Senior Operations Officer - World Bank

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development.

With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Western and Central Africa (AFW) Region

We need the best and brightest talent focused on Sub-Saharan African countries in order to harness the potential and innovation happening across the continent. Africa is a continent on the move, with a young population and a growing market of nearly 1.2bn people. We are committed to making the Africa regional teams into leading innovation hubs.

Yet, these vast opportunities are tempered by persistent gaps in education, health, and skills, which have Africa only reaching forty percent of its estimated potential. Moreover, conflict, food insecurity, population growth, and the disruptive forces of climate change threaten to curtail or even reverse the progress that has been made over the past decades.

In West and Central Africa, the World Bank is a leading partner with a growing portfolio of 387 projects totaling more than $44.1 billion in areas such as agriculture, trade and transport, energy, education, health, water and sanitation- all to support job creation, gender equality, poverty reduction, and better lives. Across the continent, the World Bank’s program has nearly doubled over the last 10 years. By 2030, about 87% of the world’s extreme poor are projected to live in Sub-Saharan Africa, so this is where our mission to end extreme poverty and to promote shared prosperity will be achieved.

Are you ready to make an impact? We are looking for dedicated professionals to join our innovative and diverse team to improve people’s lives and help countries build back better after COVID. 

Western and Central Africa (AFW) Region:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/western-and-central-africa

COUNTRY CONTEXT

Ghana

The COVID-19 pandemic has halted Ghana’s rapid growth spell, and the economy is yet to fully recover. The economy grew at an average of 7 percent in 2017–19, before it experienced a sharp contraction in Q2 and Q3 of 2020, due to a lockdown in the spring and a sharp decline in commodity exports. There was a modest rebound in economic growth 2020 Q4, resulting in 0.4 percent growth for 2020.

The economic slowdown had far-reaching consequences for poverty reduction. The poverty rate is estimated to have increased from 26.7 percent in 2019 to 30.6 percent in 2020. At the height of the pandemic, nearly 3 out of 4 households reported a decrease in their income.

Growth firmed up in 2021 Q1, driven by the strong performance of services (particularly information and communication technologies) and agriculture. Positive growth was recorded despite a sharp contraction in mining and the concurrent second wave of the pandemic, which depressed the hospitality industry.

The pandemic has so far only had a moderate impact on the banking sector. Headline inflation remained relatively low at 7.8 percent in June 2021 as the pandemic-induced food price shock eased and the exchange rate remained stable. With inflation below its 8 percent target, the Bank of Ghana reduced the policy rate by 100 basis points to 13.5 percent in May to support the recovery.

Imports expanded faster than exports in early 2021 as the domestic recovery fueled imports, while external demand for commodities remained subdued. As a result, the current account deficit widened from 0.8 percent of GDP in 2020 Q2 to 1.3 percent of GDP in 2021 Q2.

However, the deficit was easily financed by large portfolio inflows and foreign direct investment, which drove the capital and financial account balance to a high of US$3.3billion in 2021 Q2, much higher than US$1.6 billion in 2020 Q2. With the proceeds of the March 2021 Eurobonds emission, gross international reserves reached US$11 billion in 2021 Q2—equivalent to 5 months’ worth of imports of goods and services, up from 4.0 months at end-December 2020.

The pandemic also had a severe impact on Ghana’s fiscal position. The crisis disrupted the government’s fiscal consolidation program, including efforts to address large losses in the energy sector. As a result, the overall fiscal deficit (including energy and financial sector costs) more than doubled from 7.6 percent of GDP in 2019 to 15.2 percent in 2020.

Meanwhile, public debt increased by 17 percentage points to 81.4 percent of GDP in 2020, which means that the risk of debt distress is significant. Provisional fiscal data for 2021 suggest that the authorities had to cut spending to make up for revenue shortfalls, with the overall fiscal deficit reaching 5.1 percent of GDP, close to the target of 5.2 percent.

The economy is projected to recover gradually over the medium term, thanks to commodity price growth and strong domestic demand. Growth is expected to average 5.2 percent per year in 2021–23. The main risks to Ghana’s outlook are new waves of COVID-19 infections in the region, which could lead to renewed lockdowns and social distancing measures, or globally, which could lead to depressed global demand and commodity prices.

The fiscal deficit, including financial and energy sector costs, is expected to remain elevated as the government implements its program to support the economy. The public debt stock is expected to continue increasing until 2024, before coming down gradually in the medium term, and continued access to domestic and external financing is critical for Ghana’s debt sustainability.

Portfolio

The AFCW1 Country Management Unit (CMU) covers Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The CMU portfolio includes 66 projects amounting to a total commitment of $4.61 billion in IDA resources. In addition, there are several regional projects with a total commitment of close to $700m. The CMU’s advisory service and analytics (ASA) portfolio consists of close to 45 activities. Portfolio performance has been positive with a disbursement ratio slightly above and a commitment at risks ratio below the Region’s average.

The Country Director is based in the World Bank Office in Accra and works with a core country team working out of Headquarters, Country Offices in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Currently, there is a total of approximately 110staff based in Accra working for both the Country Management Unit and the various Global Practices.

Roles & Responsibility:

The Snr Operations Officer (SOO) position is based in Ghana, Accra with primary responsibility for supporting the Country Director (CD), Operations Manager (OM) and DC-based Sr. Operations Officer (DC SOO) with respect to the performance of the existing portfolio, including trust funds and analytical program (ASA), tracking the pipeline delivery, and ensuring the program’s strategic alignment with the CPF.  

The SOO supports the CD, OM and DC SOO to conduct country-specific monitoring and reporting on the existing lending, TF portfolio and ASA program, and to identify and resolve country-specific implementation issues. The SOO collaborates very closely and on daily basis with the GP teams and the government counterparts, especially from the MoF World Bank desk.

The SOO maintains up-to-date information on portfolio performance (IDA and trust funds, and ASA program) for Ghana in close collaboration with the OM and DC SOO. The SOO is a member of the CMU Management Team that includes senior staff, which meets frequently to share information and resolve all relevant operational and administrative issues in the country office.

Specific duties include:

S/he will be responsible for performing activities in the following areas:

• Support the Ghana team in the preparation, appraisal and negotiation of national and regional projects.
• Assist Task Team Leaders sustain effective relationships with high-level government officials, line ministries, project implementation units as well as international development partners.
• Supports the CD, OM and DC SOO in ensuring the quality of portfolio performance management through project implementation, monitoring and assistance.
• Supports the OM in monitoring the Ghana lending, knowledge and convening activities; flags implementation problems for attention by clients and Bank management; supports OM with data and documents needed for effective portfolio monitoring and risk management meetings at the Regional level and takes lead in resolving systemic portfolio issues.
• Actively support the country and project teams by playing the key role in coordinating the implementation of the World Bank program in the Country and supporting the CD and OM in the Bank dialogue with the development partners and government counterparts in that respect.  
• Advising operational teams on the current scope of policies applicable to Bank operations
• Promote knowledge learning between teams engaged through capturing key operational challenges, solutions and examples.
• Leads the preparation of the Country briefing documents and internal and external correspondence for Bank management, development partners, and external audiences.
• Supports the CD, OM and DC SOO in monitoring the allocation and utilization of national IDA.
• Leads and coordinates the quality control of the preparation of a Monthly Watch List. The report monitors lending, non-lending activities, TF, and other key portfolio performance indicators. The report is regularly shared with the Country Team and may be shared with the government.
• Support the implementation Support Team (comprising of FM, Procurement and safeguards   specialists) by organizing its regular meetings with project TTLs and program/sector leaders to discuss and find solutions to the ongoing concerns and to anticipate potential future problems/bottlenecks. Follow-up with government on recommendations in close consultation with the CD, OM, and Program/Sector Leaders.  Follow up on the Portfolio Action Plan as formulated in the IST or the Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR), with special focus on portfolio-wide actions in the areas of FM, procurement, safeguards, and M&E. Prepare the TTLs periodic meetings.
• Review, and draft comments for the CD/OM on operational documents such as the Project Concept Notes (PCNs), Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), Implementation Status and Results Reports (ISRs),  Implementation Completion Report (ICR); analytical work/reports.
• Provides inputs to or prepares diverse operational products/outputs (e.g., country briefings, background reports, case studies, portfolio performance reviews, etc.).  Provide continuous case-by-case support to teams and the Implementation Support Team.  Interact directly with the Program Leaders/Sector on daily work program issues and provides operational support for problem or risky operations, reviews implementation readiness of projects under preparation, including advice on project design, results-M&E, risk management; reviewing operational packages; advising the OM on management letters, extensions, cancellations and restructuring. To the extent possible, participate in operational missions and meetings and assist teams in resolution of difficult issues. Review, comment on, and clear for the OM/CD all operational out-going correspondence.
• Maintain daily contact and relationship with government counterparts; ensure that the country team follows the government’s internal procedures and processes for World Bank programs; and assist the country team in resolving difficult operational issues. Leads the preparations for the regular Implementation Support team meetings in close cooperation with Country Teams and Governments.
• Supports the OM in donor coordination by developing and maintaining contacts with key stakeholders and development partners. Develops and maintains close working relations with the Washington-based Country Anchor Unit, the CMU staff in Monrovia and Freetown, GP colleagues, operational services and quality staff, and regional management.
• Provide support in the Country Strategy Implementation program. Support the CD, OM and DC SOO in implementation of the Country Partnership Strategy and help in preparing CPS Progress Report and Completion Report, particularly regarding portfolio implementation.

This job is for someone who is very strong in operational work, likes new challenges, has strong inter-personal skills, and thrives in a rapidly changing environment. Prior experience in a similar role would be a plus.

Selection Criteria

• Masters’ degree in international relations, international development, management or similar discipline with a minimum 8 years’ relevant experience; a post graduate qualification in finance with a supplementary Business Administration will be an added advantage.
• Ability to deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues.
• Effective verbal and written communications skills.
• Ability to function effectively in multi-disciplinary teams within a matrix environment.
• Good understanding of Bank policies, procedures and system. 
• Recognized by peers and/or managers for ability to identify and pro-actively solve operational issues and problems. 
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the CMU’s annual reporting, budgeting, and business planning.
• Ability to coordinate mechanisms to ensure efficient and effective procedures for routine workflow in the County office. 
• Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables. 
• Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches. 
• Shares 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.