Senior Agribusiness Specialist, New Delhi (GG) World Bank Closing date: Tuesday, 3 March 2015 (added 25 February)

Closing date: Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Background / General description

Agriculture Global Practice Context

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A COUNTRY OFFICE POSITION IN INDIA SUBJECT TO LOCAL RECRUITMENT UNDER THE INDIA 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 Agriculture Global Practice (GP) consists of just over 250 staff based in headquarters and in World Bank country offices throughout the World. The Agriculture GP skills mix includes agricultural engineers, agricultural economists, agri-business, education, agricultural finance, nutrition, natural resources management, gender, community development and other specialists working together and with the staff from the other 15 GPs and and Cross-cutting Solutions Areas (CCSAs), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multi-later Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in the World Bank group, to deliver knowledge and financing solutions to client countries in the areas of food security, agricultural supply chains and rural employment, climate smart agriculture. Typical products supported by the Agriculture GP include policy and performance reviews of the agricultural sector, risk assessments, public expenditure reviews, development policy lending, specific investment projects, reimbursable advisory services and global and regional knowledge products and initiatives. In developing and delivering these products, the Agriculture GP works closely with stakeholders in the client countries - including farmer organizations, civil society organizations, agribusiness firms - as well as bilateral and multi-lateral development agencies and the local and global private sector.

South Asia Context

The mission of the South Asia Agriculture Global Practice is to reduce poverty by helping the countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) of South Asia formulate policies and implement programs that support sustainable economic and social development. In the Ag GP, the South Asia team focusses on agricultural modernization, agribusiness, food security/nutrition, rural development and livelihoods, and skills/rural youth employment with the strategic objective of promoting inclusive and sustainable rural growth, reducing poverty, supporting food and nutrition security, and adaptation to climate change.

The GP has developed partnerships with India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan governments in major livelihoods, agriculture and irrigation programs. These investments aim at building and strengthening community organizations and their federations of the poor and establishing access to assets, credit and other market linkages for livelihood improvement. The Government of India has requested the Bank to develop a strong pipeline on agribusiness projects in at least 4 States. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh have made progress in this regard and more are expected to follow. Most of the second generation rural livelihoods projects under implementation in the region are cross sectoral in nature and various innovative approaches include interventions on climate change adaptation, dairy development, ICT, food and nutrition security, health, social protection and financial inclusion.

The AG GP SAR program in India currently includes 20 active project, and 6 analytic/advisory activities including sector studies. This includes agricultural competitiveness projects in Assam, Maharashtra, Rajasthan; state-level rural livelihood projects in Bihar, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha; a north-east regional project; support to Government of India's flagship program, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), which is implemented in 13 States of India; suppoprt to the Govt's watershed management agenda through watershed projects in Uttarakhand, Karnataka and a national watershed project covering 8 States.

This term position involves implementation support, policy dialogue, technical assistance and knowledge management to the on-going as well as pipeline livelihoods and agriculture/agribusiness program in India.

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 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Sr. Agribusiness Specialist is an active member of the Ag GP team in SAR as well as globally: S/he will have the following responsibilities:

Contribute to the overall strategic program development within the India rural livelihoods and agriculture programs;
Provide leadership on the agribusiness agenda including taking an active lead in developing State-level projects;
Provide implementation support to existing rural livelihoods and agriculture/agribusiness operations in India;
Lead analytical and advisory activities (AAA) and technical assistance (TA) activities in collaboration with clients in the agriculture/rural development sector with a focus on issues related to value chains, linking smallholders to markets;
Proactively contribute to the agricultural livelihoods agenda in collaboration with colleagues within and across the GPs;
Lead and contribute to the mobilization of and implementation of additional Trust Fund grants for building the agriculture and livelihoods program in India and across the Region;
Play a lead role in cross regional knowledge sharing including learning and exposure visits, workshops and seminars and in producing knowledge products;

Selection Criteria

The selected candidate would be expected to bring to the team strong analytical, technical, operational, and very good team-work skills.

The candidate should have the following qualifications

Master's degree in Agribusiness/ Agriculture/ Finance/Management from an internationally recognized institute;
At least 8 years of relevant experience with a minimum of an undergraduate degree in agriculture/related field and/or post-graduate degree in one of the above fields;
Excellent technical and working knowledge in various sectors outlined above; among these, knowledge and experience in agribusiness and community development in the context of the rural development and agriculture sectors is required.
Proven ability to conceptualize, design and supervise the implementation of major projects , AAAs and TA activities with deep experience applying knowledge (community-driven development, agribusiness development, access to rural markets, rural finance, etc.) to policy-related decisions and advice ;
Ability to formulate and communicate wider strategic goals at sector and country level;
Ability to communicate knowledge in clear and accessible form as well as derive policy-relevant messages;
Proven record of constructive and positive engagement in leading a policy dialogue with client Governments, donors and other stakeholders;
Proven ability to work in teams, both as a team leader and team member, including in cross-GP teams; and
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

Competencies

Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
Agriculture Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Solid understanding of agriculture policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
Agricultural Sciences - Deep experience applying knowledge (soil, water, crops, livestock, inputs, biotech, disease control, etc.) to policy-related decisions and advice.
Agricultural Systems - Production to Consumption - Broad understanding of agricultural value chain and depth in one or more subtopics: research, input supply, on-farm production, organizing and coordinating, processing, distribution, etc.
General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills - Possesses Cross-country knowledge in economic specialty and demonstrates ability to link the macro, institutional, and micro-level behaviors; able to support findings/policy recommendations with credible analysis and tools.
Agricultural Economics - Deep understanding of most of the economic concepts used in agriculture, with significant experience.
Sector/Network Representation - Demonstrates ability to coordinate, participate in, and act as a catalyst for, strategic cross-sector dialogues within the network, across the country, among Bank colleagues and other development institutions, government, and other organizations.
CMU/Sector Integration - Able to act as a facilitator for the sector teams and country units, as well as with clients, promoting integrated development solutions.
Management and Quality - Able to effectively handle various managerial and administrative functions for the SMU and CMU, such as human resource management, staffing, budget management, administrative tasks, reporting, quality control, and mentoring.
Project Design for Impact and Sustainability - IL - Contributes to the design of projects and programs, based on an understanding of the country and sector context.
Sector Dialogue - IL - Able to conduct a dialogue with the client on familiar topics, with a narrow scope, based on a solid understanding of the sector.
Operational Project Management - Demonstrates in depth knowledge and understanding of project management tools & methodologies, as well as of Bank instruments and processes related to project preparation & implementation, resource management, and stakeholder communications.
Team Leadership - Leads teams to achieve challenging outcomes, providing a role model and enhancing the team-leadership skills of team members.
ESW/TA Policy, Strategic and Technical Analysis for Country/Sector Issues - Participates fully in the production of quality AAA work and policy papers, leveraging relevant analytical tools and a grasp of issues surrounding policy and sector reform.
Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions with others.
Deliver Results for Clients - Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client.
Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Initiates collaboration across boundaries and broadly across WBG, and brings differing ideas into the forefront.
Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Creates, applies and shares knowledge from across and outside WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions.
Make Smart Decisions - Recommends and takes decisive action.