Operations Analyst, Washington-jobs

• Organization: World Bank
• Country: United States
• City: Washington, United States
• Office: World Bank HQ Washington
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Closing date: Monday, 23 April 2018

• Grade
• Location Washington, DC
• Recruitment Type Local Hire
• Language Requirement English [Essential]; Spanish [Essential]
• Closing Date 23-Apr-2018

Background / General description

THE WORLD BANK GROUP'S VISION AND STRATEGY

The global development community is at an auspicious turning point in history. Thanks to the success of the past few decades and favorable economic growth, developing countries now have an unprecedented opportunity to end extreme poverty within a generation. This is the vision of the World Bank Group (WBG): to eradicate extreme poverty by reducing the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to 3 percent by 2030, and promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the Bottom 40 percent in every country. To achieve this vision, the WBG Board of Governors has approved a strategy for the organization.

This strategy leverages, for the first time, the combined strength of the WBG institutions and their unique ability to partner with the public and private sectors to deliver customized development solutions backed by finance, world class knowledge and convening services.

The strategy has three components: (1) maximizing development impact by engaging country clients in identifying and tackling the most difficult development challenges; (2) promoting scaled-up partnerships that are strategically aligned with the goals; and (3) crowding in public and private resources, expertise and ideas.

The architecture underpinning the strategy and instrumental to its success is the establishment of fourteen Global Practices and five Cross-Cutting Solution Areas that, in concert with the WBG Regions, will design solutions that address clients' most pressing developmental challenges, and ultimately, enable the WBG to meet its twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

ABOUT THE WORLD BANK GROUP

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2016, the WBG committed $61.3 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $16.2 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions, and is introducing fourteen Global Practices as well as five Global Themes to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients. Regional Context The WDG serves 30 client countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LCR).

Clients range from large rapidly growing sophisticated middle-income clients to IDA countries to small Caribbean states to one fragile state. Despite immense resources, dynamic societies, and an average annual per capita income of about $4,000, deep inequalities persist in most LCR countries, with nearly a quarter of the Region's people living in poverty.

The Bank's strategy in LCR is focused on five pillars: (a) stimulating growth and improving competitiveness; (b) reducing poverty and inequality; (c) making governments and institutions work for people; (d) providing a platform for tackling global issues (climate change, trade, disease, migration), and (e) reducing risk, whether from extreme weather events, climate change, crime and violence or other. CMU and Country Office Context LC2 is the CMU responsible for overseeing the World Bank's program in Central America, including country strategy formulation and implementation, policy dialogue, portfolio management and country relations. The CMU Management Team consists of the Director, three Program Leaders and the Country Operations Manager, who are based at HQ; and five Country Managers/Representatives based in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama (the country manager in El Salvador is also country manager for Costa Rica).

The CMU works with a diverse set of clients: two IDA countries (Honduras and Nicaragua), two lower middle income (El Salvador and Guatemala), and two upper middle income counties (Costa Rica and Panama). Central America has the economy with the fastest growth rate in Latin America (Panama) and one with the biggest growth challenges (El Salvador); countries where poverty (US$1.25 poverty line) tops 25 percent (Honduras), and countries that are close to the 3 percent poverty objective for the Bank twin goals (Panama, with a 4 percent poverty rate); countries that have managed to transform its economy entering in high value-added sectors (Costa Rica), and countries where the structural transformation of the economy needs to happen (Nicaragua). On top of this, macroeconomic and governance challenges continue being present in most of the countries. .

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 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities

LC2 is seeking an Operations Analyst based in Washington DC to be part of its operations team. The Operations Analyst will report to the Country Director (CD) and Operations Manager (OM), directly support three Program Leaders, and work as part the unit's Operations Team. S/he is expected to be responsible for the following tasks and duties: Portfolio Analysis, Quality Assurance and Knowledge Sharing

• Carry out regular analyses of the LCC2C portfolio, and undertake portfolio-wide results and risk analysis as needed, in collaboration with country-based operations staff.
• Monitor the unit's deliverables and portfolio milestones, including lending deliverables, effectiveness deadlines, projects under supervision (including monitoring key performance indicators), restructurings, Implementation Completion and Results Reports (ICRs), and Analytic and Advisory Services (ASA) and provide regular updates to the Operations Manager and the Program Leaders, as needed.
• Provide input on portfolio and disbursements for LCR's pipeline, portfolio and risk meetings chaired by GP directors and/or LCR's Director for Strategy and Operations.
• Extract, interpret and analyze operational data, compile inputs from various sources (operational documents and Bank systems - SAP, Business Warehouse, BI, Operations Portal, etc.) to develop, maintain, and update standard and non-standard portfolio reports and spreadsheets.
• Follows up with project teams to promote compliance with corporate requirements and deadlines.
• Support the preparation of Work Program Agreements (WPAs).
• Review documents requiring LCC2C's input and/or clearance such as Implementation Status Reports (ISRs), project restructurings, Trust Fund (TF) proposals, and portal project management tasks.
• Prepare briefing material on country program and project issues.
• Communicate with task teams on operational and project implementation issues, and advise on key operational policies and processing guidelines.
• Provide inputs to unit's reports, including co-authoring specific sections, to different documents like Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD), Country Partnership Framework (CPF), Performance and Learning Review (PLR) as well as regular briefs to management and event/visit specific briefs. Support to Country Director
• Draft and compile briefing notes for CD in preparation of meetings, events and country visits.
• Draft/review agendas for Department Management Team (DMT) meetings, as well as internal meetings to be chaired by CD.
• Participate in meetings attended by the CD and provide follow-up support.
• Support the CD on following up of corporate decisions and agreement with the GPs.
• Liase with the communications team, as needed, including ensuring that the CMU's webpage remains current.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in relevant field (economics, development studies, public administration, social sciences).
• At least 2 years of work experience in operations, portfolio monitoring, and/or project implementation.
• Strong analytical, research and organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to prioritize work among multiple competing demands and tight deadlines.
• High degree of initiative, flexibility and ability to work independently with good track record of being a team player.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills with the capacity to interact in a multi-cultural environment.
• Experience collecting and analyzing data sets.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills in English, including the ability to write short reports and briefing notes.
• Advanced knowledge of Spanish would be an advantage.
• Experience working with international organizations is a plus.

Competencies

• Project Management - Understands the basic concepts of project management, as they relate to the execution of tasks within a project.
• Data Collection and Management - Demonstrates use of this competency.
• Bank Instruments, Policies, Procedures, and Systems - Basic knowledge of Bank Instruments, Policies and Procedures, including Safeguards, FM and Procurement.
• Portfolio Management (OS) - Assists and/or organizes portfolio reviews; prepares portfolio monitoring reports, and follows-up on portfolio review recommendations.
• Analytical and Technical Skills, Operational Strategy Development & Advice - Solid theoretical base with relevance for specific Bank Network recognized Sector or Theme.
• Lead and Innovate - Brings new and different insights.
• Deliver Results for Clients - Contributes to delivery of results for clients on complex issues.
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Collaborates within team and across boundaries.
• Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Actively contributes to and readily applies WBG's body of knowledge for internal and/or external client solutions.
• Make Smart Decisions - Leverages available data and makes timely decisions. The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.