Job Vacancies The World Bank, May 2012

Job Vacancies The World Bank
Position: Governance Specialist
Location: United States of America ( The ), Washington
Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Background / General description
Regional Context The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region comprises of 30 extremely diverse clients, with a population of nearly 500 million people. Four of our clients are IDA only and another 5 are IDA blend countries. The remaining 21 are IBRD credit-worthy though not all have active lending programs. Although 10 of our clients have joined the EU and 7 of these have graduated, most continue to remain active recipients of knowledge and/or lending services. CASs/CPSs reflect this diversity with substantial variation in lending prospects, but strong demand for Bank technical services is present across the board. Over the last 20 years of transition, ECA countries have integrated into the global economy across many dimensions such as trade, finance, and labor flows. GDP in the Region grew by two-thirds from 2000 to 2008. However, ECA was hit the hardest by the global economic crisis compared to the other regions in the Bank. Growth in the Region, which had peaked at about 7 percent in 2007, fell to a negative 6 percent in 2009. The financial and economic crisis led to a substantial increase in Bank lending and knowledge activities in all ECA countries, including in several EU members states. The crisis helped serve as a powerful reminder of the relevance of the Bank both as an attractive source of funding and a reliable provider of timely and quality advice. It is projected that ECA is going to be the slowest region to recover from the crisis. Growth in 2010 reached about 4 percent, and prospects for 2011– 13 are only slightly better. Based on this changing context, the new ECA strategy is focused on developing a new growth model for the region through:
1. Increasing competitiveness to achieve faster growth.
2. Pursuing social sector reforms and fiscal adjustment to achieve more inclusive growth.
3. Supporting climate action to achieve more sustainable growth. Even while declining from the heights of the crisis, we expect demand for our lending and advisory services post-crisis to remain strong. But we are constrained in our capacity to respond given budget constraints and a limited IDA and IBRD resource environment. This requires an increased results focus to help direct our resources to where they will have the greatest impact, along with continued emphasis on leveraging partnerships and expanding our fee for services activities in MICs, building on the successful experience in Russia. Background to the Assignment The Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit (ECSPE) in the Europe and Central Asia Region (ECA) handles the Region’s work on economic policy, governance and public sector management, poverty, and gender. It is composed of approximately 98 staff of which about 40 are located in country offices. ECSPE carries out a large and diverse work program of lending and analytic work for the Region. The Department comprises three macroeconomic groups and two thematic groups on poverty and gender, and public sector management. There are four sector managers with one sector manager having responsibility for public sector management and political economy and governance issues. The advertised position is with the Public Sector and Institutional Reform group which consists of around 25 public sector specialists. The group is responsible for public sector, governance and political economy issues for the entire ECA region, and has active business lines covering political economy, governance, public administration and civil service, public financial management, legal and judicial reform, tax and customs administration, and decentralization. The challenge of public sector reform and governance lies at the heart of the development agenda for the client countries. High-quality analytical, lending and technical assistance to clients in the Europe and Central Asia region in public sector reforms therefore remains one of the highest regional priorities. The demand for Bank services on public sector management and governance in the region is significant. PSIR clients range from IDA countries to middle income countries and EU member states. To help respond to this demand in Tajikistan, the Governance Partnership Facility of the World Bank is funding a multi-year Mainstreaming Governance in Tajikistan Program managed from the ECSP4 cluster. ECSP4 is recruiting a Governance Specialist to provide centralized support to this program, concentrating on three components: Component 2 (Implementation of Governance Checklist), Component 3 (Transparency and Accountability in Key Sectors), and Component 7 (Grant Administration). The Republic of Tajikistan became a member of the World Bank in 1993. A liaison Bank office was first established in 1996 and then upgraded to a full-fledged Country Office in December 1998. To date, the Bank has provided over U$ $ 630M in IDA credits, grants and trust funds for agriculture and rural development, energy, health, education, social protection, infrastructure rehabilitation, disaster management and other sectors.

Duties and Accountabilities
Scope of Assignment The selected candidate will report to the Sector Manager, ECSP4, or their designee. The main purpose of the assignment is to provide analytical and organizational support to activities under the following components of the Program: Component 2 (Implementation of Governance Checklist), Component 3 (Transparency and Accountability in Key Sectors), and Component 7 (Grant Administration). The scope of work includes but is not limited to: COMPONENT 2: IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNANCE CHECKLIST AND PROJECT-LEVEL PEG ANALYSIS
Work with sector task teams to administer the Governance Checklist;
Provide support to sector task teams in formulating ToRs for additional political economy, governance, and institutional analysis that may be warranted after the Checklist has been completed;
Monitor the Tajikistan project pipeline and ensure that the Checklist is applied to all new projects, as well as to midterm reviews and closing of projects/ICRs.
Assist with training events for sector task teams on Governance Checklist;
Assist with printing and dissemination of the Checklist, including organizing BBLs and seminars together with other units (PRMPS, AFTPR, etc). COMPONENT 3: TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN KEY SECTORS
Provide analytical support, governance and institutional analysis, and quality control of governance-related outputs to the teams in agriculture, energy, and private/financial sector on sector-level activities in the program;
Assist with selection and supervision of governance consultants for sector-level tasks;
Assist with drafting policy notes, knowledge briefs, and other Bank products based on consultant outputs.
Organize learning events (roundtables, BBLs, workshops) to disseminate the above knowledge products. COMPONENT 7: GRANT SUPERVISION
Assist with preparation of quarterly reviews of the program, including the snapshot the financial performance of the program;
Take minutes at the quarterly review meetings;
Assist with the preparation of the annual GRM report;
Assist the TTL with the routine management of the program, including coordination of the components, mission preparation, etc. Support to other components of the grant is also possible.

Selection Criteria
A master’s degree in economics, political science, public administration, public policy or related field, and at least 5 years of professional experience in a governance-focused area of international development or public policy.
Previous experience with governance analysis and indicators, political economy analysis, project – and sector-level governance and institutional analysis.
Proven knowledge of rules and regulations guiding work of the World Bank. Experience with Trust Funds a plus.
Excellent communication, analytical, and organizational skills;
Excellent writing skills in English. Working knowledge of Russian or Tajik (Farsi) is a plus.
Ability to work within tight deadlines with limited supervision.
Proficiency in computer software packages (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.); proficiency in statistical packages (Stata, SPSS, etc.) a plus.
Strong interpersonal skills and commitment to work in a team-oriented, multi-cultural environment. The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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