Senior Social Development Specialist

Senior Social Development Specialist

Job #: req12298

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Social Development

Grade: GG

Term Duration: 3 years

Recruitment Type: International Recruitment

Location: Hanoi,Vietnam

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 7/1/2021 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

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.

East Asia and Pacific Social Sustainability and Inclusion Unit (SEAS1): The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Unit 1 (SEAS1) in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region is responsible for: (i) undertaking social analysis during project preparation and implementation to mainstream social development and inclusion issues throughout the Bank's work in the region; (ii) ensuring compliance with the Bank's Environment and Social Framework standards and safeguards policies relevant to social risk management; (iii) undertaking Advisory Services and Analytics in the form of thematic studies on social sustainability and inclusion issues; (iv) leading the preparation and supervision of lending operations that promotes inclusion of vulnerable groups including ethnic minorities, women and youth, and (v) facilitating partnerships and dialogue with civil society through outreach and engagement. For more information regarding World Bank in East Asia and Pacific region, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eap

SEAS1 is seeking a Senior Social Development specialist to be based in Hanoi, Vietnam and provide a broad range of analytical and operational support for primarily the Vietnam program but may also include other countries in the region.

The Vietnam SSI Program includes the following three key areas of work: (a) leading or contributing to analytical work on a range of social inclusion issues, including: gender and women's economic empowerment; ethnic minorities and access to services, disability, social cohesion and resilience; and contributing to core country level diagnostics (e.g., SCD, CPF, Poverty Assessment, etc.); (b) co-leading of selected operations with strong social inclusion objectives; and (c) providing advice to task teams and clients on social risk management and social sustainability in World Bank-financed projects.

The successful candidate will work as part of SSI team in Vietnam and report directly to SEAS1 Practice Manager.

Role & Responsibilities: The Senior Social Development Specialist is expected to lead or support social inclusion analytics that cut across the Vietnam country program. Specifically,

Lead the unit's analytical work program and operational support. Interact with clients at the operational and policy level and lead dialogue with counterparts and development partners and advise on full range of social inclusion topics, and identify opportunities for, and lead in the preparation of, new analytical and advisory work related to social inclusion of uniquely marginalized groups in Vietnam (e.g., people with disabilities; internal migrants; vulnerable female heads of households, etc.).
Co-lead the programmatic analytical and advisory work on socio-economic development of ethnic minority communities in Vietnam (and its successor ASA) and co-lead on gender equity including delivery of analytical outputs, and advisory services to the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), the National Assembly Committee on Ethnic Minorities, Vietnam Women's Union, and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).
Lead the provision of social inclusion technical assistance to ethnic minorities and local communities for the implementation of the results based emission program (i.e., Forest Carbon Partnership Facility) in Vietnam (and Laos), especially as it relates to restriction of access to natural resources, gender equity and inclusion, benefit sharing of carbon payments; and co-lead other operations as appropriate.
Ensure issues of social inclusion and gender equity are mainstreamed in ASAs related to for example climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, poverty assessment as well as Development Policy Operations addressing these and related issues.
Maintain active engagement with broad range of stakeholders, including key government agencies, development partners, civil society, research organizations working on social inclusion issues. Actively contribute to policy dialog on laws, regulations, and policies relevant for social inclusion.
Work with other team members, develop and implement a communication and knowledge dissemination strategy to help maximize the policy impact of ASA work in operations.
Other assignments as and when required by the Practice Manager.

Selection Criteria

Advanced university degree (Masters or PhD) in relevant social science (e.g., Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, and Political Science) or related fields.
Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social development topics, including at least three of the following topics: social inclusion, social accountability, community level development, fragility and conflict, gender, ethnic minorities/indigenous people, youth, and social dimensions of climate change.

Experience in leading analytical and technical assistance activities linked to operations including Development Policy operations.

Proven ability to carry-out independent policy-relevant research, translate theory into practical applications, and adapt professional knowledge and technical skills to analyze, diagnose and propose solutions to policy issues and challenges.
Solid experience in qualitative and/or quantitative research methods and analysis.
Knowledge of WB financing instruments and operational procedures including trust fund management.
Demonstrated project/program management skills; aptitude to lead diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and team skills, and ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced solutions to complex development problems, with a strong client focus.
Specific operational experience with social development programs including Community Driven Development, decentralization, gender, and social inclusion an advantage.
Excellent oral and written communications skills in English essential.

In addition, the successful candidate is expected to exhibit the following core competencies:

Deliver Results for Clients: Proactively address client's stated and unstated needs.
Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries: Collaborate across boundaries, gives own perspective, and willingly received diverse perspectives.
Lead and Innovate: Develop innovative solutions.
Create, Apply and Share Knowledge: Apply knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
Make Smart Decisions: Interpret a wide range of information and pushes to move forward.

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.

APPLY HERE