Program Officer

Program Officer

Job #:
req34901

Organization:
World Bank

Sector:
Gender

Grade:
GF

Term Duration:
3 years 0 months

Recruitment Type:
International Recruitment

Location:
Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):
English

Preferred Language(s):
French

Closing Date:
11/30/2025 (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 poverty on a livable planet. 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. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

The World Bank's Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) is recruiting an Program Officer with specialized expertise and direct experience in streamlining and expanding efforts to integrate evidence-based solutions-to close gender gaps and promote women and girls' economic empowerment-in policy and programming, especially related to Africa GIL's country-level initiatives in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and potentially other Sub-Saharan African countries. The ideal candidate will be highly organized and detailed-oriented; will have a strong orientation towards teamwork; will be an excellent writer and analytical thinker; will be fluent in English, with some French skills plus; and will have a demonstrated track record of engaging with policymakers, development partners, and other key stakeholders to shape policies and programing with gender-equitable and evidence-backed interventions. The position will involve extensive engagement with senior leadership within government and the World Bank, as well as World Bank operational teams. The Program Officer will be a trusted advisor for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Africa Gender Innovation Lab and will recommend and implement best approaches for the unit's strategic alignment with and delivery of knowledge and gender-related World Bank Corporate Commitments and Strategy at the global and regional levels; process improvement related to internal and external communications, knowledge management, and portfolio monitoring; and expansion of country-driven approaches to promote the adoption of rigorously tested, effective programming and policy options to advance women's economic empowerment and close gender gaps.

Institutional Context:

The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) is part of the World Bank's Africa Region Chief Economist's Office. For more than ten years, the Africa GIL has been supporting women and girls to achieve equality by learning what does and does not work to close gender gaps in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency, and using these insights to shape policy. The Africa GIL is currently working in 20+ countries with the aim of building an evidence base with lessons for the region. To date, GIL has influenced the design of nearly 200 World Bank projects and has helped shape $11.6 billion in development spending. The Africa GIL's three-pronged approach includes:

• Generating and synthesizing evidence: Conducting rigorous analytical work, including more than 100 rigorous (mostly RCT) impact evaluations, as well as inferential work, that identifies key drivers of gender gaps, and the effectiveness of interventions in closing them.

• Actively working with project teams, governments, and the private sector to design and test evidence-based interventions that directly target key drivers of gender gaps.

• Engaging with policymakers for change at scale: GIL has been transforming the policy discourse, helping policymakers achieve their development goals, and advancing gender equality at scale by showing how gender equality matters for development, and championing and enabling an evidence-based approach to program and policy development.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Program Officer will work under the supervision of the Africa Gender Innovation Lab Head, and of the Deputy Head of the Lab. Key responsibilities will include:

Strategic Communications and Partnership Engagement

• Provide strategic advice to the team on internal/external communications matters; identify/leverage opportunities for proactive, high-impact communications that help position Africa GIL and its projects with relevant audiences

• Drive and oversee strategic partnerships to amplify Africa GIL's voice, notably by seeking opportunities for the Lab Leader and Leadership Team to participate in high-profile events, meetings, and media engagements

• Liaise and interact effectively with an extensive network of contacts, at senior levels (internal and external), and respond effectively to inquiries and to diverse situations that require tact and pragmatic problem-solving skills.

• Coordinate proactive, effective stakeholder engagement and timely responses to questions

• Working with the Lab Leader on tracking engagements, corresponding via email, and scheduling meetings, and also strategizing engagement priorities and facilitating flow of information to team members when appropriate.

Country-Level Research Uptake Support

• Support country-level dialogue with World Bank project teams, governments, partner organizations as well as broader dissemination efforts with development practitioners, to inform the design of projects, policies and strategies.

• Identify opportunities for policy influence and learning and provide timely and targeted support to promote the integration of learning and adoption of policies and programs that advance women's economic empowerment.

• Foster new partnerships and strengthen collaborations with other units both within and outside of the World Bank, and with external research collaborators in academia, NGOs, and government.

Global and Regional Gender Strategy Implementation Support

• Provide support, oversight and guidance to Africa Regional Front Offices and Regional Directors' Offices on the implementation of the Regional Gender Action Plans and WBG Gender Strategy 2024-2030

• Provide oversight and guidance to Country Management Units and Verticals/Practice Groups/Global Practices to ensure consistent and timely contributions to RGAP RMT discussions, in coordination with Development Effectiveness, Regional Front Offices, and External Communications, to facilitate knowledge exchange on gender within Africa Regions.

• Help compile data, information and inputs as needed across regions to respond to Strategy-related requests from management

• Provide support on WBG gender fast-track countries as needed

Knowledge Management and Communications

• Coordinate, manage, and deliver the Country Labs communications strategy including the writing blogs, drafting communications pieces, and coordinating with World Bank communications colleague to profile project achievements.

• Conceptualize and supervise the preparation, production, and dissemination of communication products (stories of impact, news releases, op-eds, blog posts, speeches, presentations, briefing notes, online and social media content, thought leadership pieces, issue briefs, talking points, presentations, Q&As, and reactive messaging/holding statements) for both internal and external use, as well as client-facing collaterals and internal staff engagement content

• Oversee communication activities around Africa GIL-organized events and other public engagement opportunities

• Manage consultants providing communications support. Identify and manage external vendors such as video producers, photographers, graphic designers, and writers.

• Facilitate communication between GIL and related units within the World Bank including the target global practices and the Africa Region, Gender, and Africa Chief Economist Communications and Knowledge Management teams.

Portfolio Monitoring and Internal and External Reporting

• Provide information to donors and other World Bank teams on programmatic updates and results from evaluations.

• Draft the annual report and support organizing and executing bi-annual steering committee meetings.

• Manage donor relations with Gates and support relations with FCDO.

• Respond to ad-hoc reporting and information requests from World Bank management and bilateral donors.

• Support ad-hoc administrative requests for Country Labs as needed.

Competencies

• Integrative Skills - Demonstrates understanding of working across WBG, practices and sectors. Demonstrates strong integrative thinking and ability to support project teams in developing an integrated point of view around development challenges.

• Internal and External Stakeholder Engagement - Demonstrates proficiency in preparing quality briefings and communications, while participating in stakeholder engagement, and following up on issues as needed. Ability to substantively contribute to high-level events (i.e. with Development Partners, Government, and other stakeholders).

• Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies and assesses policy issues and plays an active role in dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders.

• Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results and has the personal organization do so.

• Lead and Innovate - Contributes new insights to understanding situations and develops solutions to resolve complex problems. Adapts as circumstances require and manage the impact of own behavior on others in context of WBG's values and mission. Identifies and pursues innovative approaches to resolve issues.

• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Understands policy making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients.

• Written and Verbal Communication - Delivers information effectively in support of team or workgroup

• 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.

• Teamwork (Collaboration) 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, 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.

Note: This internal requisition is open to WB and IMF staff only (including short-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries).

External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate applies, their application will not be considered.

Selection Criteria

• Master's degree in relevant fields (Economics, International Development/Affairs, Public Policy or related fields).

• 5 or more years of work experience. Experience in the field(s) of public policy, international development and/or economic preferred. Background in gender issues preferred.

• Significant experience in leading and delivering research uptake activities to inform the design and implementation of policies and programming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia and/or Nigeria experience preferred.

• Experience drafting annual progress reports, tracking monitoring indicators, and supporting the development and reporting for large multi-year, multi-country funding proposals/grants.

• Experience drafting communications products (policy briefs, blogs, talking points etc.) based on rigorous research and creatively disseminating publications through social media outlets, BBL series, and relevant conferences for project teams and policymakers. • Pragmatic, solution-oriented, problem solver with a high degree of responsiveness and proactivity, coupled with the ability to recognize when a solution is not available.

• Very strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to develop effective relations within and outside the World Bank Group; to promote collaboration within the team to meet GIL objectives; capacity to interact with an extensive network of contacts at senior level.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and ability to effectively dialogue with and relate to clients and stakeholders.

• Entrepreneurial mindset, and ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural working environment and internationally with a diverse range of governments, financial institutions, international and non-governmental organizations, researchers, and others.

• Excellent workflow management and task organization skills. Strong drive for results and demonstrated ability to multitask and to exercise strategic thinking to make decisions under complex circumstances and with little supervision.

• Ability to handle concurrent activities efficiently under pressure, with minimum supervision and to meet tight deadlines. Ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments and tasks, and to adjust to and prioritize a variety of complex evolving tasks. Highly organized, high degree of motivation, initiative, flexibility, reliability, and a high level of energy.

• Takes personal ownership, responsibility and accountability for timely response to queries, requests, or needs; and to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results; working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.

• Experience living in one or more Sub-Saharan African countries preferred.

• French skills, plus.

• Willing and able to undertake international travel.

Remuneration will be set according to standard World Bank rates, commensurate with experience. The position starts as soon as possible and will be based in the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, DC.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

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