Operations Officer- Cairo, Egypt

Job #:	111695
Title:	Operations Officer
Job Stream:	Technical Assistance & Advisory Services
Location:	Cairo, Egypt
Closing Date:	03/10/2012
Background / General description:
IFC's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, comprising twenty countries with a combined population of over 550 million, is extremely diverse and includes resource-poor/labor-abundant countries such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco, resource-rich/labor-abundant countries such as Algeria and Iraq, and resource-rich/labor-importing countries of the GCC and Libya. The MENA region also includes a number of countries affected by conflict, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and West Bank & Gaza. The countries of the region are characterized by large, increasingly well-educated and young populations. Between 2000 and 2005, the MENA region experienced employment growth of 4.5% per annum. However, unemployment remains high particularly among youth and women. The female labor force participation rate in MENA was only 32% in 2006, and less than 7% in Yemen and Syria. Sustaining growth and reducing unemployment in the region at the current rates will depend primarily on private sector development and growth. However, private investment as a share of GDP lags other regions, and the degree of economic diversification is more limited. This picture has changed. Since the turn of the Millennium, several governments of the Middle East and North Africa have made a decisive shift toward the market, and toward empowering the private sector through investment climate reform. Over the last three years MENA has moved from being the region with the least number of regulatory reforms, as measured by the WB/IFC Doing Business Report (2007), to the second highest number of reforms (2009 and 2010). Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar have emerged as leading reformers and others, including Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan have been rewarded with an increase in investment including from within the region. There is a significant opportunity to build on these reforms momentum as well as on the quest for political freedom and democracy currently in the region. Most recently, the up-rise of the people in many Middle East nations reflects the dissatisfaction of the administrative systems and the increased barriers to their access to fair business and investment opportunities. This will require a focused and sustained effort and commitment to reform by the governments of the region, and a dynamic response by the private sector. The World Bank Group, including The International Finance Organization Advisory Services, can act as a catalyst and integrator of these efforts. The International Finance Organization (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. The IFC Advisory Services in the Middle East and North Africa (IFC AS in MENA) is managed from its regional headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. IFC AS in MENA has offices located throughout the MENA region, covering 20 countries from Morocco to Pakistan. Its objective is to stimulate private sector development by a) improving business enabling environments, b) helping to develop financial markets, c) strengthening the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, and d) forging public-private partnerships. The IFC investment Climate has three programs; business regulatory reforms program, Industry competitiveness program, and Alternative Dispute resolution program. The Business Regulatory Reform Program focuses on improving regulatory frameworks for business at the central, sub-national or municipal levels through policy review, process streamlining and reengineering, and thereby decreasing the levels of operational uncertainty for firms. Reducing the cost and time of specific regulatory functions imposed on private sector businesses, while enhancing the regulatory oversight of the public sector is at the heart of the this program. Targeted policy reforms aim to redesign laws, regulations, and administrative practices so as to reduce bureaucratic complexities, excessive discretion and corruption within respective regulatory authorities. The IFC Investment Climate – Business Regulatory Reform Program in MENA is now looking to recruit an experienced Operations Officer to develop, support, and oversee Investment Climate (IC) Advisory projects in MENA countries. The Associate / Operations Officer should be able to manage ongoing IC projects and develop new projects, maintain relationship with existing clients and develop relationship with new clients, liaise with other IFC/WBG staff including investment officers, and ensuring that projects are implemented in line with the IC program for the MENA region as well as IFC/WBG policies & procedures. The Operations Officer will report to the Business Regulatory Reform Program Manager.
Duties and Accountabilities:
1.Managing Advisory Services projects in line with the overall Investment Climate – Business Regulatory Reform program and IFC/WB policy; this entails: creating project documentation such as concept notes, cooperation agreements, securing budgets, managing the work of external and WBG consultants engaged to help implement the projects, ensuring the completion of projects within allotted timeframe and budget and alerting management to any risks in meeting the project objectives; 2.Conducting scoping and business development missions to assess and analyze business start up and business operations regulatory processes such as Business Registration, Licensing, Construction Permitting, Inspection and Tax; identifying potential clients for Investment Climate Business Line projects in line with the target market and strategy of IFC MENA IC Program 3.Assessing potential/existing clients’ strategy, operations (back and front office functions), control environment, and providing recommendations as necessary to clients streamline their respective processes; 4.Designing Advisory Services (AS) solutions in line with the IFC Product and Program Strategy, negotiating and implementing AS projects to meet the clients’ needs; 5.Liaising with Investment Climate Industry Specific and Commercial Justice Programs and with IFC/WBG staff and promoting the integration and packaging of WBG Investment Climate products; 6.Representing the Investment Climate Business Regulatory Reform Program in conferences/workshops organized by IFC, the World Bank Group and external stakeholders; 7.Working with the Business Regulatory Reform Program team to help ramp up program projects and activities in the MENA region; 8.Handling other activities as needed to support the success of the Investment Climate Program.
Selection Criteria:
•Masters in business, economics, law, public administration or related field; •Strong understanding of regulatory environment and minimum experience of 5-7 years of Reform and Development experience and/or 5-7 years of experience in one of the internationally recognized consulting firms; •Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects effectively, including ability to implement projects on time and within budget; •Proven strong planning, organizational and multi-tasking skills and ability to adapt to shifting priorities and work pressure; •Strong client focus, excellent business judgement and ability to produce consistently positive results; •Dedicated team player with proven ability to work collaboratively in a decentralized and matrix team environment; demonstrated ability to work across sector silos •Self-motivated, conscientious, and able to work independently with minimal supervision committing to the highest ethical standards; •Proven strong analytical and problem solving skills; ability to diagnose problems and propose solutions; •Willing to travel throughout the MENA region, as needed; •Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, project management and Process Mapping software and; •Excellent communication and writing skills in English and Arabic. Knowledge of French is an added advantage.
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