Senior Governance Specialist - Hoofdinhoud

The South Asia Region’s Governance and Public Sector Management Sector Group (SASGP), part of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department (SAR PREM), is seeking to recruit a qualified Senior Governance Adviser to support the design and implementation of its program in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Region Context

The South Asia Region (SAR) spans eight countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) ranging in population from India (over 1 billion) to Maldives (0.3 million). The Region has a diverse work program encompassing significant lending operations of about $8 - 10 billion a year, a diverse program of analytical work, and a portfolio under supervision amounting to about $30 billion in 180 operations, including donor-funded operations. South Asia’s decade-long rapid economic growth, declining poverty, and progress in human development have raised the possibility that the region with the largest concentration of poor people could end poverty in a generation. The region has over $150 million in administrative and reimbursable budgets and over $30 million of Bank executed trust funds. There are over 800 full-time staff working in the Region, of which 68% are based in SAR country offices.

The Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department (SAR PREM) assists its member countries in developing and implementing strategies to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development through lending, advice and analytical work. The Governance and Public Sector Management Sector Group (SASGP) is one of the two sector groups in SAR PREM, and is responsible for work including public finance; legal and judicial reform; civil service and public administration reform; and helping implement SAR governance, anti-corruption and e-government strategies. SASGP is highly decentralized with almost all of its staff, including the Sector Manager, in country offices in the South Asia Region (SAR).

Taken

SASGP has recently revised its business plan and will in its operations in the coming three years focus on the following critical issues:

• Providing high quality advisory services on governance issues to internal and external clients

• Develop an innovative client support program through lending and technical assistance, focusing on governance trends in the region, including reforms based on enhanced accountability, open government, using technology to improve service delivery and performance management and strengthening domestic revenue mobilization.

• Supporting institution building in fragile and conflict affected states and sub-national entities within states

• Issuing cutting edge analytical studies on governance issues affecting the region.

The unit currently manages operational and advisory programs in six states, both at national and sub-national level and has a team of 22 staff. In the implementation of its program, the unit works in close collaboration with the Economic Policy and Poverty Sector Group (SASEP) to bring an integrated vision on growth and governance to the region.

The Senior Governance Specialist would support the implementation of the first strategic priority area of the unit, which is providing high end advisory services to internal and external clients on issues of governance and anti-corruption, with a focus on Bangladesh and Nepal. Tasks would include:

The Senior Governance Specialist will help implement and further expand SASGP activities in Bangladesh and Nepal, in particular with regard to public sector effectiveness, governance, improvement of public service delivery, and strengthening of accountability mechanisms. Specific duties shall include:

• Providing governance advisory services to the Country Management Teams in Bangladesh and Nepal, including regular reporting on trends in various aspects of public sector performance;

• Leading policy dialogue on cross cutting public sector issues including but not limited to e-governance, promotion of transparency in Government operations and civil service reform in Bangladesh;

• Preparing, supervising, and delivering analytical and technical assistance activities in the areas of right to information, e-governance, and other public sector reform topics as they emerge through policy dialogue;

• Serving as task team leader providing implementation support for the Identification System to Enhance Access to Services (IDEA) project;

• Managing a Bangladesh specific UK-funded trust fund to support AAA activities on governance and economic reform and developing additional programs to be funded by trust funds in both Bangladesh and Nepal;

• Overseeing and directly contributing to cross-support to other sector teams in the Bangladesh and Nepal portfolios, including assistance on governance and corruption risk mitigation measures, conduct of sector specific political economy analysis, utilization of ICT systems in the public sector and institutional development;

• Coordinating governance and public sector work with other development partners active in Bangladesh;

• Conducting outreach on behalf of the Bank to nongovernmental organizations, the academic community, and the private sector on public sector performance issues in Bangladesh;

• Contributing to the development of new public sector operations in Nepal and Bangladesh.

The Senior Governance Specialist will report to the Sector Manager, SASGP for all technical and human resource-related matters. He/she will also report to the Country Director/Country Manager on matters related to country representation and day-to-day management.

Criteria

-- A master's degree in economics, political science, finance, public administration, management sciences or related fields and with 8 or more years' relevant work experience.

-- Experience in applying analytical tools such as governance assessments, political economy assessments and anti-corruption diagnostics in complex country settings.

-- Strong advisory and integrator skills.

-- Strong experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams in a multi-cultural context.

-- Strong internal and external communication skills.

-- A proven record of ability to deliver under tight time constraints.

--Knowledge of Bank Operational procedures and practices is an advantage.

-- Ability to interact confidently with people from a variety of social, ethnic and political backgrounds.

-- Written and spoken English to a professional standard; and strong computer skills.

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.