Portfolio Officer

Update

Supporting the implementation of the IFAD Country Programme, the UNV will get exposure to and support a range of rural development initiatives. This includes close collaboration with the borrowing governments and their line ministries, the project management teams in country implementing IFAD-supported projects and programmes, rural producers and their organizations, national and international partners and donor organizations, senior technical specialists and IFAD colleagues from several departments and their technical wings. The UNV will have the opportunity to closely work on a few projects and/or country strategic work, and in addition get wide exposure to the work of IFAD. The UNV will also be engaged in analytical work to support evidence-based decision-making in the IFAD portfolio, as well as contribute to knowledge generation and dissemination. You will be able to participate in selected IFAD-internal events, such as the ESA regional workshop and potential workshops in other in-country offices or elsewhere. She/he will also be engaged in the work of the United National Country Team, closely working with the other UN Rome-based Agencies (i.e. FAO, WFP) and other development partners.

Under the direct supervision of the IFAD Country Director, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Portfolio support and support to the overall country portfolio Eswatini:
• Work with all active IFAD projects, engage with the project coordinators. Including follow-up on mission agreed actions, planning of review meetings and engage around mission preparation and other key deliverables;
• Portfolio monitoring and reporting, through working closely with the projects and monitoring teams to ensure timely reporting, adequate quality of Monitoring and Evaluation (ME) data, and promote the use of ME in knowledge and communication;
• Communication and Knowledge sharing by working with IFAD in-house Communication and Knowledge teams and assist projects with compiling high-quality knowledge products;
• Mission preparation and participation by assisting the respective Team Leaders in preparing IFAD missions and lead on the monitoring and Knowledge aspects, unless otherwise defined;
• Product development /Branding by supporting the Multi Country Office (MCO) and IFAD supported projects on aspects of branding and product development and where appropriate. Including web-pages, advertising materials, social media presence but in close collaboration with IFAD Communications (COM), where required.
• Contribute to project implementation and supervision, through the preparation of, participation in and reporting on IFAD-led implementation support and supervision missions of active loan-finance projects.
• Review country programmes Annual Work Planning Budget (AWPB) & PP and provide inputs to the Country Directors (CDs);
• Contribute to monitor execution of Country Programme implementation and compliance to key performance indicators/parameters;
• Support compliance of projects and country programme's with IFAD corporate level policies, such as the Operational Results Management System (ORMS), Annual reviews, Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) Review, Mid-Term Reviews (MTR)s, etc.
• Provide tailored implementation support to projects between mission, and follow up on agreed actions from supervision missions while discussing with the project management teams how to address issues and shortcomings in a timely manner;
• Work closely with the Country Director/Country Representative on country strategic aspects, such as reporting towards the IFAD contributions to the national UN framework and its objectives, engagement in donor /sector working groups (especially in line with your specialization),
• Engage in relevant UN Country Team working groups, engage with other UN development agency and in-country stakeholders portfolio level;
• In line with the UNV skillset and the portfolio, contribute to strengthen thematic partnerships with relevant donor agencies, private sector and academia, to introduce re-quired skills/knowledge/assistance and co-investment into the portfolio;
• Contribute to the daily operational work of project management, by reviewing project requests as appropriate and in line with the UNV background and experience;
• Contribute to the country knowledge agenda by generating technical inputs (papers/posters/blog posts) to showcase lessons from the portfolio;
• Contribute to cross-country learning within the other countries in the subregion and beyond, through technical presentations and appropriate communication of findings from missions / project analysis;
• Support project design, as required and appropriate: this entails the contribution to the process of project design documentation, participation in design missions and follow-up with government and other stakeholders on relevant communications/documentation;
• Support and co-lead project completion, and ensure appropriate reporting on project’s achievements toward set development objectives in line with IFAD and government requirements;
• As required, work on replies to IFAD’s internal evaluation office on completion reports;
• Contribute to preparation of senior management visits to the Country and its countries and potential participate;
• Contribute to thematic events and workshops at the hub and participate and potentially co-lead sessions;
• Support the reporting on events in appropriate channels within IFAD.
• Any other task as assigned by the supervisor related to the assignment.