Country Program Manager, Rome, Italy

Devex is assisting a leading international financial institution in identifying candidates for the position of Country Program Manager to be based at its headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the overall supervision and strategic, policy and management guidance of the divisional Director of Near East, North Africa and Europe Division (NEN), the Country Programme Manager will be responsible for managing the country programme(s) as assigned by the Director.  Specifically, the incumbent will be required to:

• Lead and manage the development and implementation of medium to longer-term strategies for the institution’s collaboration with governments and other national stakeholders for rural poverty reduction. This will entail analysis of the dynamics of rural poverty; country-specific rural poverty reduction strategies; and the definition of the institution’s value added in this context.
• Lead the design and supervision of loan and grant financed rural poverty reduction programmes assigned by the Director. Support their implementation with a view to maximising development effectiveness, impact and sustainable development results. Analyse relevant information and assist in the periodic evaluation of results achieved.
• Lead loan and grant negotiations with the borrowing and donor governments, in accordance with the institution’s lending policies and criteria.
• Play a catalytic role in the development of pro-poor rural poverty reduction policies and in enabling the rural poor to advocate for institutional transformation.
• Build effective partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders in rural poverty reduction, including government and non-governmental institutions, bilateral and multilateral financing institutions, civil society organisations, research centres and the private sector.
• Provide coaching and guidance to staff under her/his supervision.
• Administer the related budget for cost-effectiveness
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the Director (Travel is expected for up to 30-40%.)

At P-5 grade, and in addition to the above, the incumbent is expected to:

• Promote evidence-based knowledge management and learning in the institution’s country programmes. Promote innovative approaches to poverty reduction and collaborate with partner institutions to facilitate their replication and scaling up.
• Contribute effectively to its organizational change agenda, with particular reference to issues related to IFAD’s direct supervision modalities.
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the Director.

Requirements:

Education:

• Minimum requirement is an advanced university degree (Master’s level or equivalent) in rural development, agriculture, economics, public policy, social sciences or a closely related field. (Please note that our client is recruiting 1 position at grade P-5 and 1 position at grade P4.) 

Experience:

• At least 8 years (at grade P-4); or 10 years (at grade P-5) of relevant post qualification professional experience with International Financial Institutions, international NGOs, rural development/financial institutions, foundations or government services in the design and administration of rural development programmes with emphasis on rural project management , rural finance and market development.
• Good knowledge of policy oriented, programme based pro-poor approaches.
• Knowledge in pro-poor policy design and programme-based development approaches with International Financial Institutions/Development Cooperation agencies government agencies and international NGOs.
• Having exposure and experience in procurement/acquisitions, policy dialogue (i.e., talking to high level leaders), and having regional experience is important for this role.
• Working for a multilateral or international financial institution, or bank, is important
• Financial skills are important and economist skills are desired.
• Proven experience in managing teams and supervising and guiding staff.
• Field experience in developing countries is required.

Language:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English is required; including the ability to set out a coherent analysis in presentations and group interactions. Good working knowledge of Arabic or Russian or French (spoken and written). Candidates must be able to communicate with other Arabic/Russian/French speakers in a work environment, as well as being able to read/write emails in Arabic/Russian/French.
• Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.

To be considered for this position, please click the green ‘Apply Now’ button and complete the online application. So that we may best assess your skills and experience in relation to this opportunity, we encourage you to submit a cover letter highlighting your relevant experience for this position.  You may also e-mail your CV and Cover Letter to jobs-2@devex.com.