Senior Program Officer

The World Bank
Washington, DC - United States
S: Competitive

Background

The World Development Report (WDR) is produced on an annual basis and is the World Bank's major analytical publication. Each year it focuses on a particular aspect of development selected by the Bank's President. The report is directed by one or two senior World Bank staff and produced by a team of Bank staff assisted by external experts under the overall direction of the Director of Development Policy and the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in the Development Economics Vice Presidency. Report preparation requires extensive consultations with clients, development partners, non-governmental groups and the private sector across the world. After completion, the report is disseminated globally including through a series of in-country presentations. In addition to the World Bank's own resources, much of the analysis and research for the report is funded through external sources.

The 2016 WDR team is aiming to strengthen its partnership and resource mobilization capacity by hiring a Senior Program Officer. The Senior Program Officer will support the WDR Director in establishing and coordinating partnerships, outreach and dissemination events, and fundraising. He or she will also be expected to support other DEC activities in these areas.

This is a one-year Term Appointment, with the option to extend for another year.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 1 year term appointment.

Duties

The Senior Operations Officer will report to the Director of Development Policy in DEC and the Co-Directors of the WDR (DECWD), also working closely with the WDR production team and other WDR team members. Specific responsibilities will include:
• Manage the WDR's and – as required – DEC's relationship with bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental donors, building and fostering strong relationships with senior officials.
• Lead WDR's global fundraising efforts. Support the fundraising activities of DEC's other business lines around WBG's strategic priorities.
• Liaise and build strong relationships with members of the WBG Executive Board to facilitate the WDR consultation process.
• Play a major role in the development and implementation of key outreach and dissemination events for the WDR.
• Prepare relevant strategy papers, briefs, summaries, working papers, reports and promotional materials for internal and external users. Actively participate in the WDR publishing and dissemination process.
• Perform other such duties as may be required from time to time to meet emerging corporate requirements.

Criteria

• A Masters Degree in a relevant field such as Economics, Communications or other social sciences or humanities.
• A minimum of ten years of professional experience in the relevant fields in the area of development, including private or public sector, fundraising, public relations, relationship management or trust fund administration.
• A detailed understanding of development policy and management, familiarity with donor agencies, and proven fundraising experience. Broad contacts within the donor community will be advantageous. Familiarity with World Bank operations, positions and priorities will be desirable.
• Ability to engage with multiple and varied stakeholders globally, demonstrated diplomatic and interpersonal skills, including problem-solving skills.
• Excellent English written and spoken communication skills are essential. Ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently and articulate issues and recommend practical solutions is important.
• Previous experience in working with WBG Knowledge products in client service and relationship management would be a plus.
• Strong teamwork orientation; Ability to work effectively under time pressure with minimal supervision; Ability to produce quality work with a high degree of accuracy, handling changes in priorities and working on multiple tasks simultaneously; Proven ability to demonstrate initiative, monitor issues and tasks, meet deadlines and priorities.
• Willingness to travel and at short notice.

Required Competencies:

Bank Instruments, Policies, Procedures, and Systems - Recognized by peers and/or managers for providing high quality, pragmatic advice to teams on the appropriate use of Bank policies, procedures and instruments and financing mechanisms.
Portfolio Management (OS) - Leads the monitoring of country/sector strategy and work program; Flags implementation issues for attention of clients and Bank management and takes a leading role in resolving these.
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.
Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions with others.
Deliver Results for Clients - Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client.
Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Initiates collaboration across boundaries and broadly across WBG, and brings differing ideas into the forefront.
Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Creates, applies and shares knowledge from across and outside WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions.
Make Smart Decisions - Recommends and takes decisive action.

Job summary