Senior Operations Officer

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. 

The South Asia Region comprises eight countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) that range in size from India (with a population of over 1 billion) to Maldives (with 0.3 million people). The Region has experienced a long period of robust economic growth, averaging 6% a year over the past 20 years. It was the second-fastest growing region in the world in the aftermath of the global crisis. This strong growth has translated into declining poverty and impressive improvements in human development. The percentage of people living below the poverty line fell in South Asia from 56% to 16% between 1981 and 2013. Still, the region remains home to a third of the world’s poorest, with 216 million people living below $1.9/day.

Nepal is part of the SACSN Country Management Unit along with Maldives and Sri Lanka, with a Country Director and Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka based in Kathmandu, Nepal. In addition to the Country Director, the Operations Manager, a Senior Operations Office, and an Operations Analyst in Nepal, the SACSN CMU includes a Country Manager, a Sr. Operations Officer, and an Operations Analyst in Colombo, Sri Lanka, an Operations Officer in Male, Maldives, as well as a Washington-based Senior Country Officer/Country Program Coordinator.

Nepal is undergoing a historic transition toward a federal democratic republic and has adopted (along with fifteen development partners) the globally-renowned Kathmandu Declaration in 2021 formally aligning itself with the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) framework supported by the World Bank. Nepal has a large development partners’ presence with active in-country donor coordination mechanisms, including the International Development Partners Group.

This represents a window of opportunity for the country to further reduce poverty, increase the income of the bottom 40 percent, and pursue its ambitious agenda of inclusive growth and accountable service delivery. The Nepal program has a portfolio value at about US$2.3 billion. Nepal is implementing the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with priority in three focus areas: (1) Public institutions and policies in a federalization context, (2) Growth and employment, and (3) Inclusion and resilience. The World Bank country program provides financial support and technical advisory services across a broad range of sectors, with focus in infrastructure, energy, human development services, climate, and disaster risk management. In addition, the priority of the program is also to support implementation of federalism. World Bank assistance is channeled through government system for agreed development priorities.

Technical Teams from the World Bank are drawn from staff in the Kathmandu Office and from around the world.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka is in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis that has impacted every aspect of the economy, and that has reversed previous human capital gains. Sri Lanka remains in the midst of this transition away from crisis to recovery, with continued areas of vulnerability. The World Bank has held a key role in working with the Sri Lankan authorities and development partners to support the recovery and a return to Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development. With a portfolio of approximately $3 billion and a complex analytical program, the World Bank has recently introduced a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY23-26, focusing on: (i) Supporting resilient, inclusive, and robust economic growth (ii) Protecting and enhancing human and natural capital.

Maldives: The Maldives is an island nation comprised of many islands and atolls dispersed in the Indian ocean. It is made up of 1,192 small coral islands of which 198 are inhabited by a local population of 543,620 individuals. With more territorial sea than land, marine resources have played a vital role in shaping economic development, with nature-based tourism and fisheries as key drivers of economic growth. Maldives is a growth success story, with a high per capital income classification, but remains vulnerable to both climactic and macroeconomic crises. With a current portfolio of around 10 IDA projects and one IDA guarantee operation with a net commitment of around $200 million, the engagement covers support education, environmental management, health emergency, social protection, urban resilience, renewable energy, youth employment, macro-fiscal and solid waste management, among others.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Senior Operations Officer in Nepal is a member of the CMU Operations Team. Under the leadership of the Operations Manager, the Sr. Operations Officer in Nepal oversees the CMU program monitoring and portfolio management, supports the Country Director and the Operations Manager in managing the relationship with government counterparts on operational and portfolio issues, and provides operational support to task teams in Nepal and across CMU countries as necessary. He/she will also back up other members of the CMU as needed.

More specifically, as part of the Country Management Unit (CMU), the Senior Operations Officer in Nepal will:

• Support the Country Director and the Operations Manager in the interactions with Government and stakeholders in Nepal and contribute substantially to the development, implementation and monitoring of the country partnership framework. The Senior Operations Officer will develop and maintain close working relations with the Washington-based Country Anchor Unit, operational staff in Sri Lanka and Maldives, sector colleagues, operational services and quality staff, and regional management.
• Support the Operations Manager in portfolio management for Nepal. This includes meeting with project teams to discuss project status and strategy; commenting on Implementation Status and Results Reports (ISRs) and Implementation Completion Report (ICR); advising on Operations Manager intervention on project and portfolio issues; disbursement issues; reviewing implementation readiness of projects under preparation, including advice on project design, results-M&E, risk management; advising the Operations Manager on management letters, extensions, cancellations, and other types of restructuring; working with the Government on generic portfolio issues; and leading the annual Nepal Portfolio Performance Review in close cooperation with the Government of Nepal.
• Advise operational staff on design and implementation of projects to mitigate governance and corruption risks in World Bank-financed Projects. In close collaboration with the project teams, develop and maintain systems to help prevent and address allegations of fraud and corruption, while promoting good governance and value-for-money in World Bank-financed projects.
• Contribute to donor coordination by developing and maintaining contacts with key stakeholders and development partners, and interfacing with donors on harmonization of policies and procedures.
• Act for the Operations Manager and support the Operations Manager in general management of the Nepal office when necessary.
• Mentor and coach junior staff and inspire technical and behavioral excellence.
• The successful candidate will be strong in operational work, will like new challenges, will have strong inter-personal skills, thriving in a rapidly changing environment.

Selection Criteria:

• Minimum of Masters Degree in a relevant discipline and 8 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated familiarity and experience in: (i) Bank operations, policy and processes with a demonstrated ability to enhance quality as a part of project preparation and supervision, (ii) cross-sectoral operational issues, procurement, financial management, environment, social, and monitoring & evaluation aspects of projects, and (iii) the challenge of addressing governance issues in a complex operational environment. Or similar experience in an international organization.
• Demonstrated ability to juggle numerous competing demands and priorities, respond quickly to country and management requests, and set priorities for self and others. Strong record of problem solving and innovation, and the ability to adapt to new challenges and to meet deadlines.
• Excellent leadership and inter-personal skills, and a demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with clients, development partners and teams. Ability to balance flexibility, patience and good listening skills together with firmness and clarity of message, while operating in a sensitive environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.

  Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=27429&site=1