Senior Operations Officer

At 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 www.worldbank.org VPU Context: The Country Management Unit (CMU) for Africa East Central East Countries 2 (AECE2), includes Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Somalia. The AECE2 CMU Office is in Nairobi, Kenya, and covers the Kenya and Somalia, Offices. Rwanda Country Context: Rwanda has established itself as one of Africa's strongest reformers, characterized by sustained economic growth, strong institutional capacity, ambitious development objectives, and an expanding partnership with the World Bank Group. The World Bank's Rwanda program supports the country's development priorities through a diverse portfolio of investment operations, development policy financing, advisory services and analytics, regional initiatives, trust-funded activities, and IFC and MIGA collaboration. The Rwanda portfolio is entering a period of significant growth and increasing complexity, with a strong focus on job creation, including on agriculture, digital, human capital, infrastructure, private sector and urban development. The CMU seeks a highly experienced IRS Senior Operations Officer (SOO), to be based in Kigali, to support effective delivery of the Rwanda Country Program. Duties and Responsibilities: The SOO will report to the WBG Country Manager for Rwanda, serve as a core member of the Rwanda Country Management Team and provide leadership on portfolio management and implementation support, quality assurance and operational advisory, country program strategy and partnerships, risk management and corporate compliance. The SOO will work closely with the WBG Country Manager, Operations Manager, Operations Analyst, Global Practice teams, IFC and MIGA colleagues, government counterparts, and development partners to ensure high-quality preparation and implementation of World Bank Group -financed activities and achievement of Country Partnership Framework objectives. Specifically, the SOO will be responsible for the following: (i) Portfolio Management and Implementation Support The SOO will play a key role in supporting the effective implementation, performance, and delivery of the Rwanda portfolio. The SOO will: • Lead monitoring of portfolio performance and proactively identify implementation bottlenecks, emerging risks, and opportunities to accelerate implementation and development impact. • Support Task Team Leaders (TTLs), government counterparts, and implementing agencies in resolving implementation challenges and achieving project objectives. • Coordinate portfolio reviews, implementation support missions, and follow-up actions arising from management discussions. • Monitor project effectiveness, disbursements, portfolio quality, achievement of development objectives, and compliance with operational requirements. • Identify and support the resolution of problem projects and projects at risk, ensuring timely management attention and corrective actions. • Track portfolio outliers, aging actions, and key performance indicators, ensuring timely follow-up and resolution. • Promote operational excellence, strong portfolio performance, and implementation readiness across the Rwanda program. (ii) Quality Assurance and Operational Advisory The SOO will serve as a key advisor on operational quality and support high-quality preparation and supervision of lending and non-lending activities. The SOO will: • Provide quality assurance throughout the project cycle, from identification through implementation and completion. • Review and provide guidance on Concept Notes, Project Appraisal Documents, restructuring papers, ISRs, ICRs, ASA products, trust fund activities, and other operational documents. • Advise teams on World Bank operational policies, procedures, corporate requirements, and good practice. • Ensure consistency with quality standards, fiduciary and safeguard requirements, and strategic priorities. • Contribute to Quality Enhancement Reviews, Decision Meetings, portfolio reviews, and other operational review processes. • Support the preparation, restructuring, and supervision of lending operations across sectors, drawing on strong operational experience and knowledge of Bank instruments and processes. • Monitor pipeline milestones and process schedules and work proactively with teams to address delays and operational issues. • Facilitate coordination across Global Practices and functions to resolve cross-sectoral processing and implementation issues. • Promote the timely delivery of lending operations, analytical work, and trust-funded activities. (iii) Country Program Strategy and Partnerships The SOO will support the implementation of the Rwanda Country Partnership Framework (CPF) and contribute to the strategic management of the country program. The SOO will: • Support the implementation and monitoring of the CPF and related country strategies. • Coordinate inputs for country program reviews, portfolio performance reporting, and management updates. • Prepare briefing books, management notes, presentations, talking points, and strategic briefing materials for senior management. • Support identification and development of strategic opportunities for new lending operations, advisory services, and analytical work. • Strengthen coordination across the World Bank Group, including Global Practices, IFC, and MIGA, to advance a One World Bank approach. • Contribute to country-level strategic planning, operational decision-making, and program delivery discussions. • Maintain productive working relationships with government counterparts, implementing agencies, and development partners. • Support policy and operational dialogue with government institutions and partner organizations. • Represent the CMU in technical, operational, and portfolio discussions, as requested. • Contribute to strategic discussions related to policy reforms, institutional strengthening, service delivery, and development effectiveness. • Help identify opportunities to strengthen coordination, client responsiveness, and program impact. (iv) Risk Management and Corporate Compliance The SOO will support effective risk management and ensure adherence to World Bank policies and standards. The SOO will: • Monitor operational, fiduciary, environmental and social, governance, and implementation risks across the portfolio. • Advise CMU management and task teams on emerging issues requiring management attention. • Support effective risk mitigation measures and follow-up actions to address implementation challenges. • Facilitate compliance with World Bank operational policies, procedures, and corporate requirements. • Support corporate monitoring, reporting, portfolio management, and accountability processes. • Promote sound governance, transparency, quality assurance, and institutional effectiveness across the country program. •Undertake other operational, portfolio management, strategic, and country program responsibilities as assigned by CMU management as required to support the effective delivery of the Rwanda Country Program.