Senior Operations Officer Jobs – World Bank

Job Title:      Senior Operations Officer
Organization: World Bank
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports to: Education Practice Manager
Job #: 152857
About World Bank:
The World Bank is a vital source of
financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.
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
World Bank provides low-interest loans, zero to low-interest credits, and
grants to developing countries. These support a wide array of investments in
such areas as education, health, public administration, infrastructure,
financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and
natural resource management. Some of our projects are co-financed with
governments, other multilateral institutions, commercial banks, export credit
agencies, and private sector investors.
Job Summary: The Senior Operations Officer will
support the World Bank Eastern Africa regional program to be based in Kampala.
The incumbent will be working on the large Uganda portfolio.   The Senior Operations Officer would support the
Country Director for Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo (AFCC2) and the
Country Manager Uganda to manage these programs.  S/he would be reporting to the Country
Manager based in Uganda, and liaising closely on regional integrations issues
for East Africa Community (EAC) with the Senior Country Officer based in
Kinshasa, as well as the Country Program Coordinators based in Washington DC.
Key Duties and Responsibilities: 
1.
Portfolio Coordination/Monitoring:
·        
Play
a key role in coordinating, monitoring and reporting on the Eastern Africa
regional and Uganda portfolios to ensure quality and documented results.
·        
Manage
existing portfolio monitoring systems effectively to follow-up programs and
activities across sectors, in close liaison with the task teams and client
implementation teams.
·        
Actively
monitor the implementation of various activities financed through grants,
outside the main lending program and trust funds supported activities.
·        
Provide
both the Country Directors and the Country Manager with regular assessments of
portfolio performance status, with recommendations on necessary follow-up
actions to improve performance. 
·        
Technically
support the AFCC2 Country Director in managing relations with the main regional
institutions, including the East Africa Community (EAC) among others, and
planning meetings between the institutions in the region as well during the
Annual/Spring meetings.
2.
Quality Assurance:
·        
Work
in liaison with task teams in ensuring Quality at Entry, Supervision and Exit for
the Bank supported program.
·        
Provide
leadership and advisory support in all phases of operations, including problem
solving on complex issues of implementation.
·        
Identify
the major implementation issues which may affect portfolio quality and
highlight them for the Country Director and Manager in a timely manner and with
proposed remedies or appropriate actions on how to address them. 
·        
Play
a focal role in preparing, organizing and managing the process for portfolio
performance reviews, internally and with Government. Prepare the issues paper
and action plans for such reviews, in consultation with the fiduciary team and
the task teams in the Bank and in Government.
·        
Play
an active role in overseeing quality by reviewing documents (including ISR,
ICRs, TF proposals and Board packages) and correspondence for Country Director’s
or Manager’s action.
·        
Inform
the task teams on emerging Bank instruments and changes to the Bank’s
operational policies.
·        
Quickly
respond or contribute to information requests by Bank management and or
external clients relating to the portfolio and related activities.
·        
Provide
inputs to and/or prepare diverse operational products/outputs (e.g., sector and
country briefings, including for Spring and Annual Meetings, background
reports, case studies, portfolio performance reviews, etc.), and chair the
quarterly Project Coordinators’ Forum in Uganda which links Bank and client
teams on matters of program implementation and performance monitoring.
3.
Pipeline Development and regional dialogue:
·        
Offer
technical support in the analysis of competing pipeline priorities
·        
Act
as an interface for key CMUs in linking together regional and national
priorities
·        
Provide
briefing as needed ahead of CMU involvement in major regional events and
conferences, and senior visits
Qualifications, Skills and
Experience: 
·        
The
applicant should hold a Master’s Degree from a recognized institution in a
relevant field/discipline (such as economics, development planning, development
finance, business administration, or equivalent)
·        
A
minimum of eight years of relevant professional and operational support
experience including experience with Bank operations;
·        
Broad
knowledge and understanding of analytical tools and ability to translate theoretical
concepts into practical approaches for Bank operational work;
·        
Familiarity
with macroeconomic and/or operational issues and broad understanding of links
to sector policies.
·        
Capability
to assess policy issues and interrelationships of sector, macroeconomic and
country strategies;
·        
Broad
knowledge and understanding of political economy in the Eastern Africa region,
the countries’ development issues and cultural factors;
·        
Task
and project management skills, including Monitoring and Evaluation;
·        
Broad
knowledge and understanding of Bank operational policies, practices and procedures
will be an advantage;
·        
Demonstrated
strategic skills and ability to link macro and sectoral issues in an integrated
way;
·        
Work
experience in the Eastern Africa region with demonstrated ability to interact
and work with Government institutions and Regional Organizations;
·        
Strong
drive and commitment for results through team work and consultation and good
work ethics;
·        
Demonstrated
ability to take initiative and work independently without much supervision;
·        
Ability
to operate in a mature manner and sensitively in multi-cultural and in
multi-disciplinary teams environments and build effective working relations
with clients and colleagues;
·        
Strong
report writing and communication skills.
·        
Demonstrated
ability to write brief and clear analytical reports and concise discussion
notes requiring strong written and oral communication skills in English.
·        
Willingness
to travel extensively in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. 
Personal Competencies:
Portfolio
Management (OS)
·        
Analyzes,
monitors and reports on portfolio performance and status.
·        
Develops
and implements Bank corporate strategic priorities
·        
Reviews
projects and financing mechanisms and provides guidance to teams related to
project preparation and implementation issues to facilitate their resolution.
·        
Interacts
with other units and parts of the WB group, donors, and Clients related to the
operational policy framework, financing mechanisms, or/and portfolio
implementation and quality.
Analytical
and Technical Skills, Operational Strategy Development & Advice:
·        
Assesses
policy issues and interrelationships of Global Practice groups and Country
Strategies;
·        
Develops
and implements country strategies;
·        
Develops
new operational and institutional policy documents, including for the Board,
donors and other agencies/institutions;
·        
Acts
as a resource person to identify and pro-actively solve operational issues and
problems;
·        
Designs
and delivers learning and knowledge strategies and programs.
Country
Strategy:
The
formulation and monitoring of a country strategy and the related dialogue aimed
at maximizing development results through internal and external stakeholder
engagement.
Country
Program Management:
The
business planning, work program development, resource allocation, and delivery
and monitoring of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS).
Country
Operations Knowledge and Application:
·        
Knowledge
of WBG Operational Instruments, Policies, Procedures, and Systems is desirable.
·        
Ability
to put country work in context by understanding the inter-relationships with
other parts of the WBG.
·        
Ability
to recognize problems within the country program and knowledge of resources to
address those challenges (i.e., key point of intersection with OS stream, knowledge
of a breadth of policies and operational aspects and of the various OS
resources for more in-depth knowledge and support).
Stakeholder
Engagement:
Builds and maintains relationships with
the client government, donors, the media, and other key external stakeholders
including NGOs.
Corporate
Insight (Organizational Agility):
Ability
to put country work in context by understanding the inter-relationships with
other parts of the WBG.
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested
candidates who wish to join the World Bank in the aforementioned capacity are
encouraged to send their applications Online by reviewing details at the web
link below and clicking Apply Now on getting a broader insight of vacancy.
Deadline: 14th January 2016
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