Job Title: Results Measurement Officer - Asia Agribusiness
Appointment: Local hire – 3 years term
Location: Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam or Bangkok, Thailand
The International Finance Corporation is the largest global development institution that is focused exclusively on the private sector. Part of the World Bank Group, IFC’s vision is to reduce poverty and enhance shared prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population. To this end, IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advisory services to businesses. IFC has significantly strengthened its focus on measuring development results over recent years, driving our strategy, operations and staff incentives. A results-focused culture expands the value we bring to our clients and beneficiaries, helps foster best practice among development finance institutions, and demonstrates IFC’s development impact to all stakeholders.
The Asia Region implements a diverse range of strategic initiatives in Agribusiness. Agribusiness and Forestry investments address value addition, food safety, and climate priorities. Complex agribusiness advisory programs are under implementation with support from the Government of Canada in Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. The European Union and the WTO are supporting the transformation of the Cambodian rice sector. Joint Implementation Plans in Agribusiness are also being established for the World Bank Group in the Philippines and Vietnam. Climate resilience and water resources initiatives are implemented in South Asia. Gender is a common theme across the portfolio with a specific dedicated initiative in Papua New Guinea.
The Development Impact Unit plays a critical role in the success of IFC’s mission and of the Agribusiness agenda in Asia in particular. Staff in the Unit measure, monitor, and evaluate operations and their results; develop methodologies to support these functions; and set global standards for measurements. In addition, the Department staff ensures that results, lessons and evidence continuously inform strategy, operations and incentives across the organization, supporting the alignment of IFC’s intended and actual impact and the achievement of IFC’s mission. The Results Measurement specialists in country offices partner with the operations teams to design programs and projects and to track, monitor and report on their results.
The Development Impact Unit is organized by Industry themes and by functional skills. The Results Measurement Specialist (Agribusiness in Asia or AA) will support the Manufacturing, Agribusiness, Services (MAS) Industry group projects in the Agribusiness and Forestry sector. The Specialist will also provide technical support and program quality leadership to country Agribusiness programs and to IFC’s Financial Institutions Groups (FIG) projects in agri-finance. The RM Specialist (AA) will collaborate closely with the MAS Economists and Strategists and with the Investment Officers who act as MAS DOTS champions to provide technical support through expert advice.
The Unit is looking for a Results Measurement Specialist (Agribusiness in Asia) with at least 5 years’ experience with private sector operations, operations and social research, results measurement and/or project management, including significant experience in agribusiness. There is some flexibility in where the position can be based within East and South-East Asia. Preferred locations include Vietnam (Hanoi, HCM City) and Bangkok.
The candidate is expected to have an advanced degree in economics, finance, international development, management sciences, business administration, statistics or agricultural sciences. This is a strategic support and implementation role focused on monitoring the quality of programs and project-specific results measurement work and advising operations staff on best practices. Experience in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors is a plus.
In this role, the incumbent, supporting the development and implementation of operations and strategies in MAS Agribusiness, agri-finance Programs, will:
- Development, oversight and coordination of Results Measurement Frameworks
- Work with Advisory project teams in the Agribusiness and Forestry throughout the project lifecycle to ensure consistent application of results measurement frameworks and methodologies.
- Incorporate, adjust and ensure the best use of DOTS results measurement frameworks into investment design, and support articulation of the development impact of agribusiness investments in Board Papers.
- Perform/provide technical oversight to on-site program audits and surveys, to assess project implementation and results.
- Shape continuous improvement of results measurement work for agribusiness by providing feedback and best practices to the Development Impact Group, MAS Global Industry Department, methodologies and tools in Agribusiness and Forestry.
- Develop results measurement frameworks for select Joint Implementation Plans.
- Data quality assurance
- Monitor data quality, strengthen and improve quality where necessary for Advisory and Investment operations.
- Collate and verify information for the IFC’s Development Goals IDG 1 on agribusiness and support the implementation of target setting for the IDGs.
- Ensure standards for quality of project documents and DOTS ratings, accurate reporting and evidential support for results reported, working with project teams to resolve potential problems.
- Evaluation and business analytics
- Design, commission, oversee and conduct evaluations implemented within Asia in Agribusiness.
- Disseminate regional evaluation findings with the RM Network and to operations colleagues.
- Work with IFC clients to create business cases, test and experiment on changes in business models.
- Generate evaluation lessons and analytics to assess and report on the poverty impact of agricultural value chains and contribute to the development of country models.
- Results training and capacity development
- Train regional management and staff on results measurement related to Agribusiness.
- Develop client capacity for results measurement in Agribusiness.
- Generate business intelligence and communicate development results
- Collate and share intelligence on development of regional markets.
- Communicate regional Agribusiness results and findings internally and externally to share findings and best practices, and to create value for clients.
Selection Criteria
- Advanced degree in economics, finance, international development, social sciences, marketing, management sciences, business administration, statistics or agricultural sciences.
- At least 5 years of relevant experience with private sector operations, market research, agricultural research, results measurement and/or project management, particularly in Agribusiness.
- Experience with private sector in emerging markets or international financial institutions is essential.
- Knowledge of IFC investments or investments of other international financial institutions a strong plus.
- Knowledge of IFC’s corporate environment and the context, trends, concerns and on-going events within IFC regional strategies is a plus.
- Strong project management expertise
Additional specialty requirements:
- Training in market research, market mapping and value chain assessment
- Knowledge of the Making Markets Work for the Poor Approach (M4P)
- experience with Business Analytics or survey research
- Expertise in participatory rural appraisal and gender equality analysis
- Solid knowledge, understanding and ability to apply results measurements methods
- Subject matter expertise:
- Knowledge of organization-specific technologies, software, databases and systems, as they relate to Management Information Systems of lead agribusiness firms
- Knowledge of key regional crops and value chains, including rice, coffee, palm, cacao, aquaculture/fisheries, forestry and/or sugarcane
- Analyze and interpret data to contribute to strategy documents, and donor reports
- Excellent Oral and written communication in English. Other language fluency is a plus
- Demonstrated ability:
- To persuade and influence others across organizational boundaries by understanding stakeholder concerns and formulating an approach that specifically addresses them;
- To think broadly about results measurement and its value to IFC and clients, incorporating input from other areas; examine multiple angles, taking stakeholders perspectives into account, consider various solutions and make informed, credible and actionable decisions.
Interested candidates should review the complete job description and selection criteria and apply on-line at http://www.ifc.org/careers [1] and choose vacancy number 161376. Please note that you need to register before submitting your application. The closing date is 13th July 2016. Only applicants selected for interview will be contacted.