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, please visit www.worldbank.org

Junior Professional Associates – Program Description

The Junior Professionals Associate Program (JPA) offers an exceptional opportunity for recent graduates to embark on a professional journey, providing a three-year contract with valuable work experience within a diverse and dynamic environment and the potential of field work experience. The program is an excellent platform to sharpen your existing skills and to develop new ones, all while gaining a profound understanding of the challenges associated with reducing poverty and fostering shared prosperity on a livable planet.

We will provide you with the opportunity to gain entry-level professional experience in a premier development institution, on an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) contract with benefits. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org/careers/jpa

The following are minimum requirements to be eligible for the JPA program:

Be 32 years of age or younger

Hold a bachelor’s degree

Be fluent in English

The JPA program at the World Bank is a highly competitive initiative. Candidates who are being actively considered for positions may be required to present academic transcripts and professional references. The World Bank’s Human Resources team and hiring team will reach out exclusively to individuals selected for assessment and interviews.

Positions may be in any of the World Bank’s offices worldwide.

Specific Unit Description – Water East Asia and Pacific Region Unit (SEAW1)
The Water Unit (SEAW1) in the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region is responsible for: (i) carrying out analytical and policy work to support the development of the water sector in client countries; (ii) preparing and implementing projects and programs, in partnership with client countries, to bring solutions for water challenges; and (iii) promoting knowledge exchange across countries to ensure efficient and economic solutions are considered in determining solutions to address water challenges.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The selected candidate will be based in Washington, D.C. and will work as a core member of SEAW1’s Quality Assurance Team reporting to the Practice Manager in Singapore, and will likewise collaborate closely with the Unit’s Lead Water Economist on the development of analytical and policy activities as follows:
Portfolio and Quality Assurance:
• Undertake ongoing reporting/monitoring of SEAW1’s lending and active portfolio performance to track progress and ensure compliance with MOU targets agreed with Senior Management. Flag issues requiring respective team members and management attention, particularly those associated with overdue/stale milestones, to avoid potential delivery slippages.
• Compile relevant reports/data to inform SEAW1 “Deep Dives” of problem, low disbursing, and “Soft-MS” projects. Participate in associated safe-space meetings, and report on proactive actions agreed to between PM and the teams to improve project performance.
• Undertake upstream reviews of lending packages at the pre-Negotiations and pre-RVP approval stages to ensure consistency, compliance, and completeness both within and across documents.
• Track all incoming requests for upstream quality reviews of lending and ASA deliverables and ensuring feedback is provided by the EAP Water Clearances Team within a three-day review window, maintaining associated Quality Assurance Log up-to-date.

Analytical and Policy Activities:

• Research/review available literature to support scoping and preparatory work underlying analytical services and operations.
• Scope for relevant datasets, conduct descriptive analyses and produce data visualizations to support upstream analysis and/ or complement ongoing analytical work.
• Assemble, clean, and manage large datasets related to water, economic and social outcomes, and geo-spatial variables- as requested, to respond to analytical or operational requests in a given country of the EAP region or for a regional level analysis. This includes harmonizing large household surveys datasets, organizing administrative data and global geo-spatial datasets. The selected candidate will also clean and manage the datasets to prepare them for analysis, making such datasets with explanations available to the team; in some cases, the data to be used will be provided by the teams.
• Assist in the write-up of the analysis.
• Contribute to other tasks associated with the delivery of this product as required in a timely fashion, including but not limited to writing of policy reports or technical papers, and assistance with workshops and meetings.

Selection Criteria

• BA in economics, computer sciences or other social science with hands on experience in data management (data preparation, management, and basic analysis) and research assistance experience.

• Training in data science, machine learning and econometric analysis including sound knowledge of relevant software packages (Stata, R, Python etc.)

• Experience working with geo-spatial data and spatial analysis (ArcGis, R etc.)

• Strong proactivity – that is a demonstrated ability to propose new or alternative ways to thinking or representing a given issue, especially when faced with a given challenge.

• Demonstrated attention to detail and a track record of delivering multiple, time-sensitive tasks to a high standard, and in a timely fashion.

• Ability to work well in teams while being proactive in taking responsibility for his/her work products.

• Excellent writing skills in English are required.

Diversity and Inclusion

The World Bank continually searches for qualified individuals with a diverse set of backgrounds from around the globe. We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Individuals with different abilities may be provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions and support in receiving other workplace accommodations.

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.