World Bank

• Recruitment Type – International Hire
• Language Requirement- English [Essential]
• Closing Date – 02-Jan-2014

General description:

Since 2006, the Protection of Basic Services program — now renamed the Promoting Basic Services Phase 3 Project (PBS 3) — is the principal instrument for transferring development financing to Ethiopia for basic decentralized service delivery. The program is presently one of IDA’s largest programs globally and its largest in AFR. The purpose of the program is to protect and promote the delivery of five basic services (health, education, water & sanitation, agriculture, and rural roads) by sub-national governments in Ethiopia while promoting and deepening transparency and accountability in service delivery.

The PBS program involves six donors — the African Development Bank, Austrian Development Agency, the European Union, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Italian Development Cooperation and the World Bank. Together, donors provide approximately 35 percent of the funds flowing through the Government of Ethiopia’s block grant system to support the 5 basic service sectors while the Government of Ethiopia provides the remaining 65 percent. The program reflects a strong partnership across the PBS donors and between the donors and the Government of Ethiopia. The Secretariat is central to making this partnership work.

The PBS Secretariat. At the outset of the PBS program in 2006, donors created the PBS Secretariat to ensure that PBS support would be as coordinated and harmonized as possible. The Secretariat has evolved significantly since its inception and is now seen as high-performing unit important to the success of the PBS program.

The Secretariat has three main functions:

• It provides the core analytical work informing donor-Government dialogue. This includes monitoring the implementation of the program’s main principles, key commitments, as well as collaborating with relevant sector technical experts/groups to ensure a tight link between financing and results. This would include coordinating the external assessment which is being contracted out by the PBS Secretariat.
• The Secretariat also provides advice, training, and hands-on technical assistance to the Government on a range of operational matters, including financial reporting, auditing, procurement, and monitoring and evaluation.
• The Secretariat takes primary responsibility for collaborating with the Government in planning the regular joint supervision missions that trigger donor disbursements to the block grants.Note : If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, he/she will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year renewable term appointment.Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities:

PBS 3 commenced in January 2013 and includes the following components:

• Sub-Program A: The Basic Services Grant component finances recurrent expenditures supporting the sub-national delivery of basic services (education, health, agriculture, water/sanitation, and rural roads). Donors support these services by transferring significant donor resources through Government of Ethiopia public financial management systems.
• Sub-Program B: Strengthening Local Transparency and Accountability Systems. This Sub-Program includes four components.1. B1 – Citizens’ Engagement: This component supports efforts to deepen financial transparency and accountability while also engaging civil society organizations to work with citizens to give feedback to service providers. Funds are also made available to support grievance redress mechanisms.2. B2 – Local PFM & Procurement: Given the focus of the PBS operation on local service delivery, woreda-level PFM system strengthening is of highest priority. As such, this component supports PFM capacity building through the development and dissemination of standardized manuals, the roll-out of automated financial management software, strengthening systems for external audit, and support for parliamentary oversight.

  3. B3 – Managing for Results: Given the importance of timely and reliable data for program results as well as improved policy-making, this component will monitor PBS program results, strengthen the multi-sectoral, decentralized data system, and undertake targeted surveys and studies to enhance all stakeholders’ understanding of how results can be sustainably achieved.

  4. B4 – Results Enhancement Fund: This Fund supports a yearly prize for performance according to objective criteria by providing resources to the three sub-national administrations that made the most progress to improve performance.

  The PBS Secretariat requires a manager to be based in the World Bank Country Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The successful candidate will provide overall direction, leadership, and management for the Secretariat, and serve as a focal point for external donor partners supporting the PBS program as well as the Government of Ethiopia. The Secretariat has a healthy operating budget of about $6.0 million over five years.

  The position has the following major components:

  Technical

• Provide quality assurance/control over the Secretariat’s analytical work and technical support services.
• Provide technical inputs to the ongoing implementation of PBS program components.
• Co-lead PBS program regional supervision missions, carrying elements of the dialogue as and when necessary.
• Advise stakeholders on emerging problems and performance issues, providing solutions-oriented advice.Management and Leadership
• Oversee the proper financial management of the Secretariat, ensuring that funds are received, budgeted, and accounted for as agreed with the PBS Donor Group;
• Liaise regularly with the PBS Donor Group Co-Chairs and key counterparts within the Government of Ethiopia;
• Lead and supervise the Secretariat’s professional and administrative staff and, as necessary, lead (in collaboration with PBS Donors) the recruitment of new staff as agreed by the PBS Donor Group;
• Prepare and deliver six-monthly rolling work plans, budgets, as asll as semi-annual and annual performance reports for approval by PBS Donor Co-chairs;
• Manage the approved work program and activities of the Secretariat; and
• Ensure that the monthly meetings of the PBS Donors’ Group are properly minuted.Coordinate Program Support, Monitoring, and Supervision
• Plan and prepare the main PBS monitoring and review exercises, specifically the semi-annual Joint Review and Implementation Supervision Missions, Joint Budget and Aid Reviews, and regional supervision missions;
• Draft and negotiate the Aide Memoire following the semi-annual JRIS to reflect the multi-donor consensus with consideration for the GoE’s needs, priorities, and interests;
• Coordinate and harmonize the views of the PBS Donors on (sometimes sensitive) program-wide issues, using data and analysis to drive evidence-based consensus positions;
• Liaise and follow-up with counterparts from Ethiopian Government and relevant ministries, and PBS implementing partners, on agreed areas of work;
• Represent the Secretariat at major public fora, including Joint Review and ImplementationSupervision Missions, Joint Budget Aid Reviews, etc.;
• Collaborate with other national programs and with a variety of stakeholders to ensure the coordinated implementation and supervision of the PBS program;
• Manage the execution of the planned multi-year series of PBS 3 evaluations, as well as other analytical work requested by donors; and,
• Oversee, define, and develop an approach to communications with government, donors, civil society and international stakeholders.

Selection Criteria:

• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
• Policy Dialogue Skills – Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Integrative Skills – Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
• Client Orientation – Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
• Drive for Results – Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
• Team Leadership, Collaboration, and Inclusion – Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication – Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making – Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.Other Selection Criteria:
• Master’s in economics, political science, or a related and relevant area. Eight years’ experience in the development sector (e.g. multi-sectoral programme management/support, research, etc);
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English are essential.
• Experience working in a multi-donor environment. Experience in managing diverse and sometimes competing interests and perspectives to arrive at a durable consensus.
• Ability to deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments, to work in a team environment, to elicit contributions from a wide range of professionals with diverse skills
• Strong client orientation.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, mature judgment, and proven experience in managing diverse teams.
• Ability to advise, influence and promote consensus among different stakeholders.
• Ability to work as a member of the team as well as a team leader.
• Ability to identify and develop new and creative partnerships with a wide variety of agencies and organizations.
• Strong budget planning and management skills.
• Strong negotiation skills.
• Ability to work to tight timelines and multiple objectives.
• Experience having worked in Ethiopia (or in another developing country with similar political economy considerations), while not essential, would be an asset as would familiarity with the PBS Program.The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.