African Development Bank (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The
Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Director, Language Services Department
Reference: ADB/17/132
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Position N°: 50092472
Grade: EL-5
The Complex
- The Vice-Presidency, Human Resources and Corporate Services ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services.
- The complex leads efforts to digitalize and transform the Bank into a knowledge-driven workforce, promote human resources policies that enhance talent, drive a performance-driven culture, and ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice.
- The complex ensures that all Human Resources and Corporate Services are re-aligned to drive greater corporate performance and execution of the Bank’s strategic vision and priorities.
- The complex is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, IT, general services and institutional procurements, language services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.
The Hiring Department
- The Language Services Department is responsible for ensuring quality translation of major Bank documents primarily into English and French, but also into Arabic and Portuguese, as well as other languages as required; providing high standard interpretation in English and French or Arabic and Portuguese, editing documents meant for publication and ensuring quality; analyzing and evaluating strategic choices and making relevant recommendations on the use of English and French within the Bank Group; reviewing, updating and implementing practical guidelines and procedures for the efficient delivery of language services; and assisting partner organizations eliciting the Bank’s assistance in establishing, restructuring or improving their language services; promote bilingualism so as to enhance communication among staff and with the Bank’s clients and partners.
The Position
- The Director for the Language Services Department reports to the Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Services, and is key to the attainment of the Bank’s transformative agenda for Africa by ensuring the Bank’s languages services facilitate the communication among staff; and between staff, partners and stakeholders.
- He/she will ensure that there is a sound translation and interpretation strategy and effective and quality process regarding the translation of Bank’s documents into the Bank’s official languages and any other language.
- He/she should also ensure that the Bank’s meetings and conferences are duly interpreted.
- To that end, the Director has the overall responsibility to plan, organize, direct and control the activities of the Department.
Duties and Responsibilities
- The Director plans, organizes, directs and controls the activities of the department whose functions are to provide translation, interpretation, and editing services, and promote multilingualism to enhance communication among staff and with the Bank’s clients and partners. Amongst others, he/she will perform the following duties:
- Manage a department that provides translation and interpretation services to the Bank;
- Set objectives, formulate policies, establish priorities, define and monitor the key performance indicators of the department;
- Ensure effective communication between the Management and staff of the Bank, the authorities of member countries, officials from other organizations;
- Promote and encourage, through training and sensitization, staff efforts to use both official languages of the Bank, so as to strike a reasonable balance in the production of documents in French and English;
- Supervise budget preparation and follow its execution, and advise senior management on the budgetary and financial impacts of the department’s operations;
- Monitor best practice in the industry and, as appropriate, liaise with counterparts in other organizations;
- Plan, organize and coordinate all operational language activities in the Language Services Department;
- Ensure that the department produces a high-quality output within available resources, by making the best use of its human, financial and technological assets, and by monitoring and enforcing efficiency targets;
- Promote the sharing of best practice across the translation, editorial and interpretation areas;
- Represent the Language Services Department as needed in bank-wide working groups;
- Determine the appropriate organizational structure of the department, assigning staff and material resources based on priorities and workload, coordinating and evaluating the work of staff and providing guidance on work problems;
- Assess the training needs of staff in the Department, monitor and evaluate their performance, and recommend personnel actions to the Vice President;
- Perform language services when appropriate and necessary.
Selection Criteria (Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience)
- Hold at least a Master’s degree or its equivalent in translation or interpretation or related disciplines
- Have a minimum of ten (10) years of extensive and progressive experience in a similar organization, five (5) years of which must be at a managerial level
- Demonstrated ability to take prudent business risks and make effective, timely and well-determined decisions
- Proven ability to build and lead motivated and committed teams across functional boundaries, and utilize talent and expertise of team members in a productive way
- Strong managerial, interpersonal and communication skills; strong negotiating skills; ability to think strategically
- Ability to work under pressure, prioritize work programs, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously
- Ability to gain the confidence of senior management in delivering an efficient and effective service within agreed time and cost constraints
- Ability to work effectively with other technical and management professionals of diverse occupational and cultural backgrounds in a cooperative team environment
- Demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas; a good listener; high level of integrity, discretion and confidentiality
- Competence in the use of Microsoft Suite of applications such as Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint
- Excellent written and verbal communications in English and French.
Job Title: Director, General Services and Procurement
Reference: ADB/17/131
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: EL5
Position N°: 50092470
Objectives
The Complex:
- The Vice-Presidency, Human Resources and Corporate Services (HRCS) ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services. The complex leads efforts to digitalize and transform the Bank into a knowledge-driven workforce, promote human resources policies that enhance talent, drive a performance-driven culture, and ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice.
- The complex ensures that all Human Resources and Corporate Services are re-aligned to drive greater corporate performance and execution of the Bank’s strategic vision and priorities. The complex is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, IT, General services and institutional procurements, Language Services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.
The Hiring Department:
- The primary roles of the of the General Services and Procurement Department (CGSP) are to manage the Bank’s assets, oversee all corporate procurement of goods, services, work and real estate, coordinate all staff travel and transport of Bank’s goods and staff, catering services and other logistics arrangements and the mail services and keep staff informed about services offered.
- To this end the CGSP department formulates and applies rules for procurement, storage, and maintenance of furniture, office equipment and supply; design, prepare and implement programmes for the construction or acquisition and maintenance of buildings and premises; formulate and ensure the proper and effective application of administration policies within the Bank in such areas as communications, transport, travels, security, protection and safety of the Bank’s staff and property; and perform related duties.
- The department is responsible for managing the Bank’s fixed assets (valued at over UA 100,000,000). The CGSP department comprises 3 divisions supervised by the Director General Services and Procurement. These divisions are: (i.) Operations and Maintenance Division (CGSP.1); (ii.) Corporate Procurement Division (CGSP.2); and (iii.) Support Services Division (CGSP.3).
The Position
- The Director, CGSP reports to the Vice President HRCS and is key to the attainment of the Bank’s transformative agenda for Africa through ensuring that there is adequate management of the Bank’s administrative affairs and assets management. Notably: (i) the optimization of the Bank institutional procurement and expenses; (iii) cost benefit analysis on some of the Bank services such buy/construct vs lease, negotiation of services such as travel and hotels catering, cleaning, transport, insurance.
Duties and Responsibilities
Key Functions
The Director is responsible for developing a strategic approach to defining, planning, organizing, coordinating and leading the activities of the Department. His/her duties include:
- Lead the strategic formulation of Bank-wide Medium Term Resource Framework in line with key corporate priorities, guided by sustainable general administration and institutional procurements;
- Lead the effective delivery of the CGSP department work and budget programming;
- Ensure the effective budget resources management with the objective of cost saving;
- Ensure that the KPIs set for the department are met;
- Lead CGSP management team by regularly assessing the management team and intermediate level management skill mix and learning needs with the support of the Human Resources Department;
- Promote the Gender strategy by ensuring that the Bank is a safe place for women to work by making available provision of gender related equipment in all Bank’s offices premises;
- Lead and monitor the change management to ensure that the ultimate goal of the Bank is met and propose or recommend any corrective measures;
- Lead the implementation of all institutional procurement ahead of time to ensure that the services rendered are effective and client focused;
- Lead the implementation of fixed assets and offices space planning to support the Bank’s mission including the decentralization strategy e.g. effective and efficiency definition of field’s offices sizes in line with the Bank’s orientation including the preparation of management and board decision document for purchase or leasing including renovation or outfitting of country office buildings;
- Lead the management of Bank’s Assets by directing and supervising activities relating to operations and maintenance of Bank buildings and related facilities including developing and implementing standards and procedures for operations and maintenance of Bank buildings, facilities, inventories, space;
- Lead and supervise all activities relating to staff transport and travel by formulating, proposing and implementing rules and policies for official travel and transportation;
- Develop, propose and implement policies and procedures concerning the acquisition,allocation, operations and maintenance of the Bank’s vehicles and the use of personnel or rented vehicles;
- Lead Cost and benefit analysis for CGSP core activities;
- Lead the strategic staffing of the department and the performance appraisal of work performance, appraising staff potential and determining training and development needs; and lead the staff enjoyment in CGSP within the framework of the Bank’s corporate vision on staff engagement;
- Lead the institutional procurement planning and implementation to ensure that staff are empowered with a clear focus on clients’ orientation and focus for clients results including planning, directing; and controlling all activities relating to institutional procurement, storage and maintenance of furniture, consultancy services, equipment and supplies including, development and implementation of policies and procedures for procurement of goods and services (e.g. equipment and supply purchase, service contracts, insurance);
- Lead the work program related to the formulation and implementation of proper and effective application of administrative policies within the Bank in such areas as restaurant, communications protection and safety of the Bank’s property;
- Lead the communication work program and resources programming related to the Bank’s mailing services:
- Direct and supervise activities related to management of all the Bank’s assets by formulating management policies, for assets at Headquarters and properties at residences (Cité BAD/villas and other Bank’s properties in the Bank’s country offices;
- Perform other related duties such as participate in various standing committees’ meetings such as Annual Meeting Committee, Purchasing Committee and Board meetings dealing with matters related to the Department’s function.
Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:
- Hold at least a Master’s degree or its equivalent in Engineering, Management, Business Administration or closely related disciplines;
- Have a minimum of ten (10) years of extensive and progressive experience in an internationally recognized Financial or development Institution or similar to the Bank, five (5) years of professional experience should be at a managerial level;
- Demonstrated experience in impact and scenario analysis;
- Ability to undertake sound analysis (skills and methods), in order to conceptualize future work or organizational changes and develop strategies for change which includes strategic mind-set and capacity to translate strategic thinking into a compelling plan of action of a large international institution;
- Ability to work in partnership with a broad range of client contacts and demonstrate commitment to results that are in the client’s best interest;
- Ability to build partnerships with a broad range of clients and deliver results that meet the needs and long term interests of clients within and outside the institution;
- Ability to develop a successful leadership style to establish and achieve exceptional organization performance and the ability to handle multiple responsibilities in a fast paced environment;
- Have a professional qualification in asset management, project management or in institutional procurement will be an added advantage as well as competence in the use of ERP Systems (preferably SAP) and software relevant to project administration (share point) and standard Microsoft Suite of applications such as Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint;
- Strong managerial skills, including interpersonal communication and client-orientation;
- Proven experience in strategic planning, financial analysis report writing and reviews;
- Demonstrated ability to ensure the timely accomplishment of tasks in the Department by giving valuable advice and providing constructive feedback;
- Ability to build and lead a motivated and committed team across functional boundaries and utilize talent and expertise of team members in a productive way;
- Strong interpersonal skills. Capacity to influence and inspire confidence;
- Excellent written and verbal communications skills in French or English with a good working knowledge of the other language.
How to Apply
Click here to apply
Deadline: 18th May, 2017.
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