Regional Operations Officer

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities. Our mission is to leverage the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

The IFC 3.0 strategy aims to stimulate more investment activity across emerging markets, especially in Low Income Countries (LICs) and Fragile and Conflict affected States (FCS). Its goal is to create new investment opportunities by working "upstream" to create, deepen, and expand markets and design and develop potential investment projects.

IFC’s Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Pakistan & Afghanistan (MCT) region covers 21 diverse countries, including middle income, lower middle income and fragile and conflict states, with an active investment portfolio of around US$9.0 billion, as of end of fiscal year 2024. In addition, the region is implementing an active advisory and analytical portfolio of ~$130 million.

The MCT region is hiring a Regional Operations Officer to support the implementation of IFC's program, with a broader focus on supporting IFC's strategy and engagement in the MCT countries. The Regional Operations Officer will work closely with the Regional Head of Operations (RHO), MCT, under the supervision of the two Division Directors (DD), for Central Asia & Turkiye (CAT) and Middle East (CME).

This is a unique role that provides an opportunity to contribute to IFC’s business strategy across the region; investment, advisory, and upstream operations; and the management responsibilities of the Division Directors/ Regional Head of Operations. The selected candidate must be a self-starter, capable of strategic thinking, taking initiative to cover a range of tasks and be able to work independently with minimal supervision. S/he will be required to handle sensitive information, exercise good judgment, and provide well-reasoned advice and support to the Division Directors, Regional Head of Operations and other members of the regional management team. The position will be based in Istanbul, Turkiye, and report to the Regional Head of Operations (RHO).

Roles and Responsibilities

•  In conjunction with the RDs/ RHO, guide and support the MCT region to develop and implement regional strategy for IFC's Investment, Advisory, and Upstream activities in all sectors in the region, with a focus on the key priority areas.
•  Develop market knowledge to ensure that IFC is working with suitable sponsors and partners. Actively contribute to partner selection, ensuring adequate mitigation of potential reputations risks for IFC.
•  Identify business opportunities considering IFC's strategy and priorities in the region and provide analysis of various strategic initiatives relevant in line with World Bank Group vision and IFC priorities.
•  Maintain close relationships across the World Bank Group; Work closely with Regional/ country teams and contribute to joint strategy documents, such as country partnerships (CPFs), country private sector diagnostics (CPSDs), country engagement notes (CEM), and other joint analytics.
•  Support the DDs/ RHO on regional/corporate strategic initiatives. Review concept notes, implementation Plans, portfolio documents, regional and country briefs for, and provide relevant inputs to the DDs/ RHO for investment, advisory and upstream projects.
•  Work with the RHO to oversee the overall regional advisory and upstream program portfolio; provide support in the advisory and upstream governance; decisions and supervision; coordinate the annual Country Driven Budgeting process; and ensure cross-unit coordination of Advisory and Upstream activities including overall alignment with regional and country strategies.
•  Coordinate with regional and corporate partnerships team on funding for strategic regional initiatives.
•  Oversee implementation of regional trust funds in line with governance to ensure fiduciary compliance.
•  Provide strategic support for regional and corporate portfolio/pipeline review meetings, briefings, preparation of regional reports, coordinating client surveys, etc.
•  Develop and maintain strong relationships with IFC Industry and Advisory Departments to help manage and oversee the pipeline of investments and advisory projects.
•  Develop and maintain strong relationships across World Bank Group (IBRD/MIGA) to understand their programs across the region.
•  Strengthen relationships and foster close collaboration with key IFIs and multilateral and bilateral stakeholders active in the region (UN, EU, and other development partners).
•  Ensure preparation of timely and good-quality documentation, presentations, briefs, and analyses as needed for all internal and external discussions relating to IFC's engagement in the region as needed.
•  Contribute to and share knowledge across World Bank Group on relevant regional and corporate topics.
•  Coordinate implementation of the region’s communication plan with the Communications team.
•  Support and coordinate Regional Knowledge Management including events, and written publications.
•  Coordinate organization of bi-weekly leadership meetings. Attend and contribute to other leadership team meetings as and when requested.
•  Work with the DDs/RHO on handling various organizational matters and undertake any other tasks that may be assigned by the DDs, including ongoing updates of regional budget, program management reporting and dashboards.