Director General, Global Practices – Islamic Development Bank , Saudi Arabia

Job Purpose::
The Director General for Global Practices (DG-GP) will manage the Global Practices Directorate to set strategic priorities in global practice areas of the Bank and mainstream them through leading or contributing to Bank’s country strategies and operational activities. The position will provide thought leadership in the Bank’s Global Practice areas, including Economic and Social Infrastructure, Resilience and Social Development, Islamic Financial Sector Development, Country Strategy and Cooperation as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The DG-GP will facilitate in translating the Bank’s corporate strategy into operational activities and initiatives in areas under his mandate and ensure that the operational activities effectively contribute to the achievement of Bank’s vision, mission and strategy and are aligned with SDGs. The DG-GP will ensure that the Global Practices directorate effectively fulfills its role as a bank-wide bastion for cutting-edge knowledge creator, disseminator and strategy formulator in priority areas that will ultimately guide the sovereign and non-sovereign financing and non-financing operations of the bank in its field of operations, including but not limited to: energy, transport, water, agriculture, human development, Islamic finance, public-private partnerships, climate, fragility, market integration and regional cooperation, women and youth, reverse linkage, etc. The DG-GP will also provide global expertise and knowledge in design and implementation of lending operations by the Regional Hubs of the Bank as well as undertake full operational responsibility for non-decentralized operational activities under his mandate. The incumbent will develop partnerships and initiatives to support the operationalization of developer driven business model and to support resource mobilization. The DG- GP is expected to work closely and in harmony with the DG-CRS to enable the Country Programs Complex to execute its mandate to advance the agenda of the Bank under the new business model.

Roles and Responsibilities:
General Responsibilities
Policy, strategy and programs development and implementation:
Ensures that 10 Year Strategy of the Bank and President’s strategic programs are translated effectively into policies and strategies of the Country Programs Complex mandated areas.
Develops sector and thematic policies and strategies related to key pillars of IsDB’s 10 year strategy and global practice areas namely: (a) economic and social infrastructure (b) resilience and social development (c) Islamic financial sector development and (d) member country cooperation and regional integration.
Works with Department of Strategy and Transformation and CRS Directorate to lead the rollout and development of Global Value Chain based Member Country Partnership Strategies and program documents.
Contribute to the development of annual lending program and ensure its alignment with the countries, sector and thematic strategies.
Ensures implementation of the developed policies and strategies across the Bank’s lending and non-lending operations and operational activities mainly under the mandate of Country Programs Complex.
Develop and implement processes, procedures and tools to facilitate implementation of policies, strategies and frameworks.
Provides technical inputs and advisory services to all the segments of the bank in their financing and non-financing operations and engagement with member countries in Global Practice areas as per the delegated authority.
Spearhead the development of Bank’s non-lending operational products in global practice focus areas, mainly analytical and advisory work.
Develops and launches initiatives in coordination with other business units to translate corporate strategies into operational activities and programs.
Develops and launches flagship regional and global initiatives within the delegated authority and in coordination with CRS directorate in key areas of strategy and support in translating them into country/ regional programs based on countries priorities and programming.
Develops partnerships with all relevant stakeholders to push forward the agenda, activities, and strategy of the Bank in Global Practice focus areas through collaborative efforts.
Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts through launching special initiatives and partnerships in collaboration with relevant units of the Bank.
Produce cutting edge practical knowledge both from experiences of Bank’s operational activities and applied research in global practice focus areas including by undertaking sector portfolio reviews in collaboration with relevant departments.
Build capacity of internal and external clients in global practice focus areas to support implementation of internal strategies and national development plans.
Stay abreast of developments and trends in global practice areas and themes/ sectors under it and appropriately strategize to align/ refocus IsDB policies, strategies and operations to ensure development effectiveness of IsDB activities.
Coordinates closely with other relevant units of the Bank to promote regional cooperation and integration among the Member states.
Lead efforts to position IsDB as a leader in South-South Cooperation and Triangular Cooperation efforts at global scale.
Lead the development and promotion of Islamic Financial Services Industry globally in collaboration with other units of the Bank and reposition it to achieve the objectives of the new business model.
Lead the development of knowledge, partnerships, and mainstreaming efforts of IsDB in thematic areas mainly women and youth empowerment, climate change and disaster management and resilience.
Lead efforts to increase the share of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in Bank’s programming and lending.
Serve as a focal point and ‘resource center’ for all matters related to financing of non-sovereign guaranteed operations through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
Leads the self-evaluation of Country Programs Complex lending operations and country strategies and implement systems to mainstream learnings and knowledge to enhance the development effectiveness of Banks interventions.
Provide expertise and advice regarding improvement of operational policies, guidelines and procedures based on the lessons learnt and best practices.
Oversight over operational activities, policies, and projects:
Ensure quality of entry and implementation by providing required guidance and quality control over the inputs of Global Practice teams in thematic and sectoral focus areas in operational activities and documents.
Collaborates with the ‘Country Relations and Services’ general directorate to ensure high quality of entry and implementation of projects.
Provides review and contribution to CRS operational products and share global knowledge and expertise to improve design and implementation throughout the project cycle.
Provides quality assurance at all stages of the project cycle through undertaking appropriate review and implementing sound review mechanisms.
Ensure alignment and conformance of the operational documents and activities (including MCPS, project/ TA documents, operational plans, work programs etc.) with the Bank’s operational, thematic and sectoral strategies and policies within the delegated mandate.
Provides oversight, monitoring, facilitation and knowledge systems to ensure the implementation of the pillar strategies and policies.
Implements the Quality and Prioritization tool to provide objective assessment at the time of operational work program formulation.
Oversees cooperation across global practice areas and consults stakeholders and obtains feedback to improve the Bank’s policies, strategic and operational priorities.
Develop adaptive tools, processes, guidelines and procedures for enhancing quality and delivery of Bank’s operations within the delegated mandate.
Contribute to sectoral and global portfolio review and provide advice on improving the portfolio quality.

External representation and partnerships:
Provide thought leadership and IsDBs perspective on issues related to global practice focus areas through representation in international forums and events.
Undertakes advocacy to promote IsDBs development model, strategic paradigm and priorities at global level.
Advocate to assist in mobilization of funds and partners for IsDB flagship programs.
Proposes and coordinates the organization of significant IsDB flagship events and publications.
Supports the establishment of partnerships to foster the developers’ network in global practice areas and leads the development and implementation of joint initiatives.

Leadership Responsibilities
Change management:
Sensitize the directorate staff and create buy in regarding the corporate strategy and priorities, and guides them to translate it into global practices departments work programs and activities.
Support the global practices departments to align their priorities with the new business model of the Bank.
Support mainstreaming of global value-chain based development model across the complex operational programs and activities.
Supports the implementation of decentralized structure by working closely with regional hubs with key focus on enhancing engagement of GPs in operational work and activities.
Promote a culture of knowledge generation and learning across the Complex.
Undertake required change management to instill the importance of new thematic areas across the Bank, especially climate change and women and youth empowerment.
Promote a culture of trust and collaboration to ensure smooth working relationship between GPs and CRS and with other organizational units.
Act as an advocate of the directorate and Complex in representing the policies, strategies and programs to senior management and Board.
People Management and Coaching:
Supervises the general directorate, aligns with the General Director for Country Relations and Services and sets overarching direction;
Oversees, suggests and supports development and execution of annual programs and budget for the Global Practices general directorate;
Leads by example and ensures that the IsDB’s cultural values are alive and well propagated through middle management, and trickled down to the staff in Global Practices General Directorate;
Supports Directors in filling key capability gaps of teams through recruiting and capacity building efforts.
Oversees participation of Global Practice Directors, Managers and staff in internal and external sector knowledge activities and in building their capacity.
Smoothly manage the dual reporting staff of the directorate.

Qualifications / Experience:
□Masters degree in economics, engineering, business administration or in any areas of Global Practices or related field. PhD will be preferred.
□15 years of work experience in the field of development, including at least 10 years in operations of international development institutions (design and implementation of projects, policies and strategies, quality assurance systems, operations results management, analytical and advisory work etc).
□Substantial exposure to the tenets of the IsDB’s mission, including experience and track record in dealing with policy-formulation and execution.
□The last 5 years of the experience should be at a senior management position in a large or medium sized organization, preferably multinational development organization.
□Demonstrated skills and experience in developing innovative, strategic and high impact development solutions, international knowledge work or development financing products.
□Track record of working in demanding and complex environments of introducing ideas and innovation and of following through their implementation.
□Good grasp of the developing countries development issues, and solid experience in sector issues and the economics of development.
□Strong experience in policy dialogue and
□Experience of working in large multicultural organizations in the public or private sector with diversified workforce.
□Ability to communicate effectively and building relationships with oversight bodies such as boards of executive directors, board of governors and other senior government officials.
□Familiarity with the IsDB member countries as well as the work of multilateral development banks will be an added advantage.
□Fluency in English is mandatory. Good knowledge of Arabic and/or French will be and added advantage.
□Proven intellectual leadership in managing and maintaining an efficient and transparent work environment.
□Demonstrated leadership ability and experience in strategy formulation and implementation.
□Demonstrated experience in managing and implementing organizational and cultural change to enhance performance and results.
□Ability to inspire and motivate staff and work across boundaries.
□Established reputation as an influencer with high integrity standards.
Job Location:
Job will be based in IDB’s headquarters in Jeddah, KSA

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