Operations Officer

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/who-we-are/ibrd Regional Context The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region comprises of 30 extremely diverse countries, with a population of nearly 500 million people. The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region comprises a large number of diverse countries, with a population of nearly 500 million people. A predominantly middle-income region, ECA continues to be at the forefront in confronting the numerous development challenges that countries face in the evolving global economy. Several countries in the region face structural and legacy issues, including an incomplete transition to a market economy and declining productivity, weak institutional capacity, dependance on fossil fuels, limited physical and digital connectivity and demographic transition. The spillover impacts of recent shocks have further exacerbated these challenges, with significant impacts on the level, inclusiveness and sustainability of growth and overall living standards. IBRD and IDA are working closely with IFC and MIGA to support countries in the region to address these issues, with increasing focus on productivity and jobs, physical and digital connectivity, human capital and economic inclusion, and resilience, including access to reliable, secure and sustainable energy and water management. The region has a large project portfolio, a strong lending pipeline as well as a portfolio of Trust Funds (TFs) and Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS). Knowledge is critical to the Bank’s value proposition to client countries in the ECA region in both lending and advisory services. For more information about the region: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca Country Management Unit (CMU) Context The Central Asia Country Unit, ECCCA, includes a diverse set of countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. While coming from the same background as post-Soviet republics, the countries range from the middle-income and oil-rich country Kazakhstan to the poorer IDA recipients Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan as well as an IDA/IBRD blend country, Uzbekistan and one country (Turkmenistan) where the Bank activities are very limited (with no active lending portfolio). The five countries cover an area of some 4 million sq km (slightly smaller than the European Union), inhabited by nearly 85 million people. The region has large energy reserves, with Kazakhstan a major oil producer, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan major gas producers, and Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan showing strong hydropower potential. Human capital is also strong, with a literacy rate of nearly 100 percent in all countries. While double and triple landlocked, Central Asia is located between large and emerging markets within the region and beyond. The World Bank has very active programs in all countries except Turkmenistan, with net commitments totaling nearly US$11 billion in 80 projects. The ECCCA program is currently the third largest portfolio in ECA, and 13th largest in the World Bank. The lending program has grown significantly in recent years, and in addition to country specific lending program includes a rapidly growing regional multi-country portfolio. There is also a growing and important program supporting regional development of hydropower and water resources as well as cross-country cooperation on water, energy, trade, pandemic preparedness, etc. In addition to rapidly growing lending program, there is also a strong Trust Fund portfolio of over US$ 500 million in Bank Executed and Recipient Executed activities. Roles Responsibilities: The Operations Officer will be based in the Central Asia Regional Office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and will mainly work on three areas: i) CMU pipeline and portfolio management; ii) Business planning and budgeting; and iii) Operational strategy and innovation. The Operations Officer will report to the Operations Manager, while providing support across the CMU. i) CMU Pipeline and Portfolio Management: Pipeline Management: Under the overall guidance of the Division Director and Operations Manager, the Operations Officer will coordinate with the CMU country operations teams the preparation of the annual draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the VPU and assist the CMU in strategic discussions with the VPU/Front Office (FO). This includes, but is not limited to, the preparation and updates to the multi-annual pipeline planning, regular pipeline monitoring (i.e. - milestone updates, policy/procedural requirements, preparation of regional delivery meetings, etc.), usage of available IDA resources, preparation of exceptional requests (i.e. – waivers, contingency requests, IDA frontloading/reallocation, etc.). Portfolio Management: The Operations Officer supports the Operations Manager in portfolio management of the lending and analytical services and advisory (ASAs), including monitoring and facilitating MOU implementation indicators and targets (i.e. – disbursements, proactivity, overage projects, etc.); preparation of Country Portfolio Performance Reviews (CPPRs) where there are active portfolios and regional joint portfolio reviews; regular monitoring of potential extensions; etc. S/he will work closely with the country operations teams and task teams, and where necessary with government counterparts, to identify and address cross-cutting and systemic implementation issues, with a particular focus on the implementation of the D-Ready action plans. The Operations Officer will be responsible for analysis of portfolio trends and present this information to varied audiences. The Operations Officer will coordinate responses and information for ECADE and/or senior management on corporate requests, as well as pipeline and portfolio performance and relevant follow-up. S/he may also contribute to preparation of key reports and management briefs on the overall Central Asia program, including for the annual and spring meetings or other high-level visits. In preparation of the related background information, s/he will carry out substantive research and analytical tasks on operational, country and sector issues, review/interpret information/data, and identify issues and solutions. ii) Business Planning and Budgeting The Operations Officer will assist in the Annual Business Planning Exercise (ABPE) and the Annual Business Plan (ABP), the yearly work planning and budgeting process. This will include coordinating and consolidating inputs from discussions within the CMU and with Verticals on strategic planning. S/he will also contribute to the regular budgeting process through coordination of WPA preparation within the CMU and Resource Management Officer, and subsequently with Verticals and the FO. S/he will assist the CMU and Resource Management Officer to oversee budget execution and deliverables. iii) Operational Capacity Building and Innovation The Operations Officer will lead the design and implementation of operational capacity-building programs, for internal (operations team and task teams) and external audiences (project implementing units and executing agencies) to support operational effectiveness. This may include the development and maintenance of operational guidance notes, toolkits, templates, and AI-enabled resources that improve consistency, efficiency, and compliance with institutional requirements. S/he will foster partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to identify and coordinate innovative practices and leverage technology solutions that strengthen operational effectiveness and client outcomes, including mentoring junior staff. S/he will identify, pilot, and scale innovative operational approaches, including the use of AI, automation, data analytics, and digital technologies to improve efficiency and development impact, including for portfolio monitoring, operational analytics, quality assurance reviews, knowledge management, and reporting processes. Note: This internal requisition is open to WB and IMF staff only (including short-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries). External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate applies, their application will not be considered.