Senior Program Officer (ID4D) at World Bank

Job #171134
Job Family: Other
Job Type: Professional & Technical
Grade: GG
Recruitment: TypeLocal Hire

Background & General Descriptions

• 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 poor nations reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve quality of life.
• The vision of the WBG is to eradicate extreme poverty by reducing the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to 3 percent by 2030, and promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40 percent in every country. It is governed by 188 member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with over 15,000 staff located globally.
• There are an estimated 1.1 billion people, the majority of them living in Asia and Africa, who are unable to prove their identity. The problem disproportionately affects children and women from poor rural areas. The ability to prove your identity is critical to a wide range of development outcomes; access to educational opportunities, financial services, health and social welfare benefits, economic development, and the right to vote.
• Despite these compelling motivations, an overwhelming majority of low- to middle-income countries lack adequate systems to register births or uniquely identify millions of people living within their borders. Where identification programs exist, they are often fragmented across several functions and agencies.
• With the transformational potential of modern solutions - the advances in identification technology (both digital and biometric) and the dramatically falling costs of technology and implementation - there is an opportunity to leapfrog traditional paper-based approaches and build strong and efficient identification systems at a scale not previously achievable. Mobile devices also offer promising solutions to enroll and authenticate individuals with a unique identification, particularly in remote and rural areas.
• To enable access to services and rights for all, the World Bank Group launched the Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiative to support progress toward identification systems using 21st century solutions. The ID4D program will bring global knowledge and expertise across multiple sectors and countries to tackle the fundamental development challenge of official identification across three pillars:
  • Accelerating scale at the Country and Regional Lev¬el, incorporating good practices and lessons learned.
  • Global convening and building a multi-stakeholder partnership platform with other development partners, public sector and private sector associations to develop a shared vision and set of principles, and provide a platform for developing countries to share learning.
  • Thought Leadership to advance global knowledge of this emerging development topic.
• Progress towards ‘identification for all’ is critical to achieving so many development outcomes, and therefore demands a multi-sectoral and collaborative response. The WBG has developed a cross-Global Practice (GP)/multi-departmental effort co-led by the Transport and ICT GP, Social Protection and Labor GP, Health Nutrition and Population GP, Finance and Markets GP, Governance GP, Gender CCSA, LEG, and DEC data group (Senior) Directors, who meet collectively to ensure a coordinated response.
• A Program Manager and small team, together with a working group of lead specialists from the GPs/Depts involved, serve as a central hub to accelerate and advance the agenda.
• The locally recruited GG position of Sr. Operations Officer will be dedicated team member to advance the work in the Africa region, with a primary focus on Nigeria and West Africa overall. While the position will report to the ID4D Program Manager, he/she will be expected to work substantially with operational teams/GPs with possible secondary reporting to one of the GPs.

Duties and Accountabilities
The selected candidate will be focused on the following:

• Shape the strategic and operational engagements for the Identification for Development (ID4D) efforts in Africa (with a particular focus in West Africa). Facilitate the implementation of multi-sector solutions to the complex development challenges faced by clients in Africa by working across different sector focused clients and different internal Bank sector teams (e.g. finance, health, social protection, ICT, governance).
• Work with teams in policy dialogue and design/implementation of Bank advisory and investment operations.  Provide operational support to Task Team Leaders across several Global Practices to advance progress at a country and regional level and ensure coordination across various sector teams.  Provide technical contributions to the design, preparation, and supervision of ID4D operations and TA.
• Support (or lead) analytical pieces, in collaboration with other GPs/departments; Document activities and analyze data related to digital ID and civil registration to be used in case studies and other research
• Identify capacity gaps in the Government and respond by facilitating training, South-South knowledge exchange and expert visits.
• Understand the nexus of public administration and digital transformation to effectively advise on matters of government digitization, information systems, security, and privacy
• Build and foster partnerships with relevant stakeholders in the region and in country, including with regional organizations developing country governments, development partners (e.g. bilateral donors, foundations, UN agencies, CSOs) towards effective implementation of regional and national projects.
• Support in outreach and dissemination efforts.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced degree and a minimum of 8 years of experience in a relevant technical discipline (public policy, engineering, economics or other related field).
• Experience in technology, innovation, digital inclusion and its intersection with one or more development outcomes in health, financial inclusion, social protection, education, and gender is highly desirable.
• High levels of energy, passion, and initiative to deliver outcomes and the know-how to get things done. Explores ways to get more impactful results; sets challenging stretch goals for oneself.
• Excellent written and oral communication. Able to synthesize, analyze, and effectively present material from a wide range of sources. Articulates ideas, verbally, and in writing, using the most effective means of delivery. Ability to quickly draft and prepare articles/short notes.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, proven team orientation, proven ability to work effectively and collaboratively within and across institutional boundaries. 
• Ability to work independently, seeking guidance on complex issues from senior staff.
• Ability to think strategically, connect the dots easily across a range of topics to develop a broader coherent approach; ability to analyze and integrate information into conclusions and recommendations.
• Ability to deal with complex issues, deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments, experience in working in developing countries
• High integrity and strong ethics.

Weg Competencies

• Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions.
• Deliver Results for Clients - Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs.
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
• 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.

Language Requirements

• English (Essential)
• French (Essential)