Senior Social & Community Development Specialist

Background / General description:

Regional Context

The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region presents a dramatic illustration of the global dynamics, opportunities and risks of the 21st century. After making the fastest progress in growth and poverty reduction of any region around the world in the last fifteen years, some countries in the region - such as Mongolia - are poised to become middle-income, and some are preparing to join the small group of high-income countries. Such a rapid transformation is leading to the largest shift in rural-to-urban population in human history, generating rising inequality within and across countries, leaving individuals and regions behind in the dash for prosperity.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty in the advanced economies clouds the prospects for countries across the region which are being forced to adjust to changed growth and development prospects while addressing evolving impacts on macroeconomic stability, employment and poverty.

EAP comprises of more than 20 countries, including China, several MICs, LICs, and fragile states (EAP has the second highest number of fragile states amongst all the Bank regions). The Region is characterized by generally rapid growth, both sophisticated and low capacity borrowers, and some highly dynamic sectors. At the same time, EAP countries are faced with weak governance environments. The Bank's program in EAP is multi-faceted and has grown rapidly in recent years: lending in FY12 will have exceeded $8 billion; the portfolio consists of nearly 300 operations for about $30 billion; and the TF program is significant (with a portfolio of about $4.3 billion). EAP consists of about 800 staff with 20% in Washington and 80% based in the country offices in the six CMUs.

Department Context

The Sustainable Development (SD) Department covers Infrastructure (transport, energy, urban/water and sanitation); Social, Agriculture and Rural development; and Environment and Natural Resources Management.

The Department accounts for a substantial part of East Asia's overall business. Overall, SD is responsible for:

delivery of about 50 operations per year, amounting to about $ 4-5 billion annually;
an active dialogue on regional issues, such as climate change, urbanization and decentralization, and huge demand for efficient infrastructure development;
about 160 active projects in the portfolio, amounting to around $16 billion;
about 220 regular staff.
A key characteristic of the Bank program in the region is a high level of decentralization. About 60% of staff is located in the field, and about 45% of operations are managed and led from the field. The underpinning of this decentralization rests on four main pillars:
better integration at the field level to provide greater synergies and integrated responses;
a decentralized management structure supported by regional and global knowledge;
provision of faster responses and management decisions to our clients; and
the need to reposition ourselves in the region given the large urbanization and decentralization trend in almost all countries, the need to incorporate better environment dimensions of the fast growth rates and huge demand for infrastructure, and the need to better deal with governance issues and growing income disparities between urban centers and rural areas and lagging regions.
To address this high level of decentralization, SD's Management Team is headed by a Sector Director at HQ, seven field based Sector Managers responsible for the client interface in Indonesia (two, of which one is the SM for SDV), Vietnam, China/Mongolia, Australia/Pacific, Philippines, Thailand/Cambodia/Lao PDR/Myanmar, and three HQ based sector managers responsible for the corporate interface grouped around platforms of engagement, and organized around thematic lines, as in the rest of the Bank. They are supported by technical Practice Leaders in each major field of business.

Unit Context

The World Bank's program for Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and ten Pacific Island member countries is overseen by a Country Director who is based in the World Bank office in Sydney, Australia. There are additional Country Offices in Port Moresby, Honiara, and DiIi, and joint WB-ADB representation in Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Kiribati.

The Pacific Department's social development program has grown rapidly over the past few years and includes lending operations in PNG, Samoa and the Solomon Islands which are complemented by strategic AAA activities. Given the diversity of client countries, the program covers a broad range of issues, including disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change; fisheries management; road, aviation and maritime transport; agricultural productivity; renewable energy; utility strengthening; and a complex social agenda with heavy emphasis on youth, gender, social accountability and community-level development.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Senior Social & Community Development Specialist will be based in Port Moresby, Papua New-Guinea and will report to the EASNS Sector Manager in Sydney. He/she will work as an integral part of the Pacific SD team (EASNS), and coordinate closely with the departmental EASER management and team working on the Pacific from Washington and other offices to provide support for lending, economic and sector work studies, and technical assistance. Extensive travel in country is required. Occasional travel within the EAP region or globally for training and knowledge exchange may be required.

The Senior Social & Community Development Specialist will be responsible for building long-term business relationships with national and local stakeholders through policy dialogue; leading program development, task management or support to task management, strategic communications and outreach activities on social & community driven development to ensure that best practices and lessons learned are reflected in the unit's operations.

Specifically, the responsibilities of this position will fall into the following categories:

(i) Policy dialogue and strategy development

Leading policy dialogue on social & community driven development issues with key Government counterparts and participating in policy dialogue with other sectors to ensure consistency and coherence in collaboration with sector colleagues in Washington and Country Offices.
Preparing, in coordination with the Washington office, social & community driven development inputs to Country Assistance Strategies, Country Economic Memoranda and other cross-sectoral products.
Keeping management and sector staff in the Socially Sustainable Development Unit regularly updated on social & community driven development activities in Papua-New Guinea.
(ii) Program development, task management, and quality control
Developing the Bank's social & community driven program in Papua New Guinea and monitoring its implementation with government agencies and stakeholders.
Providing implementation support to World Bank financed operations and ensuring quality control of relevant project activities and outputs.
Undertaking task management and support of economic and sector work and lending operations.
(iii) Knowledge Management
Assisting in learning and training activities.
Serving as the focal point or spokesperson on social & community driven development issues in the Papua-New Guinea to clients and external constituencies.
Engaging with universities, civil society organizations, and private sector partners.

Selection Criteria:

In addition to meeting Bank-wide competencies for Grade GG level Senior Social & Community Driven Development Specialist positions, it is expected that the successful candidate will meet the following selection criteria:

Advanced degree (PhD or Masters) in sociology or other relevant discipline.
A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social development with a track record of analytical work and project work in the area of social development.
A minimum of 8 years of project management experience
Knowledge and experience in at least some the following areas: social inclusion, social accountability and governance, community driven development, and social safeguards is required, while knowledge and experience in gender and youth is desirable. A candidate with a wide range of these skills and experience would have an advantage.
Proven ability to build client relationships involving multiple stakeholders;
Demonstrated ability to effectively coordinate activities involving multiple disciplines and organizational units, as well as to maintain high service standards under pressure, meet deadlines, and accommodate simultaneous demands from various sources;
Proven teamwork and leadership skills, working with multi-disciplinary teams across different sectors;
Skill at managing donor engagements;
Excellent oral and written communications skills in English; and
Willingness to travel frequently in country, as well as in East Asia and Pacific or globally from time to time.
Competenices (Level G, Senior Social & Community Development Specialist)

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.

Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability - Extensive experience conducting social development analyses, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the tools.

Participation and Consultation - Extensive experience conducting social development consultative and participatory approaches, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the interventions.

Social Development Implications on Policy, Institutions, and Operations - Solid understanding of the implications of social development on policy, institutions, and operations.

Social Accountability and Demand for Good Governance - Broad understanding of social accountability with ability to support policies, institutions, and operations.

Social Cohesion and Violence Prevention - Broad understanding of fragility, conflict, and violence, with ability apply to policies, institutions, and operations.

Inclusion (including youth and gender) - Broad understanding of inclusion and exclusion, with ability to support policies, institutions, and operations, and help develop strategy.

Social Resilience - Broad understanding of resilience to climate change and disasters to policies, institutions, and operations, with ability to support policies, institutions, and operations, and help develop strategy.

Community-Driven Development - Solid, hands-on experience with community-driven development operations; can independently contribute as well as take a lead role in most operations.

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.

Operational Policies Application to the Project Cycle (fiduciary, disbursement, safeguard and GAC policies) - IL - Possesses a strong understanding of procurement and disbursement policies; knows what issues might arise and who to involve in problem resolution.

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.

Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.

Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.

Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.

Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.

Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.