Lead Transboundary Water Specialist & Program Manager – GH  

Description

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.
 

THE WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE

Water resources are under unprecedented and increasing pressures, driven by greater climate variability, population and economic growth, land-use changes, and declining quantities and qualities of both ground and surface waters.  With cross-cutting impacts on agriculture, education, energy, health, gender equity, and livelihood, water is an essential resource for all life on the planet and is at the center of economic and social development.  Climate change expresses itself through water and sound water management lies at the heart of the resilience agenda. Successful water management requires accurate knowledge of the resource available and an assessment of competing demands for its usage. Making best use of available supplies requires complex and sensitive economic, environmental and socio-political trade-offs. Planning for a more uncertain and more constrained water environment in the future only makes the situation more complex. The world will not be able to meet the great development challenges of the 21st century – human development, livable cities, climate change, food security, energy security, and universal access to services – unless we ensure a water-secure world for all. 

The WBG is in a unique position to help governments take such an integrated and strategic approach to solve water supply, sanitation, water resource, hydropower, and irrigation problems through partnership, finance, and knowledge.  The Water Global Practice(GP) is poised to deliver on a Water Secure World through an approach that focuses on Sustaining Water Resources, Delivering Services and Building Resilience. The Water GP also has strong external partnerships and houses the Global Water Security and Sanitation Program (GWSP), the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030WRG) and several regional transboundary programs.  The GP has a close-knit leadership structure, with a Global Director, 11 Practice Managers, 2 Global Program Managers, and Global Leads for
(1) WSS Service Delivery,
(2) Water in Agriculture,
(3) Water Resources Management,
(4) Economics and Climate, and
(5) Finance.

The LT also works closely with other GPs and the Regional Directors. Increasingly, while staff may specialize in one sub-sector, they are encouraged and supported to address the full water agenda in terms of analytical, policy, and operational work. The GP, through its fully integrated GWSP Trust Fund, places highest priority on global knowledge into local implementation, as well as in deploying and providing opportunities for staff to work in operational regions and global products.

Transboundary Waters

The majority of the world’s freshwater flows across boundaries.  Transboundary waters extend beyond national jurisdictions and their policy-making structures. Actions and decisions taken by one riparian can have significant direct impacts on the economy, environment, and population of another. Effective policy responses require international collective action. As growth and climate-induced pressures on water mount, shared development of scarce resources is becoming more and more critical to sustainable futures. The combined effects of increasing exploitation and pollution of transboundary waters and the impact that climate change is having on their availability and variability mean that by 2050, 50 to 100% more people could live in water-stressed transboundary basins compared to today. 

Transboundary water cooperation is a central element of SDG 6 and the broader sustainable development agenda. Prospects for country development and stability depend on recognizing and capturing opportunities between states and their regions, and states and the wider world, including those offered by water resources. Global experience shows that as more countries are involved in the management of shared resources, the “solution space” for trade-offs and shared benefits typically increases.  However, around two-thirds of the world’s transboundary rivers don’t have a cooperative management agreement, and as of 2020, only five transboundary aquifers had a cooperative management agreement in place. SDG 6 also recognizes that effective transboundary management requires the capacity to manage water resources at the national and sub-national levels.  

The Global Facility for Transboundary Water Cooperation (GFTWC)

The World Bank has a long history of engaging in support of transboundary water management and development, including supporting clients in landmark engagements on almost every continent. It manages Trust Funds focused on the topic, including the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) and the Central Asia Water and Energy Program (CAWEP), in addition to other regional transboundary water engagements. 

To respond to these increasing transboundary water challenges, the World Bank and its partners have recently launched a Global Facility for Transboundary Waters Cooperation (the Facility).  As designed, the Facility supports countries and other relevant stakeholders needing assistance around transboundary dialogue and engagement, seed financing for their work, and access to larger financing for investments. The overarching objective of this Facility is to advance sustainable water resources management and climate change mitigation and adaptation through transboundary water management and cooperation. The Facility aims to achieve the objective through the development of targeted knowledge, tools, operational support modalities, and financing. Maximizing synergies between its partners, the Facility brings together internal and external technical specialists across a range of disciplines to help countries identify challenges and transboundary solutions, while working in conjunction with diplomatic partners or independent experts on sensitive mattersto rely on the competitive advantages of each partner. The Facility also helps to address the “market failure” that limits the supply of regional and global public goods (e.g., freshwater biodiversity conservation) and to leverage climate finance to support transboundary water cooperation. 

At the global level, a global delivery platform will help ensure coordination, learning and complementary work in shaping the global agenda among existing and new partners. It provides an opportunity to bring in expertise and share experiences across regions.  

At the regional, basin, country, and sub-national-level initiatives, the Facility brings together technical specialists across a range of disciplines to help countries and basins identify challenges, opportunities for engagement, and transboundary solutions, while working in conjunction with diplomatic partners or independent experts on sensitive matters, to rely on the respective strengths of all partners. 

The Facility’s activities are coordinated by a Secretariat under the Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership (GWSP) housed in the World Bank’s Water Global Practice. The Secretariat manages the day-to-day administrative tasks of the Facility related to knowledge management, reporting, funding, networking, and communications. The Secretariat will be responsible for the alignment of activities with the WBG and government priorities, communications and risk management, as well as ensuring complementarity with members and partner activities and priorities.

WTR GP is recruiting a Lead Transboundary Water Specialist (Program Manager) to develop and manage the Global Facility for Transboundary Water Cooperation (GFTWC). The position is a full-time position and will report to the Global Director, Water.   The Program Manager is expected to work closely with the Water GP Leadership Team and will report to the Water GP Global Director. The position is expected to be based in Washington, D.C. 

The specific duties and accountabilities of the Lead Transboundary Water Specialist (Program Manager) will include:

1. Provide just in time and longer-term strategic and technical support to technical teams and to management on transboundary engagement and other critical water resources management engagements.   
2. Provide briefings to senior management on complex transboundary situations and reviews of proposed transboundary projects.  
3. Execute and contribute to analytical work to advance the transboundary agenda.   This may include papers on transboundary waters, blogs and other communication materials, and contributions to global flagship reports.  
4. Lead the overall execution of the activities of the Facility. Work with senior management to establish the strategic approach for the Facility. Establish annual workplans for the facility, based on inputs and needs from transboundary teams across the World Bank, as well as emerging global needs and opportunities.  
5. Manage the day-to-day activities of the Secretariat of the Facility, including coordination and guidance to staff and consultants.  This includes use of the Roster of Experts, and work with regional teams to support new and strengthen existing client initiatives in transboundary water.  Mobilize resources from across the Bank (knowledge and support) to help regional teams in the execution of transboundary work.  
6. As resources allow, execute a grant program for regional transboundary work, including potentially Bank executed and recipient executed programming.  
7. In conjunction with GWSP, coordinate the Facility’s donor relations, including building new donor relationships, partner coordination and management at an operational level.   Execute meetings of the Advisory Committee (AC)  for the Facility.   Work with external and internal stakeholders to propose and develop new activities of the Global Facility, while aligning them closely with Bank operational and analytical work.  Provide any needed reporting and partner relationship management to the GWSP program.  
8. Coordinate the Facility’s outreach activities, including with governments, regional organizations, CSOs, and development partners.  Represent the World Bank at key transboundary waters fora.  
9. Coordinate and help maintain key internal partnerships, including with the regions, other GSGs and GPs; Manage follow-up on strategic discussions, and organization of events or other activities.   Work with the communications and learning teams to plan and execute communications and learning agendas on transboundary waters.  
10. Actively engage with other Regional Transboundary Program Managers and the WTR GP’s Transboundary FP to represent the World Bank at external events, advance World Bank support for transboundary waters, further develop links between the Facility and the Banks FCV agenda, climate and GCP agendas, and facilitate exchange of experiences and client dialogue on transboundary waters issues across regions.  
11. Other related tasks.  
 

Selection Criteria

• Candidates for this position must exhibit the Water Competencies. In addition to meeting all Bank-wide Grade GH level position criteria (i.e., Work in at least two world regions or a combination of region and corporate assignments, and field experience preferred), they should fulfill the following additional criteria:  
• Master’s degree in water resources, engineering, international relations, water law and/or policy, development, or a related field.  
• At least 12 years of relevant work experience, including experience in international waters or other complex water resources programs and in managing complex programs.  
• Experience in managing complex transboundary water programs and demonstrated deep technical knowledge in areas of transboundary waters management.
• Demonstrated professional leadership and ability to lead corporate agendas and in the execution of major programs and projects.   
• Demonstrated ability to work in politically sensitive situations.  Strong interpersonal skills and ability to liaise with multiple groups of people with competing demands under tight deadlines.  
• Experience in conceptualizing solutions to complex problems and leading coalitions of stakeholders in actualizing those solutions.   
• Experience with donor/development partner relationship cultivation and management.  
• Excellent and proven writing and presentation skills. 
• Experience working in a complex organization, including in matrix settings.  Knowledge of Word Bank procedures and systems preferred.
• English required.  
 

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.

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