Country Manager WBG Joint Representation

Do you want to build a truly worthwhile career? Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The WBG is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID) 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.

To address country development needs and global challenges with impact and at scale, IBRD/IDA, IFC, and MIGA are increasingly working as One World Bank Group through purposeful collaboration, coordination, and deployment of our collective knowledge and services. Through this approach, we aim to streamline and simplify our country’s engagement, allowing countries to better leverage the comparative advantages of each WBG institution and access solutions that maximize the respective strengths of the public and private sectors. 

A critical role in delivering on this approach is the new joint Country Manager role that is being established in several countries to represent the WBG in relationships with the government, private sector clients, and key partners and oversee the operations, investments, and programs of all WBG institutions in the country. The WBG is seeking a joint Country Manager for Chile based in Santiago. The Country Manager reports to the IBRD Country Director for Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia and the IFC Regional Director for South America and serves as a member of the IBRD and IFC regional management teams.

The priorities for the WBG in Chile are a) supporting the Chilean government on its complex reform agenda; b) increasing access to quality and inclusive services; and c) supporting Chile’s decarbonized and climate-resilient development.

Duties and Accountabilities:

Business Management :

• Under the guidance of the Regional/Country Directors, develops, updates, and implements country-level strategies, including the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), drawing on a synthesis of enhanced diagnostics and core analytics.
• Leads the One World Bank Group engagement with the government aligned with the CPF priorities and coordinates programming that identifies and delivers the optimal mix of private and public sector solutions.
• Takes accountability for increasing the speed, scale, and quality of results in the country aligned with the CPF and the WBG corporate scorecard in coordination with sectoral/industry colleagues and the country management team.
• Recommends and promotes upstream market creation approaches and interventions for the country and engages in discussions on needed policy reforms to improve the enabling environment for private capital.
• Evaluates and provides advice and guidance to teams on the implementation of investments, advisory services, lending, and knowledge products, complemented by Global Challenge Programs (country-level operations that are part of a broader, globally coordinated thematic platform).
• Develops market knowledge to ensure that the WBG is working with the right sponsors and takes accountability for client vetting and integrity due diligence.
• Demonstrates excellent business judgment in balancing the importance of bankability, development impact, risks, and sustainability.
• Provides oversight of portfolio management and quality, working with clients and advising operational teams to address implementation and performance issues, and working to ensure high quality results on the ground.

Relationship Management :

• Fosters a culture of partnership and trust, whereby all internal and external parties appreciate the mutual benefits of working together.
• Leads coordination and collaboration with development partners in the country—bilateral agencies, regional and other multilateral agencies—to strengthen country-led development processes.
• Strategically engages with and manages senior-level relationships with the government, private sector clients and other key stakeholders.
• Builds and deepens the process of consultation with NGOs, the private sector, media, state and local government, academia, and other civil society groups, to grow capacity and participation of all levels of society in the development process.

Knowledge Management and Communications:

• Cultivates an environment of openness that encourages innovation and rewards knowledge sharing and dissemination to drive impact.
• Supports country teams to apply global knowledge and considers the complex local political economy in the work program.
• Disseminate best practices and lessons learned and manage learning and knowledge flows, including the full suite of WBG products and solutions.
• Ensures the implementation of the access to information policy.
• Leads in communicating the results of engagements internally and externally, in coordination with the communications team. 

Country Team and Resource Management:

• Manages the WBG country office team, including the recruitment, evaluation, and career development of designated staff, focusing on staff welfare and productivity.
• Oversees operations of the country office, including formulating and managing the country office budget and ensuring effective and efficient use of resources.
• Implements country office security and safety program covering WBG staff and dependents, property, programs, and information.
• Represents the WBG in the country-level UN Security Management System.

Selection Criteria:

• Master’s degree or PhD in relevant field, including business, finance, economics, or an area of expertise specific to a sector or industry.
• Minimum of 12 years of professional experience in positions of increasing complexity and responsibility in an international context, with demonstrated track record in country program management, business consulting, investment banking, or operational experience in a sector relevant to the country.
• Excellent understanding of the role, dynamics and interdependencies of the public and private sectors in achieving development goals at the country level.
• Portfolio management experience and proven competency in implementation support.
• Strong political, diplomatic, and partnership skills; ability to develop and sustain close and effective senior-level working relationships with the government, private sector clients, and partners.
• Strong strategic orientation in order to link macro and sector strategies as well as lending and non-lending services within a consistent development framework, and to anchor and integrate the overall economic and sector policy dialogue.
• Ability to connect the dots across corporate strategies and portfolio management lessons learned to generate innovative ideas and replicable solutions.
• Analytical, financial, credit, integrity assessment, and business skills to identify project and program viability, assess sustainable development impact, and identify portfolio risks, and determine how to approach complex risk-reward trade-offs.
• Broad and strategic perspective and ability to translate strategy and resources into business opportunities.
• Proven track record in offering integrated solutions to clients in challenging contexts.
• Ability to influence and mobilize support across institutional boundaries.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to speak persuasively and present ideas clearly and concisely.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=27087&site=1