Social Development Specialist, La Paz, Bolivia (GF) World Bank Closing date: Wednesday, 4 March 2015 (added 25 February)

Closing date: Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Background / General description

THE WORLD BANK GROUP

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2014, the WBG committed $65.6 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $22.2 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188 member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). IBRD and IDA are commonly known as the World Bank, which is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions, and - as of July 1, 2014 - has introduced fourteen Global Practices (GPs) as well as five Cross-Cutting Solution Areas (CCSAs) to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients.

GLOBAL PRACTICES & CROSS-CUTTING SOLUTIONS AREAS

The 14 GPs are: Agriculture; Education; Energy and Extractives; Environment and Natural Resources; Finance and Markets; Governance; Health, Nutrition and Population; Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management; Poverty; Social Protection and Labor; Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience; Trade and Competitiveness; Transport and ICT; and Water. The 5 CCSAs are: Climate Change; Fragility, Conflict and Violence; Gender; Jobs; and Public-Private Partnerships. The new operating model is part of a broader internal reform aimed at delivering the best of the World Bank Group to our clients, so that together we can achieve the twin goals of (1) ending extreme poverty by 2030, and (2) promote shared prosperity for the bottom 40% of the population in every developing country.

THE 'SOCIAL, URBAN, RURAL AND RESILIENCE' (SURR) GLOBAL PRACTICE

Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Cities generate 80% of global GDP and are key to job creation and the pursuit of shared prosperity. Yet one billion city residents live in slums today, and by 2030 one billion new migrants will arrive in cities. This concentration of people and assets will exacerbate risk exposure to adverse natural events and climate change, which affects the poor disproportionately. The absence of secure land tenure underpins deprivation and is a major source of conflict in the urban and rural space. One and a half billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of violence. In the absence of services, participative planning and responsive institutions, these trends will result in increased poverty, social exclusion, vulnerability and violence. Finally, avoiding a 4-degree warmer world requires drastically reducing the carbon footprint of cities.

The WBG is in a unique position to support national and sub-national clients to: harness urbanization and enable effective land management in support of both growth and poverty reduction; foster social inclusion of marginalized groups; support the responsiveness and fiscal, financial, and management capacities of local governments - cities, municipalities, and rural districts - to deliver local infrastructure and decentralized services; strengthen resilience and risk management related to natural disasters; reduce conflict and violence; scale-up access to finance for sub-national governments; and reduce the carbon footprint of cities. The WBG brings a combination of lending ($7-8 billion in annual lending to cities), analytical and advisory services (e.g., social inclusion flagship, urbanization reviews, Sendai dialogue), its growing portfolio of reimbursable advisory services, its convening power (e.g., understanding risk and the land conferences), its leveraging capacity (e.g., guarantees and risk mitigation), and its ability to work with the private sector to tackle the challenges at scale and to effect.

The SURR GP covers a wide gamut:

developing green, inclusive and resilient cities;
addressing the social inclusion of the poor, vulnerable and excluded groups through accountable institutions, and ensuring compliance with social safeguards;
enhancing urban and rural development through supporting and managing the urban-rural transition, assisting local development through developing land tenure, management and information systems; and
assisting in disaster risk management through issues of risk assessment, risk reduction (including flood management, urban drainage, coastal management, and retrofitting of infrastructure), disaster preparedness (including hydromet services, early warning systems, and civil defense), risk financing (including CAT-DDO), and resilient reconstruction (including post-disaster damage and loss assessment).

A key responsibility of the GP is to provide professional expertise and operational support to other GPs to implement the WBG social policies (the WB's safeguard policies and the IFC's Performance Standards) to deliver sustainable development results that ensure that any adverse impacts of WBG interventions are limited and mitigated.

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

REGIONAL CONTEXT

Within GSURR, the Social Development team in the Latin America and Caribbean Region (LCR) is responsible for: a) undertaking social analysis during project preparation and implementation, so as to mainstream attention to social development issues throughout the Bank's work in LCR; b) ensuring compliance with the Bank's social safeguards policies on Involuntary Resettlement and Indigenous Peoples; c) undertaking Analytical and Advisory Activities (AAA) in the form of thematic studies on social development issues and country social analysis; d) leading the preparation and supervision of activities where the team has a comparative advantage, particularly in relation to promoting the inclusion of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, citizen security, and citizen engagement; and e) facilitating partnerships and dialogue with civil society through outreach and engagement with a broad range of actors. To this end, LCR Social Development team members work closely with staff across all country units and global practices in LCR.

The LCR Social Development team is seeking a Social Development Specialist for the World Bank's La Paz Office to focus on cross-cutting social development issues with a major focus on social safeguards policies. The Social Development Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the Practice Manager for the LCR social development team, based in the World Bank's Washington DC Office.

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

Provide high quality operational support on social development issues at project identification, preparation and supervision phases to various Bank units with operations in Bolivia, particularly regarding social analysis and social assessment as they relate to issues addressed by the Bank's social safeguard policies. This will include providing support in making Bank operations inclusive of women, vulnerable and indigenous populations, and in designing and supervising stakeholder consultations and shaping feedback into concrete elements of project design and supervision.
Promote and contribute substantively to analyses and capacity building among our clients in Bolivia to strengthen country systems related to the Bank's social safeguard policies.
Contribute to the development of an innovative social development work program on issues of social sustainability and inclusion in Bolivia, especially with respect to understanding and addressing issues and impacts related to the Bank's social safeguard policies, and to policies and programs inclusive of low-income groups, women and indigenous populations. The specialist will develop work programs on both lending and non-lending tasks as needed, and design and manage innovative operations or components where opportunities arise. The specialist should be able to seek opportunities for working jointly other practices on these issues.
Contribute to policy analysis and strategy formulation related to the main social development policy issues in Bolivia, including options to improve the management of issues addressed by the Bank's social safeguard policy issues, as well as broader issues of social sustainability as an input to Strategic Country Diagnostics and Country Partnership Frameworks for Bolivia. Lead and act as team member on selected analytical and advisory assistance (AAA) on these themes.
Support the LAC social development team and Country Management and build capacity among peers and counterparts on issues covered by social safeguard policies, and participatory governance. Advise Management on major or sensitive matters relating to the implementation of social safeguard policies in operations.
Contribute to knowledge generation and diffusion within and beyond the Practice and Region.

Selection Criteria

Master's degree in relevant social sciences, and at least 5 years of directly relevant external and or Bank experience.
Substantial work experience in addressing issues covered by the World Bank social safeguard policies in complex and difficult settings in Bolivia or in the Andean region, including consultations and project design with indigenous populations. Desirable to have experience in these issues in more than one sector. Capacity to translate analytical work related to social safeguard policy issues into policy advice and operational, actionable recommendations.
Strong analytical skills, particularly via thematic studies, policy notes or contributions to country strategies or similar strategies on social development issues.
Ability to provide advice on social safeguards issues to clients and task teams. Desirable to have experience in the analysis, assessment and monitoring of resettlement and/or indigenous peoples issues and plans in Bolivia or in similar Andean countries, and experience with country systems.
Passionate commitment to poverty reduction and social development; highly self-motivated and talented in motivating others on social development themes. Deep understanding of the relationship between social development, social policy, and the promotion of social inclusion of the poor and the vulnerable (including indigenous peoples and those affected by involuntary resettlement) and strengthening of democratic governance.
Strong skills in dialogue on complex social development issues. This includes a demonstrated ability to provide high quality advice by taking principled and balanced positions on social development issues and presenting them effectively, both orally and in writing, to decision makers (such as government officials, project counterparts, community members, task teams or Bank management) in order to overcome obstacles, improve the design of tasks and facilitate their implementation.
A proven team-player, deeply committed to working across boundaries. Experienced in working highly collaboratively in a broad range of cultural and social contexts. Acting with integrity at all times to build trust and create an enabling work environment through emotional intelligence, whether as team leader or team member.
In depth knowledge of social development issues in Bolivia is preferred. Direct professional experience in Bolivia or the Andean Region is required.
Excellent oral and writing skills.
Fluency in English and Spanish.

Competencies

Social Development Implications on Policy, Institutions, and Operations - Familiarity with the implications of social development on policy, institutions, and operations.
Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability - Solid experience conducting social development analyses, producing meaningful results, and applying the tools in the course of an operation.
Participation and Consultation - Solid experience conducting social development consultative and participatory approaches, and applying the approaches in the course of an operation.
Social Safeguards - Familiar with and can apply (under supervision) the social safeguard policies to a situation and identify issues and risks.
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.
Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions.
Deliver Results for Clients - Proactively addresses clients' stated and unstated needs.
Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Applies knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
Make Smart Decisions - Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward.