Senior Social Development Specialist

Job #: req22785

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Social Development

Grade: GG

Term Duration: 4 years 0 months

Recruitment Type: International Recruitment

Location: Freetown,Sierra Leone

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 5/30/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

THE WORLD BANK GROUP

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 extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. 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. Visit www.worldbank.org.

The Sustainable Development Practice Group helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food; Climate Change; Environmental and Social Framework (ESF); Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy; Social Sustainability and Inclusion; Urban, Resilience, and Land Development; and Water.

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND INCLUSION GLOBAL PRACTICE

The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice helps countries tackle deep-rooted social problems stemming from fragility, climate change, exclusion, and the digital age with people-centered solutions that build on local values and institutions. The Practice engages with citizens, communities, and governments to deepen resilience, build inclusion, and empower vulnerable and marginalized groups to have influence and voice. It prioritizes participatory, multi-sectoral approaches that build on norms and informal institutions to address social challenges and to build more inclusive, empowered communities. The Practice also works across the Bank’s portfolio to implement the Environment and Social Framework (ESF) standards. The ESF offers an overarching platform for fostering inclusive approaches to ensure vulnerable groups benefit from Bank investments and mitigate against related risks.

The Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice has adopted a new strategy that aims to promote inclusive sustainable development anchored on three pillars:

•  Social Inclusion: enhancing opportunities for equality and inclusion of all people irrespective of income level, geography, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds of discrimination; Advancing inclusive laws, regulations, policies, and institutions; and investing in access to markets and services for hard to reach and marginalized groups living in lagging regions.
•  Social Resilience: Strengthening social risk management for social sustainability; Enhancing social cohesion and opportunities in fragile communities; Strengthening social resilience to climate extremes and natural hazards and Supporting emergency response and an inclusive recovery from COVID-19.
•  Social Empowerment: supporting community empowerment for more effective service delivery; Fostering accountable governance including from the bottom up; and Promoting community-driven women empowerment and livelihood support programs.

WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA (AFW) REGION: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/western-and-central-africa https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/sierraleone SIERRA LEONE COUNTRY OVERVIEW

https://ida.worldbank.org/en/country/sierra-leone https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/sierraleone

POSITION

The Senior Social Development Specialist will be based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and will provide support in meeting the Bank's expanding Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and social safeguards agenda and will promote the social sustainability of its investments. She/he will report directly to a regional Practice Manager and will be expected to work closely with country units and task teams across the relevant region. The selected candidate will also be expected to work collaboratively and develop good relations with the corporate safeguards team, and the Bank-wide Social Sustainability and Safeguards Global Solutions Group (GSG), coordinated by the Global Lead. 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 4-year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Senior Social Development Specialist will have the following responsibilities:

•  Work under the coordination of the regional focal point for ESF and social safeguards providing oversight and quality assurance on the project portfolio. This will include direct operational support to high-risk and complex operations.
•  Lead/support a dialogue on the implementation of the Environmental and Social Framework with policymakers and government officials, international development partners, civil society, and other stakeholders, and coordinate the Bank's relations with clients on social development.
•  Lead/support country system strengthening support and client capacity building on Social Risk Management and ESF implementation in Sierra Leone and the region.
•  Engage actively and regularly with country unit management leadership and task teams and identify business opportunities for social development in consultation with clients and country units.
•  Participate in cross-practice teams responsible for the preparation of policy notes, Systematic Country Diagnostics, Country Partnership Frameworks, sector studies, and research and policy development activities on the full range of social development topics.
•  Advise and participate in project teams to help develop operational designs and mechanisms to assess social opportunities, impacts, constraints, and risks related to Bank supported operations; develop and evaluate proposed technical solutions and assist in the preparation of project documentation.
•  Handle complex technical, institutional and program implementation issues regarding social risk management and social development and lead the related dialogue with counterparts.
•  Participate and play a leading role in portfolio reviews on selected social safeguards/ESF and social development topics.
•  Lead or participate in analytical studies, support other analytical work on different social development topics, and stay abreast of developments in social development globally and on cross-cutting issues.
•  Manage projects mapped to the regional Social Development team.
•  Engage in the Bank-wide professional community of staff in social development and social standards/safeguards by participating in thematic groups, exchanging best practices, and drafting technical notes.
•  Help develop sustainable local and national consultation mechanisms and strategies.
•  Supervise the work of consultants and technical specialists to ensure consistency and conformity to Bank standards.
•  Take other assignments as and when required by the Practice Manager.

Selection Criteria

This position is suited to constructive, highly motivated team players with an eye for detail, an understanding of the bigger picture context of operations, and creative problem-solving abilities. The successful candidate should have strong operational and analytical skills, have practical experience handling complex/sensitive social development issues through participatory processes of stakeholder engagement, and be able to integrate social development considerations in an operational context.

•  Master’s degree or Ph.D. in social sciences (gender studies, anthropology, sociology, social development, public health, conflict, violence prevention, etc.).
•  A minimum of eight (8) years of directly relevant professional experience in social development and inclusion; women’s economic empowerment, and gender/GBV.
•  Knowledge and experience in addressing issues covered by the World Bank’s ESF and social safeguards policies or similar policies in other international finance institutions in complex and challenging settings, and across practices. This includes experience with: social assessments and analyzing social risks and impacts on different population groups; involuntary resettlement in different socio-economic contexts and tenure systems; Indigenous Peoples’ issues; coordination of transparent consultative and stakeholder engagement processes; grievance redress mechanisms, integration of relevant planning instruments such as Resettlement Action Plans and Indigenous Peoples Plans in overall project planning and implementation; labor and working conditions community health and safety; and cultural heritage. Experience in social sustainability and risk management policy development, including dialogue with governments, collaboration in these areas with other international development agencies, corporate reviews and policy development and improvement efforts.
•  Ability to present complex social development and ESF/safeguards issues to task teams and Bank audiences, and to engage effectively with government counterparts, the private sector, project beneficiaries and civil society.
•  Proven leadership and project management skills and experience with World Bank IDA and/or IBRD (or other comparable international organizations) lending operations, policies, and procedures; experience with leading design and implementation of social development programs including women empowerment and gender equality, social inclusion, Community Driven Development, and livelihoods support.
•  Experience in areas of social inclusion such as gender, gender-based violence (GBV); disability; conflict, fragility, and violence (FCV), displacement etc.
•  Strong operational (task management) and analytical skills and demonstrated ability to translate analytical work into policy advice and actionable, practical recommendations.
•  Experience in managing Trust Funds/Grants and in coordinating with donor organizations; knowledge of World Bank trust fund procedures and processes.
•  Experience with managing operations in low capacity, fragile and conflict-affected environments, working on complex multi-sectoral development challenges, and working in a federal system.
•  Strong organizational skills, with the ability to prioritize, deal with frequent and unexpected changes and work within tight timeframes
•  Demonstrated ability to translate analytical work into policy advice and actionable, practical recommendations; Experience in collecting, analyzing, and effectively using data related to women empowerment/ gender equality /GBV prevention and response.
•  Experience in contributing to high-level strategic decisions and technical support to government counterparts, policymakers, beneficiaries, community-based organizations, and development partners on effective approaches to close gender gaps.
•  Proven capacity to work with a wide range of stakeholders, international organizations, development agencies, government counterparts, beneficiaries of Bank projects, and civil society organizations; ability to effectively negotiate and build consensus to achieve constructive outputs.
•  Outstanding interpersonal, communication, problem-solving, and team skills, and ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced solutions to complex development problems, with a strong client focus.
•  Proven track record in communicating complex issues in a clear and concise manner to different stakeholders.
•  Acting with integrity at all times to build trust and to create an enabling work environment, whether as a team leader or team member.
•  Very high level of energy, initiative, and self-motivation; willingness to travel and work under challenging circumstances.
•  Demonstrated ability to work across practices, work in cross-thematic teams, foster teamwork, and mentor junior staff.
•  Excellent oral and writing skills in English is essential; ability to present and facilitate sessions; French language skill is a plus.

COMPETENCIES

•  Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipate needs and requests in the field and conduct independent policy discussions with representatives of government and non-government partners.
•  Social inclusion and empowerment - Experience in successfully applying social sustainability and inclusion principles and good practice, covering issues of gender/GBV, inclusion and non-discrimination of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, stakeholder engagement, etc.
•  Social sustainability and safeguards: Demonstrated experience managing the social risks of complex projects in Africa and other developing regions.
•  Social Development implications on policies, institutions, and operations – Solid understanding of the implications of social development on policy, institutions, and operations.
•  Participation and Consultation - Extensive experience conducting social development consultative and participatory approaches, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the interventions.
•  Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability - Extensive experience conducting social development analyses, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the tools.
•  Integrative Skills - Understand relevant cross-practice areas and how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-practice work in lending and non-lending operations.
•  Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translate technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interact with clients at the policy level.
•  Lead and Innovate - Develop innovative solutions with others.
•  Deliver Results for Clients - Achieve results and identify mission-driven solutions for the client.
•  Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Initiate collaboration across boundaries and broadly across the World Bank Group and bring differing ideas to the forefront.
•  Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Create, apply and share knowledge from across and outside WBG to strengthen internal and or external client solutions.
•  Make Smart Decisions - Recommend and take decisive action.

The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture, and educational background. Individuals with disabilities, women, and SSA/CR candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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.