Job: Rural Development Specialist

Location: Kabul, Afghanistan
Closing Date: Thursday, 21 November 2013

Background / General description:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A COUNTRY OFFICE POSITION IN AFGHANISTAN SUBJECT TO LOCAL RECRUITMENT UNDER THE IAFHGANISTAN COMPENSATION PLAN. IF A STAFF MEMBER HOLDING AN HQ/INTERNATIONAL POSITION IS SELECTED INTO THIS POSITION, THEN THE STAFF MEMBER WOULD CONVERT TO A LOCAL APPOINTMENT (I.E., A LOCAL SALARY AND NO EXPATRIATE BENEFITS).

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

The South Asia Rural Development and Livelihoods (SASDL) Unit is one of the eight Sustainable Development Network (SDN) entities. The SASDL mission is to reduce poverty by helping the countries of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) to formulate policies and implement programs that improve the livelihood of their rural population. In Afghanistan, the SASDL has two on-going programs - the National Solidarity Program (NSP) and the Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Project (AREDP). Of late, the SASDL portfolio is expanding, particularly with the on-going preparation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (RWSSP) and the follow on phase of the AREDP.

In addition, SASDL projects are closely linked to agricultural and rural infrastructure programs, such as the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (HLP), the Afghanistan Rural Access Project (ARAP), the Irrigation Restoration and Development Project (IRDP), and the On Farm Water Management Project (OFWMP). These projects complement SASDL's efforts, which aim at building and strengthening community organizations and federations of the poor. These local institutions are critical to improving access to technologies, services, rural finance/credit and input/output markets, which are necessary for livelihoods improvement.

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:

This is locally-recruited position within the World Bank's Kabul office. In this regard, the Bank's SASDL is seeking a national Afghan staff for a 2-year term position to be based in Kabul, who has a community mobilization and enterprise development background; and a proven track record of effective program or project management in an environment characterized by weak client's implementation capacity and increasing insecurity risks.

The selected candidate will be part of the Kabul-based SASDL team, but also working with other members of the Unit based in Washington DC and throughout South Asia region. He/she will support the Task Team leaders of the NSP, AREDP, and the RWSSP. He/she will have the following main duties:

i. Serve as a core task team member of the NSP, AREDP and RWSSP;

ii. Provide day-to-day project implementation support to the Client;

iii. Participate in regular implementation support missions of the projects and contribute to project documentation e.g., Aide Memoires and the Implementation Status Reports;

iv. Support the task teams to ensure that all projects in SASDL portfolio have policies and procedures that are in compliance with the relevant Government of Afghanistan laws and the World Bank policies, including those related to procurement, financial management, and environmental and social safeguards;

v. Support the SASDL TTLs in reviewing procurement documents for the prior review contracts of goods, works and consultants services;

vi. Support the SASDL TTLs in reviewing regular reports, including the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), post procurement review (PPR), financial management reviews, and technical consultants' reports;

vii. Contribute to knowledge management by participating in the various analytical work undertaken by the SASDL team and the Bank in general;

viii. Participate and/or represent the SASDL team in donor coordination meetings, including various Government-Donor working groups;

ix. Mainstream rural development and livelihoods activities in other sectors' projects;

x. Contribute to multi-sectoral analytical work as required by the Bank; and

xi. Perform any other functions assigned to you from time to time by the SASDL TTLs.

Selection Criteria:

Required competencies:

• Integrative Skills - Working to develop an integrated view across all facets of current sector.
• 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.
• Rural Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Has a foundational familiarity with rural policies, strategies, and institutions relevant to the project or analytical work.
• Rural Development - Direct experience with depth in at least one area: community-driven development, local government and civil society organizations, trade and access to rural markets, rural finance, etc.
• 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
• Strong interpersonal skills, proven team and client orientation;
• Demonstrated ability to work with government counterparts, donors and other stakeholders (e.g. implementing partners);
• Operational experience in the donor-funded projects and programs;
• Good understanding of World Bank operational policies and business processes and procedures, including fiduciary and safeguard policies;
• Demonstrated skills in team building, the ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams;
• Capable of coaching, guiding and mentoring junior staff, as well as resolving conflicts;
• Demonstrated capacity to innovate, integrate and develop new ideas into programs and projects on the ground i.e. find solutions to the problems at hand;
• Demonstrated capacity to develop work plans and budgets, and to work with teams to ensure timely delivery of quality products;
• Strong communication skills in English language, both written and oral; and
• Cross-regional and field experiences are desirable

Other selection criteria:

Minimum requirement

• Master's degree in Economics, Business Administration, International Development/Rural Development, or Sociology;
• At least 8 years post qualification experience, working on rural development issues; and
• Experience working on Community-Driven Development (CDD)/livelihood /income generation/rural socio-economic infrastructure projects.

More Info and Application