-owned SMEs. S/he will also design and deliver corporate wide and very visible initiatives to position themes around women entrepreneurship and access to finance, leading related thought leadership and knowledge management initiatives. While the focus of the position is on engaging with, advising and coaching teams in the Access to Finance business line, the emerging programmatic approaches to IFC’s advisory work more generally will create opportunities for a broader and corporate wide perspective and impact
Duties and Accountabilities:
The key elements of the role comprise of: (i) Shaping and producing knowledge, tools and resources that allow IFC to replicate the WIN value proposition more broadly and across a diverse set of financial institutions (ii) supporting the regions in business development, diagnostics and project design (iii) Quality assurance and program monitoring (iv) leading and supporting the training and development of regional resources/staff. The successful candidate is a determined and perseverant “go-getter”, ideally with Banking, SME development, training and leadership experience under her/his belt. S/he should have a positive attitude, be dedicated to excellence and the ability to translate insights from the “gender perspective” into broad strategy and concrete opportunities for IFC’s advisory and investment services. While s/he would need to be able to work independently and take initiative, s/he would have to be a strong team player, able to take leadership as well as supporting roles. S/he handles a variety of activities concurrently in a high-pressure environment and delivers consistently. S/he is open-minded, able to work in a fast-paced and multicultural environment and is used to exploring links between fields, disciplines and people which would not usually be related. S/he actively supports innovation and knowledge sharing in an open, team-based environment, and thrives through partnerships, teamwork, continuous learning and innovation. Business Accountabilities Strategy and Innovation: • As part of the A2F SME program, collaborate with Financial Markets (FM) Banking on Women program to reach the IDG targets; include a women in business dimension in existing or new investment/clients; and supported with appropriate M&E indicators. • Identify new financial inclusion product areas within A2F to further the growth of women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. These could include areas such as supply chain finance, insurance, secured lending and others. • Ensure innovative approaches are developed/ imported, tailored and applied in relevant markets. Business Development: • Support the regions in further development of a project portfolio in WIN/SME banking, identifying and vetting prospective clients in partnership with other SME banking and regional IFC AS operational staff, global specialist teams and investment teams; • Develop partnership proposals for prospective clients on the basis of appraisals of their operations and on-going business development discussions; Project development, technical support and quality assurance: • Lead corporate initiatives relating to Access to Finance for women-owned SMEs, specifically working with IFC financial institutions clients to enhance their ability to profitably and sustainably address the needs of women entrepreneurs in emerging markets, as well as provide financial and management skills to enhance the bankability of the women beneficiaries; • Provide knowledge expertise at project concept, design, manage consultant teams and support regions in overall implementation of the women in business components in all SME banking and other appropriate A2F products; • Guide projects through IFC’s internal approval process, ensuring that lessons learned world-wide are appropriately taken into account in the design of new projects • Strengthen the implementation and delivery capacity of the regions, mentor and train A2F staff in regions. Knowledge Management: • Work with KM officers across departments and business lines to ensure women in business-related knowledge is ‘streamlined’ into KM products and services, including practice groups, network efforts, etc. • Contribute to IFC’s knowledge base through notes, papers, presentations, smart lessons, completion reports, KM notes, and workshops as needed • Assist in developing further guidance on gender baselines and M&E framework. • Disseminate tools and training that enhance IFC’s staff ability to implement women in business A2F programs • Collaborate with the Global Banking Alliance (GBA) members to keep abreast of experiences and lessons learned from developed and developing banks implementing women in business programs Program Management and Development: • Liaise with other experts in the gender field and assist in developing new partnerships and/or identifying areas for collaboration with internal / external stakeholders, partners, and specialists. • Update development partners and management team as needed on the progress of the products. • Interface with other product leaders and teams, field staff and other internal stakeholders. • Contribute to G-20 mandate on access to finance for women owned businesses and provide research which may feed into major policy agenda such as G-20, Rio+20 and others.
Selection Criteria:
• Advanced university degree in law, economics, business, finance, public administration and a minimum of 8 years relevant work experience in either financial inclusion, access to finance, banking, financial markets, SME development or a similar related field; and private sector development. • Deep understanding of entrepreneurship and issues facing micro, small and medium sized businesses in emerging markets; experience with topics related to women entrepreneurship and banking a definite plus. More general knowledge of private sector development topics more broadly, including –SME development, access to finance, supply chains, as well as good understanding of World Bank Group activities and familiarity with research in this arena. • Ability to think strategically, combined with excellent research, synthesis and written skills, demonstrated by a track record of successful publications or reports and toolkits. Strong analytical, and communications skills - ability to research various private sector issues quickly, absorb large amounts of information and summarize them in a succinct manner. • Significant project management skills with proven track record of success in developing client relationships and execution; Demonstrated ability to assess needs, prioritize resources and design and develop relevant, cost-effective and culturally sensitive solutions. Demonstrated ability to manage staff and consultants for timely, quality outputs. • Established, up-to-date knowledge in a topic expertise area and strong ability to disseminate this knowledge effectively and efficiently within IFC as needed. • Leadership talent and strength, and strength in managing complex relationships and “leading across boundaries”. Sound experience in dealing with private sector institutions especially commercial banks, and ability to handle sensitive situations with target audiences. Other: The incumbent will report to Panayotis N. Varangis, Head, SMEs and Businesses, Access to Finance Advisory, and Toyin Adeniji, Head, Women in Business (WIN). This appointment is for an initial 2-year period. World Bank Group staff on regular or open-ended appointments will also be considered, and if selected, will transfer at their current appointment status. Applications are expected no later than May 31st, 2012. Candidates should submit their application (letter and resume) in English. No phone calls, paper mail or faxes please. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence. Only applicants invited for interviews will be contacted.
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