Vaga Servisu: Operations Officer

 job Vacancy/Vaga Servisu
 Closing Date: Wednesday, 01 August 2012

Background / General description

The position can be based in Dili or Sydney. The Organization: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector 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, Sustainable Business Advisory and Public-Private Partnerships. IFC’s Access to Finance (A2F) business line aims to increase the numbers of individuals and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise s (MSME) 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 Program: IFC’s Access to Finance Program in the Pacific (the “Program”) seeks to increase access to finance for MSMEs, and people living in rural areas in the Pacific countries often overlooked by banks and other formal financial institutions. The Pacific region lags behind in terms of access to financial services , with less than 20% of the adult population on average in the Pacific region having access to bank accounts. Additionally, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of MSMEs remain un-served or under-served. The financial products offered to clients are generally limited and significant gaps exist in the underlying financial infrastructure such as credit bureaus, payments systems & remittance and capital markets. Through mainstreaming microfinance and SME banking and improving critical financial infrastructure such as credit bureaus, payments systems and capital markets, IFC is facilitating microfinance institutions, banks and other non-bank financial institutions to expand reach and diversity of products offered to underserved markets in the Pacific. Reporting Line: This position reports directly to the Senior Operations Officer for Access to Finance in the Pacific Region. Scope of Work: The Operations Officer (OO) will play a key role in the development, design and implementation of projects for the Access to Finance (A2F) Program in the Pacific region. The focus of work will be in the areas of microfinance, SME banking and financial infrastructure and while the primary responsibility will be for projects in Timur Leste, the selected candidate will be required to also work on projects in other Pacific region countries depending on program priorities and resource requirements. The work would require extensive coordination with other IFC business lines and regional/global resources and extensive interaction with clients and other related stakeholders.

Duties and Accountabilities 

• Assist in the design of projects, if necessary, including preparation of internal approval documents: logic models, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, cost-benefit analysis , and project concept and approval documents.
• Prepare project workplans, budgets consistent with overall IFC objectives and maintain compliance of the project(s) with IFC processes and procedures.
• Prepare terms-of-reference and help to identify, select and schedule consultant assignments, support and manage consultants in the effective delivery of their services, including monitoring their work to ensure that agreed deliverables are met and that they are captured in appropriate reports.
• Work closely with other team members to ensure that program objectives are met, including monitoring and reporting output, outcome and impact of the project(s). Document the progress of projects, resolve issues and initiate improvements for projects when needed.
• Assist in managing stakeholder relationships, which includes internal IFC teams, external clients, identified lead firms, and relevant stakeholders from the private and public sectors.
• Help to identify key lessons learned to be shared with the wider IFC Access to Finance team, and develop and support other internal knowledge management initiatives.
• Travel as necessary to support program and project design and development, and implementation.
• Accept ad-hoc tasks consistent with the aims of the position as assigned. Selection Criteria
  
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, economics, or other relevant discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience with at least three years in the financial sector.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects, preferably donor-funded, including project set-up and completion.
• 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.
• Strong oral and written English skills, including ability to write and edit project/program documents.
• Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to build cooperative networks.
• Strong computer skills, with an emphasis on Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 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. Candidates of Timor-Leste heritage will be 

Closing Date: Wednesday, 01 August 2012