For more than ten years, the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) has been supporting women and girls to achieve equality by learning what does and does not work to close gender gaps in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency, and using these insights to shape policy. GIL’s impact objective is to increase take-up of effective policies by governments, development organizations, and the private sector in order to address the underlying causes of gender inequality. 

The focus of this position will be on the following:

• Communicating GIL findings to policymakers, which will include preparing and delivering policy briefs, case studies, presentations, blog posts, reports, etc.  
• Providing administrative and communications support for GIL’s engagements with external stakeholders 
• Supporting donor reporting and proposal development, as well as tracking progress against the program’s results framework.  

The position will also offer opportunities to contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of innovative approaches to women’s economic empowerment, including the co-design of financial services with banks and microfinance institutions and the development of interventions focused on increasing entrepreneurial skills and access to economic opportunities. 

The ideal candidate will be an excellent writer and analytical thinker; will have some experience in the area of international development and development economics; and will have an interest in women’s economic empowerment, innovative financial services, and services for entrepreneurs.  

Background:

Institutional Context: The Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) is housed within the Africa Region Gender Impact Evaluation Unit, mapped to the Africa Region Chief Economist’s office.

Impact Objective: The Gender Innovation Lab has a clear and actionable impact objective:  to increase take-up of effective policies that can address the underlying causes of gender inequality in Africa, particularly in terms of women’s economic and social empowerment, and through that promote growth. GIL aims to do this by strengthening knowledge, in particular, by producing and delivering a new body of evidence and developing a compelling narrative, geared towards policymakers, on what works and what does not work in promoting gender equality.  This new evidence will deepen capacity for gender-informed policymaking throughout the Africa region, including policies created and enacted by governments, as well as common practices and program models of private firms, civil society, and development agencies.

Regional Orientation: GIL’s work is focused exclusively on Sub-Saharan Africa, where the team is currently working in 20+ countries with the aim of building an evidence base with lessons for the region.

Sector Specific: GIL is focused on conducting rigorous research in order to generate evidence on how to close the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. GIL’s work is grouped into several categories: agricultural productivity, private sector development, land and property rights, youth employment, social protection, and social norms.

Impact Evaluations: GIL is currently working on over 70 impact evaluations, with additional work in the pipeline, and requires a core team of DC-based staff to coordinate

Influencing Policies and Practices that Matter for Gender Equality: GIL engages in rigorous research by partnering with high-profile, large-scale, innovative and/or potentially influential projects and project partners on its impact evaluations. GIL then uses its results, which are disseminated in papers, presentations, policy briefs, blogs, and in other ways, in order to influence how development projects and policies are conceived and run. GIL aims to help direct funding to the most effective programs and policies, increase the availability of good data to inform programs and policies that target gender inequalities, and increase the use of evidence to inform program and policy decisions. 

GIL’s internal organization and staffing:  Each impact evaluation is led by a coordinator and other GIL team economists and research assistants, often in collaboration with external researchers. GIL Economists split their time between Washington, DC and field sites. The project to be evaluated by each IE is implemented by external partners, and data collection is carried out by external firms who are generally monitored in the field by GIL-affiliated field coordinators. The GIL is led by a Lead Economist Markus Goldstein and advised by a steering committee.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Extended Term Consultant will  support GIL’s IFWE initiative as well as other GIL projects in the area of entrepreneurship and productive credit.  The main duties and accountabilities of the ETC are as follows: 

Communications and Outreach to Policymakers 

• Write, lead, and/or assist with the preparation of policy briefs, presentations, blog posts, reports, talking points, and other communications pieces that communicate findings and key take-aways. 
• Coordinate, manage, and plan efforts related to GIL’s communications and outreach strategy. Respond to internal and external requests for information. Coordinate with World Bank communications colleague to profile project achievements. 
• Identify opportunities for policy influence and provide timely and targeted support to promote the adoption of policies and programs that advance women’s economic empowerment. 
• Present relevant GIL evidence to World Bank project teams, development partners, private sector and government leaders, etc. 

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting 

• Support project monitoring and ensure that implementing partners collect and share information required for project reporting. 
• Coordinate and write project documentation, including implementation status reports, grant reports, and tasks in the World Bank Operations Workspace 
• Respond to ad-hoc reporting and information requests from GIL management, World Bank teams, funders and development partners. 

Concept Note and Proposal Development 

• Support the development of concept notes and proposals to prospective donors. 
• Conduct desk research, gather information and liaise with colleagues as needed. 

Pilot Design and Coordination 

• Work with GIL Economists and World Bank operational teams to develop innovative pilot interventions in the areas of productive financial inclusion and entrepreneurship.  Support and coordinate implementation of pilot interventions in Ethiopia and possibly other African countries, ensuring timely and effective delivery by implementation partners on the ground, and close collaboration with other World Bank Group operations. 
• Support the selection, procurement, and coordination of firm and individual consultants (including survey firms, technical advisory firms, etc.)  

Other

Provide additional forms of support to GIL and IFWE work programs, in line with capabilities and program needs.

Competencies

I. Drive for results – Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results and has the personal organization to do so;
II. Client orientation – Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to queries, requests, or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede overall success;
III. Knowledge-sharing, learning, and communication – Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others; communicates and presents information in a clear, organized and convincing manner; writes to a high academic standard and is able to distill complex results for non-academic audiences;
IV. Teamwork, collaboration, and inclusion – Collaborates with team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view. Has demonstrated ability to lead, manage, and motivate teams and group efforts across organizational boundaries.

Remuneration will be set according to standard World Bank rates, commensurate with experience. The position starts as soon as possible and will be based in the World Bank’s Headquarters in Washington D.C.