Posting Date: 24-May-2021
Location: Ankara, TR
Company: EBRD
Office CountryTurkey
Office CityAnkara
DivisionBanking
Dept. / Bus. GroupSME F&D Front Office
Business UnitSME F&D, Turkey (Advisory)
Contract TypeShort Term
Contract Length12 months
Posting End Date07/06/2021
Purpose of Job
The Associate is responsible for identifying potential clients and consultants, managing advisory assignments with clients and promoting best practice in the project cycle. The Associate will work with clients to assess their business needs and identify areas for business advice, develop the scope of advisory projects and identify suitable consultants or experts for the assignments. He/she will manage advisory projects through the stages of conception, implementation, completion and impact evaluation. The Associate will proactively manage his/her portfolio of projects and support the other members of the team where needed to raise the quality of ASB projects in the country as well as their impact.
The Associate will support the Principal Manager to implement market development and visibility activities. The Associate will provide backstopping support for the Principal Manager in the country and develop relations with clients, consultants, EBRD banking colleagues as well as ASB staff in other countries and HQ to share knowledge and develop best practice.
Accountabilities & Responsibilities
- Support the Principal Manager to develop and implement the ASB annual operational plan for the country, as well as other operational and strategic efforts.
- Lead ASB projects including developing the work plan, selecting advisors, and making regular client visits to ensure programme objectives to be achieved.
- Support Head of Regional Programme and Associate Directors to establish and sustain good relations with donors and other stakeholders to identify and recommend funding leads and support the development of funding proposals.
- Originate and develop the pipeline of potential clients who meet the qualifying criteria, taking particular responsibility for ensuring compliance with EBRD integrity standards and making appropriate referrals to support banking business development.
- Proactively diagnose clients’ business needs on site, identify priority areas for business advice, and help them to identify suitably qualified consultants or international industry experts for advisory assignments.
- Ensure the competitive selection of the consultant, ensure the terms of reference meet standards and prepare the project proposal in line with ASB best practices.
- Monitor market rates for advisory services, ensure the application of the grant guidelines in finalising Grant Agreements with clients, and assist them in negotiating underlying consultancy contracts with selected consultants or experts.
- Manage project implementation to ensure consultants deliver in accordance with the terms of reference and ensure continued client engagement to the project, monitoring client contributions, resolving problems, preparing relevant reports and collecting supporting documentation.
- Recommend project completion to enable disbursement of the grant to the client to the Principal Manager and/or Associate Director.
- Evaluate completed projects in accordance with established methodology in order to assess impact and provide analytical input for further analysis.
- Provide coaching and support to the PS/POs in the team to promote best practices, compliance with ASB methodology and resolve problems that may arise in project implementation.
- Identify new local consultants to recommend to the Principal Manager for qualification and manage relations with existing consultants and organisations, ensuring a broad pool of expertise is available for ASB projects. Identify strong local industry experts suitable for International Advisory roles.
- Implement annual consultant review and regularly monitor developments in local consultancy market to guide market development activities.
- Implement market development and visibility activities to promote ASB and the funding donor/s in the country. Under the guidance of the Principal Manager, support the implementation of market development activities aimed to develop local consultancy market or disseminate best practices within sectors.
- Contribute to the development of internal and donor reports in partnership with the ASB HQ team to inform donors on the progress of activities and utilisation of funding.
Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications
Education/Professional qualifications
Bachelor’s degree (Business, Economics, Finance etc.) and/or equivalent business experience
Experience
- Relevant professional experience, preferably from commercial management consultancy, corporates or bank, donor organisation, or international support programme. Experience in any of the Bank’s three strategic aspirations (e.g. digitalisation and supply chain, green economy and equality of opportunity) aligned to the Strategic Capital Framework would be an advantage.
- Knowledge of local business environment and consultancy market.
- Knowledge and experience of business advisory services. Knowledge of donor funded work, donor organisations and national stakeholders such as regional development agencies, chambers of commerce & industry and other SME support organisations desirable.
Skills
- Strong business diagnostics skills.
- Financial analytical skills, with the ability to interpret accounts, understand local accounting principles and conduct financial analysis.
- Strong project management and organisational skills.
- Effective communication, presentation and negotiation skills and ability to manage relations with clients, consultants and other stakeholders.
- Strong writing skills; experience in writing project proposals, terms of references or reports desirable.
- Fluency in English, both written and verbal. Fluency in language of country of operations.
- Computer literate: excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office including Excel and Power Point, ability to learn new systems quickly.
General
- Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the EBRD mandate, passionate about private sector development.
- Ability to work in multi-cultural environment.
- Multi-tasking, self-initiative.
- Ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability and willingness to travel extensively within the country and, on occasion internationally.
Diversity is one of the Bank’s core values which are at the heart of everything it does. A diverse workforce with the right knowledge and skills enables connection with our clients, brings pioneering ideas, energy and innovation. The EBRD staff is characterised by its rich diversity of nationalities, cultures and opinions and we aim to sustain and build on this strength. As such, the EBRD seeks to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and given equal opportunities and works in an inclusive environment. The EBRD encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of the EBRD member countries to apply regardless of their racial, ethnic, religious and cultural background, gender, sexual orientation or disabilities. As an inclusive employer, we promote flexible working.