Background / General description:
Innovation and partnership
bond the five institutions of the World Bank Group (WBG): the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the
International Development Association (IDA), which together form the
World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank
Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for
developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive
experience to help our client countries to reduce poverty, increase
economic growth, and improve quality of life. To ensure that countries
can access the best global expertise and help generate cutting-edge
knowledge, the World Bank Group is constantly seeking to improve the way
it works. Key priorities include delivering measurable results,
promoting openness and transparency in development, and improving access
to development information and data.
The Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) is an international partnership to help the poor gain
sustained access to water supply and sanitation services. Administered
by the World Bank with financial support from several bi- and
multi-lateral and private donors, WSP is a decentralized partnership and
operates through offices in Africa, East Asia, Latin America and South
Asia. A major thrust of the programs is to help its clients prepare for
and implement actions towards meeting the water and sanitation (WSS)
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In pursuing their mission, WSP
staff provide advisory support to projects and policies, help identify
and disseminate best practices and lessons from experience across
countries, assist clients in the implementation of pilot projects to
test out new ideas and facilitate informal networks of practitioners and
sector stakeholders. Additional information about WSP can be found on
the program website (www.wsp.org). WSP is administratively a part of the
World Bank's Transport, Water and Information & Communications
Technology Department (TWI) in the Sustainable Development Network (SDN)
Vice Presidency.
WSP's FY11-15 Business Plan is based on a
global strategy '˜FY2009-2018: Scaling Up Sustainable Services', which
articulates WSP's proposed strategic response to identified sector
challenges affecting the poor through capacity building, technical
assistance and knowledge. The Business Plan identifies six business
areas where the program could have the best opportunity to affect
large-scale change in sector performance: scaling up rural sanitation
and hygiene; creating sustainable services through domestic private
sector participation; supporting poor-inclusive WSS sector reform;
targeting the urban poor and improving services in small towns;
mitigating and adapting WSS delivery to climate change impacts; and
delivering WSS services in fragile states. These areas were identified
through a process of embedding a results-based framework throughout
WSP's country, regional and global work programs.
WSP in East
Asia and the Pacific (WSP-EAP) currently operates through offices in
Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane, with remote support
provided to Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. The program is managed by a
Regional Team Leader who is accountable to the Program Manager in
Washington. The Governments of East Asia and the Pacific are
implementing substantial reforms in the water and sanitation sector,
moving toward universal service access with a particular focus on
ensuring rapid equalization of access among the poor. These reforms
include the institutionalizing of decentralized service delivery with
the goal of delivering demand-responsive, high quality, sustainable
services for all consumers. WSP is supporting these reforms through
technical assistance at the national and subnational level. The
Economist will be a key member of the East Asia and the Pacific team
with responsibility for the support to the Governments of Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and
Vietnam. Cross-support to World Bank lending operations in these
countries, especially to address pro-poor aspects of basic service
delivery in both rural and urban areas, represents an important aspect
of the work program.
In its recognition of the vital role of
economic and financial evidence to improve the efficiency, effectiveness
and scale of sanitation and hygiene programs, the Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) conducts significant technical work to support governments
and sector partners in decision making. There continue to be many
direct demands from clients and partners, and many WSP and AAA products
within the water practice that require quality and relevant economics
components. For example, in 2007 WSP launched the Economics of
Sanitation Initiative (ESI), which has already been implemented in 35
countries to provide essential economic evidence to decision makers.
Under another program that has been running for over five years - the
Domestic Private Service Provision (DPSP) - financial analyses and
market assessments provide key evidence to decide the type and mechanism
of support to be provided to the private sector. New pipeline projects
focus on the economics of fecal sludge management, global economics
evidence reviews, different models of private sector participation,
financing mechanisms and results-based financing (e.g. conditional cash
transfers, vouchers, output-based aid). The growing portfolio of
projects requires more capacity within WSP to deliver on these and
future requests.
The selected candidate will report to Principal
Regional Team Leader of TWIEA and will be located in one of the WSP
focus countries in the region.
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 2 year term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities:
As
a Senior Economist and member of the WSP-EAP team, the selected
candidate will work towards to meet WSP's program objectives by
contributing technical expertise and know-how to support the generation
of relevant economic and financial information in water, sanitation and
hygiene, and supporting learning and communication of economic/financial
issues to sector stakeholders.
The main responsibilities include
1.
Lead and/or advise on key economic and analytic work which support
WSP's core business priorities, such as Economics of Sanitation, Country
Status Overviews, Service Benchmarking, Targeting the Poor, and other
analytical products.
2. Develop analytical tools that support
regional colleagues in applying good practices in water sector projects
and advisory work
3. Contribute to specific knowledge management
or policy research initiatives on water economics. This includes
developing analytical work and giving strategic direction on critical
topics in the sector which are in demand by WBG, country clients and
partners. The knowledge management or policy research initiatives will
actively contribute to identifying own managed work program priorities
in the water practice.
4. Enhance the water practice's
contribution to institution-wide corporate priorities. Provide inputs to
World Bank strategy development and respond to corporate requirements
when requested.
5. As appropriate, lead or support policy
dialogue with client governments; identify priority areas and develop
tailored products and respond to the emerging and evolving needs of the
client countries.
6. Support regional and country staff to
identify country priorities for analytical and advisory activities
(AAAs); lead and deliver AAA tasks, including free standing economic and
sector studies, economic analysis and impact evaluation of projects and
programs, contribution to the core diagnostic studies such as the
Country Economic Memorandum and Poverty Assessments, policy notes,
public expenditure reviews and public sector reform issues. Produce
'think pieces' and 'best practices' studies; develop proposals for
analytical tasks at the country and the regional levels;
7. Build
strategic and productive relationships with key development partners
including governmental and non-governmental organizations that are
active in delivering SP&L program and services.
8. Work in
different task teams, as the team leader or a senior member of the team;
provide technical and operational guidance and support to junior team
members.
Selection Criteria:
- Advanced degree (at least Masters level) in economics, business administration or similar field; demonstrated strong technical knowledge and analytical skills; experience in applied economics in the areas of water, poverty, and institutional governance issues related to water sector.
- Minimum of eight years of relevant experience with strong analytical and quantitative skills, methodological rigor and demonstrated problem-solving ability.
- Demonstrated experience in coordinating and conceptualizing complex projects and processes, conducting policy dialogue and providing technical advisory services, and producing reports or studies.
- Strong client orientation and proven record of strong client relations and demonstrated strong interpersonal skills. Ability to work in sensitive situations and challenging policy environments and with commitment to results on the ground. Proven record in providing prompt and quality response to client requests.
- Demonstrated project management skills to function effectively in multi-disciplinary teams within a matrix management environment; general knowledge of World Bank policies and operational programs would be a plus. Appropriate level of information technology skills.
- Other competencies (see below). Competencies
- General Economic Knowledge, Analytical and Quantitative Skills - Possesses a demonstrated track record of working with economic and sectoral data and analytical tools and models to conduct economic analyses and produce user-friendly written outputs; understands underlying statistical concepts. Strong econometric skills would be a plus.
- 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.
- Integrative Skills - Working to develop an integrated view across all facets of the sector.
- Client Orientation - Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
- Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so.
- Teamwork and inclusion - Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, ability to write concisely and effectively, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
- Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others' work.
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