Social Development Specialist

Term duration: 4 years

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. The Sustainable Development Practice Group helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food; Climate Change; Environmental and Social Framework (ESF); Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy; Social Sustainability and Inclusion; Urban, Resilience and Land Development; and Water. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND INCLUSION GLOBAL PRACTICE The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice helps countries tackle deep rooted social problems stemming from fragility, climate change, exclusion, and the digital age with people centered solutions that build on local values and institutions. The Practice engages with citizens, communities and governments to deepen resilience, build inclusion, and empower vulnerable and marginalized groups to have influence and voice. It prioritizes participatory, multi-sectoral approaches that build on norms and informal institutions to address social challenges and to build more inclusive, empowered communities. The Practice also works across the Bank’s portfolio to implement the Environment and Social Framework (ESF) standards. The ESF offers an overarching platform for fostering inclusive approaches to ensure vulnerable groups benefit from Bank investments and mitigate against related risks. The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice has adopted a new strategy that aims to promote inclusive sustainable development anchored on three pillars: * Social Inclusion: enhancing opportunities for equality and inclusion of all people irrespective of income level, geography, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation or other grounds of discrimination; advancing inclusive laws, regulations, policies and institutions;and investing in access to markets and services for hard to reach and marginalized groups living in lagging regions. * Social Resilience: strengthening social risk management for social sustainability; enhancing social cohesion and opportunities in fragile communities; strengthening social resilience to climate extremes and natural hazards; and supporting emergency response and an inclusive recovery from covid-19. * Social Empowerment: supporting community empowerment for more effective service delivery; fostering accountable governance including from the bottom up; and promoting community-driven women’s empowerment and livelihood support programs. POSITION The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Practice has a growing work program in West and Central Africa, encompassing project loans and grants, advisory and analytical programs and active partnerships supporting a wide range of engagements across sectors, including women’s empowerment and gender equality, social inclusion, citizen engagement and social accountability; social resilience and social risk management. SAWS1, one of the two Social Sustainability and Inclusion units in West and Central Africa, is looking to recruit a Social Development Specialist/Social Sustainability and Inclusion Specialist to provide support the Bank's expanding social sustainability and inclusion program. The selected candidate will report directly to a regional Practice Manager and will be expected to work closely with country units and task teams across the region. S/he will also work collaboratively and develop good relations with the corporate safeguards team, and the Bank-wide Social Sustainability and Safeguards Global Solutions Group (GSG), coordinated by the Global Lead. Duties and Accountabilities The Social Development Specialist will provide direct support to clients and Bank teams on social sustainability, inclusion, women’s empowerment, and stakeholder engagement. In particular, (s)he will focus on the following specific areas: * Support/lead the development of technical solutions, preparation and implementation of projects focusing on women economic empowerment, community driven development, service delivery and livelihood support, particularly in the context of fragility, conflict, and violence. * Participate in World Bank project teams to develop operational designs and mechanisms, including the integration principle and concrete actions that promote social sustainability, inclusion, empowerment and citizen engagement. Advise and support task teams and counterparts on technical options for social development programs and operations, on the full range of social development topics, including social cohesion, citizen engagement, social inclusion, women’s empowerment, gender and youth, with a particular focus on lagging regions, access to services, community-based service delivery, social accountability mechanisms. * Work independently under the general direction of the Practice Manager, seeking guidance on complex projects/issues from lead specialists; guide and mentor more junior staff. * Support senior and lead specialists in handling complex technical, institutional and program implementation issues regarding social development at the operational level and lead the related dialogue with counterparts. * Contribute to develop new areas of focus and operational business around social development issues, including on social cohesion, social inclusion, gender, women’s empowerment, youth, decentralization/community development as well as issues that emerge in the context of fragile regions. * Provide technical support on women’s empowerment gender equality and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response. * Participate in cross-practice teams responsible for the preparation of policy notes, Systematic Country Diagnostics, Country Partnership Frameworks, sector studies, and research and policy development activities on the full range of social development topics. * Participate in missions and supervise Bank-financed projects as a technical expert and/or Task Team Leader; interact with clients at the operational and policy level. * Supervise the work of consultants and technical specialists to ensure consistency and conformity to Bank operational policies. * Contribute to the unit’s analytical work; generate “think pieces” and “best practice” papers; lead the development and implementation of proposals for analytical and advisory work. * Employ appropriate methodologies for handling simple and complex procurement tasks and/or issues. * Contribute to knowledge sharing, dissemination and awareness raising activities with both Bank staff and clients. * Support and actively participate to the Bank-wide professional community of staff engaged in social development by participating in thematic groups, exchanging best practices, and drafting technical notes. Selection Criteria This position suited to constructive, highly motivated team players with an eye for detail, understanding the bigger picture context of operations, and creative problem-solving abilities. The successful candidate should have strong operational and analytical skills, have practical experience handling complex/sensitive social development issues through participatory processes of stakeholder engagement, and be able to integrate social development considerations in an operational context. * Master’s degree or PhD in social sciences (gender studies, anthropology, sociology, social development, public health, conflict and violence prevention etc.), and a minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in social development and inclusion. * Demonstrated operational skills and experience in the areas of women’s empowerment, gender/GBV, social inclusion, citizen engagement, youth community driven development, fragility, conflict and violence in low- and middle-income countries. * Proven project management experience with World Bank IDA and/or IBRD lending operations, policies, procedures and processes or comparable project management experience with other large-scale development institutions; experience with leading design and implementation of social development programs including women’s empowerment and gender equality, social inclusion, Community Driven Development and livelihoods support. * Experience in implementing operations in low capacity, fragile and conflict-affected environments, working on complex multi-sectoral development challenges and working in a decentralized system. * Strong organizational skills, with ability to prioritize, deal with frequent and unexpected changes, and work within tight timeframes * Demonstrated ability to translate analytical work into policy advice and actionable, practical recommendations; Experience in collecting, analyzing and effectively using data related to women’s empowerment/ gender equality /GBV prevention and response. * Experience in contributing to high-level strategic decisions and technical support to government counterparts, policy makers, beneficiaries, community-based organizations and development partners on effective approaches to close gender gaps. * Proven capacity to work with a wide range of stakeholders, international organizations, development agencies, government counterparts, beneficiaries of Bank projects, and civil society organizations; ability to effectively negotiate and build consensus to achieve constructive outputs. * Outstanding interpersonal, communication, 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. * Proven track record in communicating complex issues in a clear and concise manner to different stakeholders. * Acting with integrity at all times to build trust and to create an enabling work environment, whether as team leader or team member. * Very high level of energy, initiative and self-motivation; willingness to travel and work under challenging circumstances. * Demonstrated ability to work across practices, work in cross-thematic teams, foster teamwork, and mentor junior staff. * Excellent oral and writing skills in English and French. Competencies The successful candidate is expected to exhibit the following core competencies: * Social Development Implications on Policy, Institutions, and Operations: Solid understanding of the implications of social development on policy, institutions, and operations. * Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability: Robust experience conducting social development analyses, producing meaningful results, and applying the tools in operations. * Participation and Consultation: Solid experience conducting social development consultative and participatory approaches, and applying the approaches in operations; * Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena: Understands policy making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients. * Policy Dialogue Skills: Identifies and assesses policy issues and plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders. * Deliver Results for Clients: Proactively addresses client’s stated and unstated needs. * Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries: Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly received diverse perspectives. * Lead and Innovate: Develops innovative solutions. * Create, Apply and Share Knowledge: Applies knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients. * Make Smart Decisions: Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward. Poverty has no borders, neither does https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=10165&site=1excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.

Location: Washington, DC, United States

Deadline: 2/12/2020

Application link: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=10165&site=1