Job: Infrastructure Specialist

Location: Washington, DC 
Deadline: Saturday, 19 October 2013 

Description

Background / General description:

The World Bank is committed to promoting poverty reduction and inclusive and sustainable development in developing countries. Recognizing the inter-linkages between economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development, the Bank takes an integrated approach to achieving these goals under the leadership of the Sustainable Development Network (SDN).

The Sustainable Development Network within the World Bank brings together people and programs to provide strategic leadership, develop new financial and knowledge products, manage internal and external partnerships, promote operational quality, and ensure that knowledge sharing and staff learning contribute to operational learning across the greater Sustainable Development Network.

The SDN comprises about 1,400 professional staff members. A central Vice Presidential unit provides the 'anchor' for the Network. This 'anchor' is made up of six departments:

• Agriculture and Environmental Services
• Climate Policy and Finance
• Social Development
• Sustainable Energy
• Transport, Water, ICT, and Infrastructure Finance
• Urban and Disaster Risk Management

The Transport, Water, Information and Communications Technology, and Infrastructure Finance Department (TWI) provides policy and strategic advice in these areas and administers several partnership programs. Its responsibilities include:

• Leading the formulation and overseeing the implementation of the Bank's strategies for Transport, Water, ICTs, and Infrastructure.
• Overseeing the transport and water portfolios, which combined comprise 418 projects in 133 developing countries with about $65 billion in commitments.
• Overseeing the ICT portfolio worth $1.2 billion in lending and technical assistance covering investments in connectivity, ICT-based services, and development of ICT industry.
• Providing policy and strategic advice to support the Bank's infrastructure agenda, and financial solutions such as guarantees and other market instruments to mobilize private sector financing for infrastructure projects.
• Administering the Global Road Safety Facility, the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund, the Water Partnership Program, and the Water and Sanitation Program.

The Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) is a multi-donor technical assistance facility established in 1999. It is aimed at helping developing countries improve the quality of their infrastructure through the participation of the private sector. With an annual budget of around US$20 million, PPIAF provides technical assistance grants to governments in support of private participation in infrastructure. PPIAF is managed by the World Bank on behalf of its donors. There are currently 17 donors who have contributed over US$200 million to the program to date since its inception.

Management of PPIAF's day-to-day operations is the responsibility of the Program Manager who leads the Program Management Unit from its offices located at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Primary responsibilities of the Infrastructure Specialist include:

a) leading the PPIAF work program in the water sector;

b) developing and executing partnerships with key organizations (including USAID);

c) providing technical expertise on PPPs and promoting PPIAF as a center of excellence through the production and dissemination of knowledge on PPPs and the participation to public events and expert meetings;

d) operating as part of the PPIAF management team.

The Infrastructure Specialist works independently and is expected to interact with WB and IFC management, donor agencies, private sector, government counterparts, external consultants and other development partners.

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:

I. Lead the PPIAF work program in the water sector (covering water, sanitation and solid waste)

• As Water Sector Coordinator, lead and coordinate PPIAF operations in the water sector across regions.
• Develop and manage new PPIAF technical assistance projects to facilitate private participation in the water infrastructure and support the creation of a sound enabling environment for the provision of water infrastructure services.
• Oversee the technical review of all PPIAF activities in the water sector and assess the viability of potential projects.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance on water infrastructure to clients, donors and World Bank colleagues.
• Liaise and interact with donor agencies, client countries, World Bank colleagues and other international organizations.

II. Developing and executing partnerships with key organizations

• Take a lead role for PPIAF with the World Bank on a specific region (the allocation of the region is flexible and depends on previous experience) coordinating PPIAF operations in that region.
• Define programmatic assistance strategies tailored to regional/country priorities and conditions.
• Engage with key partner organizations to build relationships with colleagues to identify opportunities for working in partnership (including USAID).
• Execute and monitor the success of partnerships and ensure partnership experiences can be consolidated into future working.
• Engage with donors to represent the benefits of partnerships and their impact.

III. Provide technical expertise on PPPs and promote PPIAF as a center of excellence

• Serve as technical resource for PPIAF clients, donors and the international community on international best practices on PPP issues in infrastructure.
• Promote PPIAF as a Centre of Expertise on PPPs by representing PPIAF in public forums and participating to technical expert meetings.
• Interact with governments at various levels (national, provincial, municipal), private sector, NGOs, research institutions, and donor agencies, to promote effective coordination across donor programs and PPP technical assistance activities.
• Develop knowledge products (articles, notes, guidance material) on PPPs and disseminate PPIAF knowledge material.
• Develop and maintain a strong network of PPP practitioners beyond the World Bank community.

IV. Operate as part of the PPIAF management team

• Work with PPIAF management team colleagues to deliver the strategy and optimize resources.
• As part of the PPIAF management team, take collective responsibility to the effective and efficient operation of PPIAF and delivery of value for money.
• Represent PPIAF on water related issues in public events and technical expert meetings.

Selection Criteria:

• An MBA or equivalent qualification in finance, economics, or related subject and at least 5 years of experience in finance with a proven track record sourcing, structuring and closing investments; and proven experience in the four business areas described under duties and accountabilities in this job description.
• Ability to multi-task, deal with conflicting priorities and deliver high quality work on schedule;
• Ability to interact directly and independently with the management of potential clients and of financial and technical partners;
• Excellent English written, communication and presentation skills. French language skills are desired.

Competencies:

• 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 current sector.
• Infrastructure Policy, Strategy, and Institutions - Familiarity with infrastructure policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
• Infrastructure Finance - Working knowledge of a range of financing alternatives; can conduct a range of infrastructure financial analyses.
• Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships - Working knowledge of Public-Private Partnerships business/operating models; can conduct a range of financial and business case analyses.
• 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 (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.

Position-specific Competencies

• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical 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.
• Infrastructure Sector Economics - Solid understanding of many of the economic concepts relevant to infrastructure, with hands-on experience, particularly in the water sector
• Water Sector PPP Experience - Previous experience in working with various PPP delivery models within the water sector
• Regulatory and Institutional Experience: Hands-on experience in water-sector regulatory issues and practices in developing countries. Experience in institutional strengthening with governments and water utilities
• Contribution to Water Sector Knowledge: Track-record in thought-leadership in the water sector, particularly in developing countries.

More Info and Application