Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. 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, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. 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
Bamako is a non-family post and international staff based in Bamako are eligible for Rest-and-Recuperation travel.
Background
The World Bank engagement in FCV situations and the FCV Group
Addressing issues related to Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) is critical for the World Bank Group (WGB) to achieve its twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. Recent developments have highlighted the complexity of the FCV agenda, its multifaceted nature, its relevance beyond the Low-Income Countries, and its regional dimensions. The WBG’s FCV Strategy has laid a framework for strengthening the WBG’s programs in FCV-affected countries.
The FCV Group aims to steer and drive the FCV agenda within the WBG, and to ensure consistency, complementarity, and synergies in approaches across the WBG. The FCV Group is led by a Director and is comprised of approximately 45 staff distributed across two separate units.
AWCW3 (Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger)
AWCW3 countries are facing a range of distinct FCV-related challenges and risks, including those arising from institutional fragility, regional conflict, violence by state and non-state armed groups, intercommunal tensions and conflict, and forced displacement. They are also affected by multiple shocks and crises, political, social, economic, and COVID 19-related.
The WBG has an active engagement in the Sahel, including through lending and dedicated FCV related allocations and windows under IDA19/20, ASA, and partnerships. The challenge for the WBG is to help clients address the structural and fragility challenges they are facing, and to design and implement its programs accordingly. This requires strengthening the WBG’s ability: (1) to analyze the evolving FCV situation on a continued basis and to reflect this into strategic programming; (2) to leverage the relevant FCV related windows and allocations under IDA19/20 for policy dialogue, programming and partnerships, including the Prevention and Resilience Allocation (PRA) and Window for Host Communities and Refugees (WHR); (3) to tailor the design of specific activities to reflect the FCV challenges faced by these countries; and (4) to resolve implementation challenges, in particular in contexts of insecurity and / or elite capture.
The FCV Group is posting a Senior Operations Officer in Bamako to such an effort by the AWCW3 Country Management Unit (CMU).
Roles and responsibilities:
The Senior Operations Officer will have a dual reporting – to the GTFS2 Practice Manager (full line) and to the Country Director for AWCW3 (dotted line). The Senior Operations Officer is expected to work with proactivity and autonomy to spearhead the FCV Group’s effort in the Sahel countries – in close coordination with FCV colleagues covering Niger and Chad, colleagues from the CMU and Global Practices as needed, as well as external stakeholders.
Key responsibilities will include:
· Lead or contribute to analytical work, with a particular focus on Risks and Resilience Assessments, risk monitoring, and their relation to the development agenda;
· Help identify strategic implications for the Bank Group engagement model, policy dialogue, and portfolio implementation, including by contributing to key strategic products, including (but not limited to) Systematic Country Diagnostics (SCD), Performance and Learning Review (PLR), and Country Partnership Frameworks (CPF)/Country Engagement Notes (CEN);
· Lead the dialogue with the authorities and other stakeholders on the implementation of the strategic programs supported under the IDA 19 PRA (including but not limited to leading preparation of the corresponding annual reviews).
· Lead or contribute to efforts aimed at strengthening the WBG’s support on forced displacement-related issues, in close coordination with relevant colleagues and external partners;
· Provide hands-on operational support to help enhance the FCV focus of specific operations as may be needed, and their responsiveness to the fragility and political economy challenges in country, and help improve quality at entry and strengthen supervision, including support and/or experience-sharing on operational flexibilities, third-party implementation arrangements, and in the use of the Geo-Enabling for Monitoring and Supervision (GEMS) tool, as needed;
· Play a lead role in supporting the CMU in managing partnerships with other actors, including political, security, NGOs/CSOs, and humanitarian actors, with a view to enhancing linkages with development activities and promoting coherent reform efforts;
· Contribute to strengthening FCV skills of country team members through training, knowledge sharing and advisory as needed, and contribute to the further development of the WBG’s FCV agenda at a global level.
Selection Criteria
· Master’s degree in economics, law, social sciences, or another relevant discipline and at least 8 years of directly relevant experience.
· In-depth knowledge and understanding of FCV issues, including conflict risk mitigation and forced displacement.
· Operational experience in strategy development, policy dialogue, and operations in FCV settings; outstanding strategic and analytical skills; ability to link political analysis and operational implications.
· Client focus and drive for results; demonstrated commitment to the principles of client-driven development.
· Excellent interpersonal and team skills, and ability to work with a range of stakeholders.
· Strong organizational skills; ability to prioritize, to deal with frequent and unexpected changes, and to work within tight timeframes.
· Strong communications skills, both verbal and written, in both English and French.
· Experience with Bank operations, policies, procedures and processes.
· Personal integrity, ability to handle confidential matters in a discreet and respectful manner.
WBG Core Competencies
· Deliver Results for Clients: Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client. 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.
· Collaborate within Teams and across Boundaries: Initiates collaboration across boundaries and broadly across WBG, and brings differing ideas into the forefront. 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.
· Lead and Innovate: Develops innovative solutions with others. 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
· Create, Apply and Share Knowledge: Creates, applies and shares knowledge from across and outside WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions. Ensures systematic sharing of good practice and learning from lessons from across WBG, clients, and partners. Is known across WBG in their subject area and is sought out by WBG colleagues to advise, peer review, or contribute to knowledge products of others. 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: Recommends and takes decisive action. 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
Other Competencies
Bank Instruments, Policies, and Procedures, and Ability to Proactively Apply Them: Solid operational experience, including as a World Bank task team leader, in at least two regions and for complex operations. Familiarity with financial sector and private sector development challenges in middle income, low income and fragile country settings highly desirable. Solid knowledge of operational policies and procedures and ability to apply them in the different context, advise teams to resolve the bottlenecks, and find pragmatic operational solutions. An ability to exercise quality assurance of documents at different stages of project cycle.
Portfolio Management and Results Monitoring and Evaluation: An ability to independently monitor portfolio and pipeline and provide signals to management when the program goes off track. Preparing and leading country/GP portfolio reviews. An ability to monitor IBRD financing as well as IDA utilization. An ability to design and implement results frameworks. Providing key inputs in business planning/MoU exercises.
Integrative and Communication Skills:
· Integrating divergent viewpoints of multiple external and internal stakeholders into a coherent project/program/strategy.
· Excellent written and oral communications skills in English; proficiency in one or more additional languages highly desirable.
· Ability to work effectively in a small team environment critical.
Analytical and Technical Skills, Operational Strategy Development & Advice - Recognized by peers and/or managers for ability to identify and pro-actively solve operational issues and problems.
Fragile, Conflict and Violence Situations Skills:
This vacancy is archived.