Practice Manager at World Bank Group

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. Visit www.worldbank.org.

Background / General Description

The Sustainable Development Practice Group helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture; Climate Change; Environment and Natural Resources; Social Development; Urban, Resilience and Land Development; and Water.

AFRICA REGIONAL CONTEXT

The African continent provides challenges and opportunities for the World Bank’s twin goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity. More than half of the world’s poor live in the 47 states of Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a wide range of populations – with 12 states having less than 1.5 million people and 6 with more than 50 million. Angola, Nigeria and South Africa make up about 60% of the region’s GDP. Poverty has declined from 59% in 1993 to 41% in 2015, but the number of poor has increased and there is an overlap between the monetary poor and deprivations in other aspects (e.g. education and social services). The average fertility rate is twice the global average and the Human Capital Index is 0.4. Access to electricity is around 45%. Growth is expected to be 2.9% in 2019 partly due to the tightening of global financial conditions and the volatility of commodity prices. Given the youthful demographics and greater private sector dynamism in the region, there are important opportunities for economic growth, bolstered by political reforms, regional integration, disruptive technologies and globalization. Achieving the Bank’s twin goals will require a concerted effort to accelerate the rate of poverty reduction, a key objective in Africa, including tackling efforts to promote social inclusion by women and other vulnerable groups.

Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice (GPURL)

The Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice (GPURL) covers issues of urban and territorial development, disaster risk management and resilience, land and geospatial, as well as results-based financing. The GPURL comprises of a portfolio of 250 projects in investment project financing, Program for Results, and Development Policy Lending, with total commitments of $30 billion. New lending averaging $6 billion annually. The GP has 200 active ASAs. There are over 400 staff in the GP. Key priorities within the GP are to enable clients: build cities that are green and livable, inclusive, resilient and competitive by strengthening planning and service delivery capacity, scaling up access to finance, tackling territorial and spatial inequalities and strengthening urban resilience; strengthen disaster risk management capacity and institutions; mainstream resilience across development sectors; expand land tenure security with a focus on women and vulnerable groups; developing geospatial infrastructure and capacity; and scaling up results based financing.

URBAN/DRM/Land Context for the AFR Urban and DRM PM position

Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Cities generate 80% of global GDP and are key to job creation and the pursuit of shared prosperity. Yet one billion city residents live in slums today, and by 2030 one billion new migrants will arrive in cities. This concentration of people and assets will exacerbate risk exposure to adverse natural events and climate change, which affects the poor disproportionately. The absence of secure land tenure underpins deprivation and is a major source of conflict in the urban and rural space. One and a half billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of violence. In the absence of services, participative planning and responsive institutions, these trends will result in increased poverty, social exclusion, vulnerability and violence. Finally, avoiding a 4-degree warmer world requires drastically reducing the carbon footprint of cities.

Matters of land tenure, land administration and land management touch all areas of the World Bank Group Group’s Practice’s themes. Food production, poverty alleviation and growth, and the sustainable use of natural resources and growth of cities, all relate to how communities, families, public and private sector get access to land and how their rights are administered, managed and altered. Typical projects cover a wide variety of legal (land rights recognition, allocation and registration), technical (land and spatial records and data, territorial planning), fiscal (property valuation and taxation) and social (minority rights, safeguards) topics, collaborating with central and local governments, private sector, civil society and specialists and academics all over the world.

Natural disasters are a main source of risk for the poor and present a serious obstacle to achieving sustainable social and economic development. Disasters affect the poor most severely; measures taken to manage hazards and reduce their impact provide an effective vehicle to make substantial advances in the fight against poverty. As a result, disaster risk management (DRM) is a large and growing part of the World Bank’s overall portfolio of lending and technical assistance.

The Practice Manager will be based in East Africa, specific country will be firmed up later.

Duties and Accountabilities

Solutions And Results To Clients

The AFR region created an additional Practice Manager position in Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Practice. In addition to being an active member of the Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Management Practice Board, and of the AFR SD Regional Management Team, the Practice Manager will be responsible for selected number of CMUs and will collaborate across technical, geographic and institutional boundaries. The Practice manager will be responsible for the following areas:

• Leads her/his team to deliver the GP’s key strategic priorities and, in collaboration with Country Directors, ensures alignment with the WBG Strategy, Country Partnership Framework.
• Draws on thought leadership and implementation know-how to ensure high impact multi-sectoral solutions
• Builds and maintains a balanced portfolio of innovative, cost-effective and demand-driven products and services
• Works in partnership with other PMs in the GP and with other GPs, as well as public and private stakeholders, in order to find tailored and holistic solutions to complex development challenges
• Accountable for delivering high-quality and timely results

People/Talent Management

• Models exemplary WBG leadership values and managerial behaviors and reinforces these qualities in own team and staff
• Drives and inspires technical excellence within the team and the GP by creating an environment of learning and innovation that attracts and develops the best talent reflective of the diversity of our clients
• Supports GP management in developing and implementing appropriate strategies for global staffing, deployment, talent and performance management

Knowledge Management

• Ensures that the GP is at the forefront of the development debate and contributes to the global dialogue in the area of expertise of the GP
• Ensures timely flow and capture of knowledge and expertise so that clients receive the highest quality support and knowledge they need, when and where they need it
• Promotes innovative and cross-cutting research, as well as the dissemination of technical and experiential knowledge and learning
• Instills a culture of evidence-based, yet client tailored engagement for highest development impact

Resource Management

• In consultation with relevant stakeholders within the WBG, decides on the best use of internal and external resources for maximum client and developmental impact
• Is accountable for delivering the agreed upon work program through cost-effective use of resources (human and budget) within the agreed parameters and in compliance with internal controls and policies, and ensures timely delivery and overall quality of the GP’s outputs

Communication

• Development and representation of the GP “brand”
• Effective communication to various audiences, including key stakeholders, clients, beneficiaries, general public, internal and external partners

Selection Criteria

• Passion for the WBG mission
• Excellence in managerial skills, demonstrated through outstanding leadership of teams, demonstrated mentoring experience, and a passion for team management, career development, and staff skills building.
• Outstanding abilities to work in teams, influence across boundaries, encourage and include different perspectives, and build social capital in diverse groups that use their diversity for greater impact to the benefit of clients
• Recognized development practitioner within WBG or among one or more of the following: academia, partners, private sector actors, and policymakers, and with track record of applying practice know-how and effective policy dialogue to achieve development results.
• Demonstrated in-depth experience working across practice and disciplinary boundaries, and with multiple stakeholders – both public and private – in building collaborative alliances for results
• Strong written and oral communication skills with proven experience in dealing with the media, external constituencies and expert groups
• Masters or PhD degree in relevant field, and typically the successful candidate will have 12-15 years of experience in positions of increasing complexity and responsibility
• Technical knowledge and experience in development areas, preferably in one or more of the following areas: urban development, municipal finance, solid waste, climate policy, urban and regional planning, disaster risk assessment and reconstruction.
• Extensive experience with both country level project and analytical work, as well as with the agenda relevant to urban development, disaster risk management, including the climate change agenda
• WBG Leadership Values and Managerial Behaviors:
• Leadership of Self: Role model the change and values for WBG; Demonstrate courage of convictions, ownership and self-mastery within the organization in accordance to our values
• People Leadership: Lead and inspire staff to perform and deliver for better results; Help others achieve their fullest potential through coaching and mentorship
• Collaborative Leadership: Be mutually accountable for entire WBG’s corporate targets and success; Work across WBG and with clients and partners to achieve better results
• Client Solutions Leadership: Be the leading provider of development solutions for country clients; Provide leadership in both knowledge generation and knowledge sharing
• Decisive Leadership: Take informed risks and make decisions in a transparent manner resulting in transformative impact for clients; Commit to decisions once they have been made

WBG 5 Managerial Competencies: Courage of your convictions; Leading Teams for impact; Influencing across boundaries; Fostering openness to new ideas; and Building talent for the future

WBG Core Competencies for all staff: Client orientation; Drive for results; Teamwork of collaboration and inclusion; Knowledge, learning and communication; and Business judgment and analytical decision-making

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