Purpose of Job

The Principal is a senior member of the GEI team, which is responsible for handling all aspects of promoting gender equality, economic opportunities and human capital in all the Bank’s investments in the EBRD COOs including the provision of transaction support, engagement in policy dialogue, and capacity building. Under the overall guidance of the Director, Gender and Economic Inclusion, and working in close cooperation with G&EI colleagues across all three pillars as well as other departments under the VP3 (i.e. Climate Strategy and Delivery (CSD), Policy Strategy and Delivery (PSD), Impact & Partnerships (IP)), Regional Offices the Banking department and other Bank groups (Credit, Environmental and Social Teams,, Legal, Communications etc) and other Policy teams and external engagement with a wide range of clients, partners, including in other IFIs, Government Agencies, regulators, and supervisors, institutional investors and other market participants.
The role is responsible for the delivery of policy dialogue activities, ensuring coordination with banking OLs in the origination and structuring of projects under the SIG sector and Green Cities Program. This includes supporting the design of the gender components in the Green Cities Action Plans (GCAPs), TC implementation including policy components, leveraging transactions to develop and support capacity to implement relevant sectoral frameworks. The role entails collaboration with economists in the Impact / Partnership pillar to raise the TI ambition of projects as needed. The role reports to the Associate Director, Head of Access to Services, Gender SMART at GEI.

As part of the Gender and Inclusion Team, the Principal will support GEI external engagement related to climate change, including GEI participation at the COPs annually, and support identifying gender and human capital entry points in relevant global and regional partnership forums. The Principal will liaise closely with the Bank’s Climate Strategy Delivery (CSD) and with the Bank’s Environment and Social Department (ESD).

Externally, the Principal collaborates with representatives of other MDBs, international financial institutions on coordination of climate action and GEI priorities in policy and technical assistance; manages consultants on technical cooperation projects; coordinates with donor organisations on technical assistance activities; and develop and effectively manage relationships with external counterparts to range from technical staff to senior dignitaries in ministries.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• In line with the Bank’s Transition mandate, leads the design and supports the assessment and monitoring of investment projects and TCs for their impact on inclusion and gender as part of transition, through engagement with Banking project teams and due diligence visits to the region;
• Supports the establishment of inclusion and gender baselines, the assessment of relevant international best practice models and the design of gender and inclusive activities at project and policy dialogue levels, with a specific focus on inclusive regions, inclusive urban regeneration and other thematic areas, as required.
• Monitors and assesses reform challenges and progress in relation to inclusion and gender issues within the Bank’s countries of operation and leads on the design and delivery of inclusion policy dialogue, through analytical work, contributions towards strategy papers and direct liaison with key senior level stakeholders such as education authorities, private sector clients and strategic partners of the Bank.
• Leads on the development and delivery of inclusion and gender policy engagement programmes, including the identification of key partners, the establishment of policy platforms, the setting of specific policy goals and the delivery of policy priority objectives in partnership with internal and external senior level stakeholders (including banking teams).
• Manages the development of inclusion and gender Technical Cooperation (TC) projects (and larger Inclusion TC Frameworks) to support the inclusion elements of projects, specifically in relation to youth inclusion and gender through improved (vocational) education and training or access to finance, supports the selection and management of consultants and monitoring of impact and lessons learned.
• As part of the Bank’s Scorecard, advises on the inclusion element for transition ratings and monitoring of inclusion related transition impact benchmarks, covering projects for the Bank’s Operational Committees (OpsCom, SBIC, and TCCom);
• Contributes inclusion and gender analysis to country and sector strategies discussed by the EBRD’s Board of Directors and relevant sub-committees to deliver results in the form of evidence-based improvements.
• Supports the drafting and analytical work to provide input into management briefing for Board and other Committee meetings, including responses to questions by Board Advisors and, on occasion, bespoke papers, presentations or other inputs for such Committees. Takes the lead on drafting input into briefing notes and presentations for VP3 senior management contributions to the Bank’s management committees (ExCom, SP Com and RiskCom);
• Leads on inclusion and gender capacity building within the Bank, specifically in Banking teams and Regional / Resident Offices, through presentations, inclusion and gender workshops and seminars. Exercises oversight responsibilities of gender and inclusion economist and specialists in the EBRD regions. Maintains a strong awareness of the international debate on gender, inclusion, skills and inequality issues;
• Represents the Bank at inclusion and gender related fora, including at increasingly senior levels, (conferences, dialogues with IFI counterparts, government officials, think tanks, etc.) to develop and spread best practices;

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in economics, business administration, gender studies, finance, climate or other relevant disciplines.
• Hands-on experience working with a wide range of human capital and gender equality approaches in climate action priority areas, including in designing related policy reforms;
• Experience in working on gender equality, economic inclusion and climate change in other MDBs or IFIs will be an advantage.
• Proven project management experience. Relevance to promoting gender equality and human capital development and climate action in transition economies is an advantage;
• Proven ability to work across organisational boundaries and operate effectively in a multi-cultural work environment;
• Experience with managing diverse teams and driving engagement.
• Strong communication skills, both oral and in writing in English and must be able to explain complex technical issues effectively; previous experience producing policy documents, assessment reports and thematic reports in other MDBs/ IFIs, think tanks, consultancy firms or other organisations having a development mandate is an advantage;
• Ability to establish relationships with and tactfully influence high-level internal and external stakeholders;
• Ability to design, manage and execute technical cooperation projects, including preparation of budget and management of consultants and their work;
• Organisational skills: must be able to lead multiple and wide ranging tasks concurrently; ability to deliver quality outputs with tight deadlines; prior experience organising high-level conferences, seminars, and workshops would be a plus.

What is it like to work at the EBRD?

Our agile and innovative approach is what makes life at the EBRD a unique experience! You will be part of a pioneering and diverse international organisation, and use your talents to make a real difference to people’s lives and help shape the future of the regions we invest in.

The EBRD environment provides you with:

• Varied, stimulating and engaging work that gives you an opportunity to interact with a wide range of experts in the financial, political, public and private sectors across the regions we invest in;
• A working culture that embraces inclusion and celebrates diversity;
• An environment that places sustainability, equality and digital transformation at the heart of what we do.

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 and expecting our employee to attend the office 50% of their working time.

Please note, that due to the high volume of applications received, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide detailed feedback to candidates who have not been shortlisted (for further consideration).