Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
About the Independent Evaluation Group
The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is the organizational unit in the World Bank Group (WBG) providing evaluation of, and feedback on, the development effectiveness of WBG activities in client countries. IEG is independent of WBG management and reports directly to the Board of Executive Directors, with day-to-day oversight by the Board’s Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE).
IEG’s core mission is to improve the development results of the WBG through excellence in evaluation. IEG has accountability and learning functions. The management of IEG is committed to ensuring the highest level of quality, relevance, professionalism, and integrity in IEG’s evaluation activities and to attracting top-quality staff.
IEG places emphasis on:
• IEG’s value proposition as a contributor to the WBG’s development effectiveness through focused, timely, and impactful evaluative activities;
• IEG’s efficiency and value for money; and
• IEG’s effective engagement with WBG management and other stakeholders.
IEG’s Work Program is anchored around a series of “streams”, building evidence over time on connected development themes, trying to bridge between project, country, sector and strategic impact. IEG’s work streams are:Fragility, Conflict and Violence; Gender; Maximizing Finance for Development; Human Capital; Climate Change; Growth and Jobs; and a cross-cutting stream aimed at examining systemic issues in WBG effectiveness, working towards WBG operations and strategies with a stronger outcome focus.
IEG operational departments
IEG is led by the Director General, Evaluation (DGE), who reports directly to the Board of Executive Directors through the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE). IEG’s organizational structure comprises two operational departments: Finance, Private Sector, Sustainable Development and Infrastructure (IEGSP) and Human Development and Economic Growth (IEGHE), which are responsible for leading the evaluation of WBG programs and projects, analytic and advisory products, country strategies, corporate evaluations, and sector, thematic or focused evaluations across the WBG.
The IEGFS unit evaluation activities cover the work of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) on finance, private sector, infrastructure and sustainable development. In these areas, the IEGFS unit conducts thematic and focused evaluations as well as Synthesis evaluation products (Evaluation Insight Notes) and Learning Engagements:
• Thematic evaluations are multi-level, multi-project evaluations which rely on mixed methods designs that usually combine synthetic analyses at the overall portfolio level with in-depth analyses at country, project or other levels of analysis. Within the framework of major evaluations, IEG employs a range of methodological approaches such as portfolio analyses, structured literature reviews, surveys and case study analyses.
• Evaluation Insight Notes (EINs) are Synthesis evaluation reports that generate new insights from existing evidence to address knowledge gaps and contribute to enhanced operational learning. An EIN draws from existing knowledge applying synthesis approaches. EINs systematically organize evidence from disparate IEG evaluations, validations and other work, and can be supplemented by additional existing studies.
• Learning Engagements (LEs) are structured series of activities aimed to support WBG management, staff, and clients in absorbing and applying knowledge from IEG evaluations. They aim to lead to early course-correction, identifying and filling gaps in existing knowledge. They are co-owned by IEG and WBG management, with outputs jointly created between IEG and operational counterparts.
Examples of evaluations recently conducted by the IEGFS unit include Private Capital mobilization, Financial Inclusion, Natural Resource Degradation and Vulnerability, Solid Waste and Energy Efficiency (thematic evaluations); Lessons from Evaluations: Support and Financing to the Formal Private Sector in Response to COVID-19 (EIN) and an assessment of the effectiveness of World Bank Investment Financing to support Private Public Participation (LE).
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direction of the Unit Manager, the Sr. Evaluation Officer will have the following primary responsibilities:
• Lead, co-lead and/or participate in thematic evaluations assessing the relevance and effectiveness of the IFC, MIGA and/or World Bank assistance in the private sector development, finance, infrastructure and sustainable development areas. While most evaluations cover the work of the World Bank, the IFC and MIGA, some are specifically focused on one or two of the three agencies.
• Lead, co-lead and/or participate in the development of Evaluation Insight Notes (EINs) and Learning Engagements (LEs) on the topics mentioned above, covering the work of the IFC, MIGA and the World Bank.
• As a lead, a co/lead or a senior member of thematic evaluations, EINs and LEs, the senior staff will oversee the work of junior staff, including by providing quality-assurance (setting and upholding high standards of quality for various evaluations) and will seek advice from the FS technical leads and the Unit Manager. He/she will also advise other IEG teams in areas of expertise.
• The senior staff will work closely with the IEG Methods team in all phases of the evaluation, including to identify the evaluation questions and the relevant methods to answer them and to discuss the validity of the findings of the analysis.
• The senior staff will engage with IFC, MIGA and World Bank operational counterparts in key stages of development of the evaluations, EINs and LEs. Engagement with WBG counterparts is particularly important at inception – to define the objectives and scope of the evaluation – and at the time when the team has identified emerging findings and recommendations.
• The senior staff will engage in disseminating the findings of the evaluations, EINs and LEs within the World Bank Group (internal dissemination) and with external clients (government representatives, private sector and international partner organizations). He/she will work on the dissemination plan closely with IEG Knowledge and Communications (KC) team.
• Provide cross support to other units in the IEGFS unit (or other units in IEG), including and especially to carry out evaluations of individual projects (e.g., Implementation Completion Reports Reviews, ICRRs; Evaluation Notes of IFC’s Expanded Project Supervision Reports, XPSARs) or of clusters of projects focused on a specific topic (Project Performance Assessment Reports, PPARs).
• Contribute to VPU, departmental, and cross-sectoral activities designed to help IEG pursue its mission, specifically in providing methodological advice and coaching across units, and contribute in other forms to the development of IEG products.
Selection Criteria
The successful candidate is required to have the following minimum qualifications, skills, motivation and personal attributes:
• Ph.D. (strongly preferred) and 8 years of experience or Master’s degree and 12 years of experience in directly relevant area of expertise (economics, evaluation, finance, public policy, infrastructure, climate).
• Demonstrated analytical skills as leader of research or major sector work; publications in international journals.
• Demonstrated experience in designing, conducting and leading evaluations is an important plus.
• Demonstrated in-depth knowledge and experience of World Bank, IFC or MIGA (or other financial institution) operations (lending and analytical and advisory activities, guarantees).
• Sound understanding of World Bank, IFC and MIGA strategies and corporate processes.
• Outstanding writing skills: ability to convey complex concepts through well-structured, simple, convincing messages. Outstanding aptitude for critical and structured qualitative and quantitative analysis, as evidenced by a strong track record of contributions to complex analytical and operational work.
• Demonstrated ability to manage teams to deliver complex tasks, including high quality analytical reports, on time and within budget.
• Excellent communication, diplomatic and negotiating skills, with demonstrated strong personal maturity, balanced judgment, and a track record of building and maintaining partnerships with colleagues and clients.
• Excellent teamwork and interpersonal skills, capacity to motivate and develop teams, and ability to operate collaboratively within and across organizational boundaries.
• Proactive, inclusive and innovative, with an open and collegial work style and ability to listen and integrate ideas from diverse points of view.
• Ability to coach, mentor, develop and empower more junior staff, provide seasoned advice to more senior staff and managers, and work collaboratively with peers.
Job-Specific Competencies:
• Eight to twelve years of experience in analytical and/or operational work in a research or an evaluation department of a Development Finance Institution (DFI) or other international organization, coupled with operational experience at the World Bank, the IFC, MIGA, another DFI, or a private sector enterprise or commercial bank with international operations in developing countries. The research/analytical, evaluation and operational experience should be focused on one or more of the areas that the IEGFS unit covers: finance, private sector, sustainable development and infrastructure.
• Experience working with portfolio data of the World Bank, IFC or MIGA,or of other international financial institutions, including relevant operational data platform and portals.
• In depth knowledge of advanced qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, including (among others) structured literature review, portfolio analysis, development of theory of change and theory of action, comparative case studies, statistical and econometric analysis and qualitative data analysis.
• Familiarity and exposure to World Bank, IFC and MIGA (or other DFI) operational strategies, processes, instruments, policies and procedures, including credit and underwriting policies, Performance Standards, as well as risk and exposure policies. Familiarity and exposure to World Bank’s operational strategies, processes and instruments is a plus.
• Familiarity and exposure to methodologies for evaluation of private sector and finance operations such as DFI’s Good Practice Standards, ICRRs and XPSRs as well as impact measurement approaches such as IFC’s AIMM and MIGA’s IMPACT.
• Highly organized and able to work under competing deadlines and multitask. Driven and committed to consistently deliver high quality work.
• Demonstrated ability to operate collaboratively across organizational boundaries and track record of strong teamwork, knowledge sharing, and capacity to motivate and develop teams.
• Ability and willingness to travel to developing countries.
• Fluent in English. Fluent knowledge of other languages is a plus.
Required GG level IEG competencies:
Lead and Motivate - Encourages and works with others to identify, incubate and implement relevant solutions. Identifies opportunities in changing circumstances and energizes others to continuously improve, using intentional strategies to boost morale, team spirit, and productivity in context of WBG's values and mission. Helps others to understand problems, client needs and the underlying context.
Deliver Results for Clients - Develops and implements solutions that show understanding of how clients and/or own work achieves results that are financially, environmentally and socially sustainable. Shares new insights based on in-depth understanding of the client and recommends solutions for current and future needs of clients. Holds self and team accountable for risk management and outcomes.
Contributes to enhancing the outcome - Orientation of the World Bank Group.
Innovate – Applies evaluation expertise to develop innovative approaches that enhances the quality, credibility, rigor, and utility of IEG evaluations. Keeps abreast of the latest development in the field of development evaluations to continuously improve the rigor of evaluation within IEG.
Collaborate within teams and across boundaries - Collaborates across organizational boundaries, internally and externally with a sense of mutuality and respect. Consistently engages others in open dialogue, brings out any conflicting viewpoints and incorporates viewpoints into solutions, giving credit where credit is due. Leverages expertise of all team members to ensure successful outcomes. Makes choices and sets priorities with a WBG corporate perspective in mind.
Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Ensures systematic sharing of good practice and learning from lessons from across WBG, clients, and partners. Is known across WBG and beyond for his/her evaluation knowledge and is sought out by colleagues to advise, peer review, or contribute to knowledge products. Seeks mentoring opportunities with more experienced staff to deepen or strengthen their professional knowledge and mentors junior staff. Builds networks across the WBG and as part of external professional groups/networks.
Make Smart Decisions - Applies critical thinking and seeks inputs and experience from others to recommend a course of action consistent with the WBG's strategy. Evaluates risk and anticipates the short- and long-term implications of decisions. Commits to a decision and takes action once a decision has been reached.
Note: If the selected candidate is a current World Bank Group Staff Member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, they will retain their Regular or Open-Ended appointment. If the selected candidate is a current World Bank Group Staff Member with a Term appointment that expires later than the end date of this appointment, they will retain the duration of their current Term appointment.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.
This vacancy is archived.