Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Division Full Time

The EIB, the European Union’s bank, is seeking to recruit for its Directorate, Environment and Sustainable Territorial Development Department (ETD) at its headquarters in Luxembourg, a Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Division (AGRUDEV). This is a full time position at grade 7.

Do you have a consolidated experience in Agribusiness, do you have a strong drive for project advice, development and implementation and are looking for a managerial role?

Join our team as a Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Division, where you will be able to show leadership in contributing to implement the European Green Deal; bring new ideas to the financing of the rural economy, both inside and outside the EU and lead a team of highly qualified sector engineers and economists.

The term of this contract will be 4 years.

Assessment Centres for selected applicants would take place end of March/beginning of April.

The EIB offers fixed-term contracts of up to a maximum of 6 years, according to business needs, with a possibility to convert to a permanent contract, subject to organisational requirements and individual performance.

Context
The Project Directorate’s mission is to provide independent economic and technical advice to the EIB’s decision makers on the quality of investment projects submitted to the Bank as well as advising promoters on the development and implementation of projects. Moreover, it informs the sector policies of the Bank in line with the pursuit of its overall policy mission. To accomplish its role, PJ is mainly staffed with sector experts (Engineers, Economists, Environmental and Social experts), who work together in multi-disciplinary project teams, and in close contact with the other EIB operational services.

Purpose
As a Head of Division you will lead, coordinate and supervise a team of engineers, economists and related support staff. Within multi-disciplinary teams, the division assesses the viability of capital investment projects and programmes in the agriculture, bio-economy (incl. forestry and fishery value chains) and rural development sectors, in all countries where the Bank operates, and in accordance with Bank and PJ procedures. Your team will also develop policies and provide policy support, including the development of new initiatives, relevant to the sectors under divisions remit.

Operating Network
As Head of Division you will report to the Director of the ETD Department and you will cooperate closely with the other divisions of the Department and with the other Bank services participating in the lending process. You will develop and maintain external contacts with relevant sector stakeholders.

In your new role, you will be accountable for:
• Planning, organising, managing and overseeing the activities of the division. Allocate responsibilities, set objectives and evaluate the performance of the division’s staff.  Ensure an effective cooperation among team members and other Bank staff, as well as the dissemination and cross fertilisation of information inside and outside the division.
• Ensure that the technical and economic assessment, monitoring, and technical assistance related to all aspects of projects and programmes are performed to the required quality standards. Help team members identify and solve potential problems as early as possible in a project’s life cycle.
• Select, lead and supervise the staff within the division to ensure they have the right competencies, objectives and motivation to implement the formulated strategy and policies and deliver expected outputs in timely fashion.
• Liaise closely with the Lending Directorate (Operations), Transaction Management & Restructuring, Legal and Risk Management directorates. Assist in the early screening of projects/programmes and help develop new lending strategies. Cooperate with other Directorates as required.
• Liaise closely with the Commission regarding the new developments of EU agriculture, bio-economy (incl. blue economy) as well as rural development policies and projects and with other organisations active within the sector.
• Represent the Bank in external fora and working groups.
• Understand developments within the sector and anticipate their impact on the Bank’s activities.
• Supervise and prepare policy papers.
• Contribute towards defining, managing and implementing the Department’s objectives.

To be successful you need:
• University degree (masters or equivalent professional qualification) in a relevant domain, typically in engineering and/or agricultural economics/finance/economics.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience, ideally in the Agriculture/Bio-economy/Rural Development Sector.
• Experience in the appraisal and monitoring of investment projects and programmes, as well as providing technical assistance.
• Deep understanding of key technical, social, environmental and economic issues within the relevant sector.
• Successful experience in leading and mentoring people, ideally in multicultural environments or international organisations (e.g. contributing to: deciding on required team resources and skills; establishing objectives; assessing performance; delegating and supervising tasks; guiding, motivating, mentoring and providing feedback).
• In-depth understanding of relevant EU policies, and the political & operational framework
• Experience with tools and methods normally used within the project Directorate for assessing projects.
• Sound knowledge of EU agriculture/rural development and bio-economy policies.
• Excellent knowledge of English and/or French and good command of the other language (*). Knowledge of other EU languages would be an advantage.

Your core competencies at the EIB:
­• Achievement Drive: You continually keep an eye on performance, focusing on improving it, showing drive and determination to meet short and long-term goals.
• Change Orientation: You adapts to differences and changes in the environment; you take a flexible approach to reach outcomes.
• Collaboration: You work cooperatively as part of a team; works collaboratively with peers across organisational boundaries based on a genuine interest in and an accurate understanding of others and your individual perspectives and concerns.
• Organisational Commitment: You are willing to commit to an organisation whose mission is to support Europe and is open to diversity, and to align her/his own behavior with the organisation’s needs and intrinsic values, acting with integrity in ways that promote the organisation’s mission, policies and rules.

Your managerial competencies at the EIB:
• Developing Others: You build the long-term capability of others by guiding and developing them to make the most of their competence and potential, based on an accurate understanding of their true strengths and development needs.
• Strategic Thinking: You think about the long term organisation strategy and how to align to and implement it; you come up with useful new strategic insights.
• Team Leadership: You build a high performing team, ensuring it is focused, motivated and inspired to achieve organisational objectives, you encourage performance excellence and addresse underperformance when required.

EIB – the bank with a difference

We all share a passion for helping shape a better future for the European Union and beyond. We actively seek talented professionals from the EU Member States, so the question is: would you like to positively contribute towards a sustainable future for all?

We invest in you 

At the European Investment Bank, investing in our colleagues is as important as investing in the projects we finance. We aim to offer an enriching professional environment where you will find numerous opportunities to develop while enjoying your personal and family life.

Our people enjoy a good work-life balance, benefiting from our integrated social programmes and broad career advances.
• Learning and development opportunities
• A diverse environment
• Flexible working arrangements
• An attractive health insurance and pension schemes
• Benefits supporting your family: family, children, education allowances, free European school and other
• Help with relocation, housing, expenses and allowance
• Variety of sport and leisure activities just at your work premises
• Find out many more

Tagged as: head of agriculture

HOW TO APPLY:

Join our Agriculture and Rural Development Division now! You can apply via ''this link''. Deadline for applications: 17th February 2020 (*) There may be certain flexibility on this requirement, but limited to particularly suitable candidates who may not yet be proficient in French. If selected, such candidates will be hired on the condition that they rapidly build up knowledge of French and accept that their future career in the EIB may be subject to the attainment of sufficient proficiency in both of the Bank's working languages. We are an equal opportunity employer, who believes that diversity is good for our people and our business. As such, we promote the inclusion of suitably qualified and experienced staff without regard to their gender, age, racial or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation/identity, or disability (**). (**).We particularly welcome applications from women and persons with disabilities.