Senior Environmental Specialist

Senior Environmental Specialist

Job # : req34683 Organization : World Bank Sector : Environment Grade : GG Term Duration :  2 years 0 months Recruitment Type : International Recruitment Location : Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s) : English Preferred Language(s) : English Closing Date : 12 / 1 / 2025 (MM / DD / YYYY) at 11 : 59pm UTC

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank consists of two entities – the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). It is a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries. As the largest development bank in the world, the World Bank provides loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, and coordinates responses to regional and global challenges. Visit .

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals. The partnership includes 186 member governments as well as civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, with a focus on integration and inclusivity. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $26 billion in financing and mobilized over $153 billion for country-driven priority projects around the world.

The GEF Secretariat (GEFSEC) is a Vice-Presidential Unit within the World Bank Group and has approximately 100 professional, administrative and client support staff. GEFSEC is seeking a Senior Freshwater Specialist to join the Programming Division for program management, analytical, stakeholder engagement and policy needs, as described below.

Duties and Accountabilities :

The Senior Freshwater Specialist will take a leading role in providing GEF support to country cooperation in shared surface and groundwater ecosystems. S / he will support the GEF’s mandate to deliver global environmental benefits by supporting developing countries in their commitments towards several Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements. S / he will work in a multi-disciplinary technical team of environmental specialists including biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, international waters (transboundary freshwater and marine), and chemicals & waste. S / he will support eligible countries in programming GEF resources, provide timely review and processing of projects proposals submitted by GEF-accredited agencies, and provide sound upstream guidance to project proponents to foster coherence with GEF programming strategies.

The Senior Freshwater Specialist will be an integral member of the International Waters (IW) Focal Area team and support one or more of the GEF Regional Teams to ensure responsible and successful execution of the GEF Programming Directions and grant disbursement. S / he will also support regional and country-level engagement with clients and stakeholders to ensure that GEF recipient countries optimize their IW investments to achieve global environmental benefits. The Senior Freshwater Specialist will work under the guidance of the IW Focal Area Coordinator and will report to the Manager of the Programming Division.

Candidates should have a workable understanding of the complexity of the GEF partnership arrangement, the dynamics of a complex set of GEF client countries and experience in supporting complex processes of multi-country cooperation on shared resources.

Candidates must have strong experience with freshwater projects in developing countries, including freshwater transboundary projects and underlying legal and institutional frameworks. Candidates must also have strong interpersonal skills, diplomatic skills, along with political acumen and the capacity to work effectively on sensitive issues with senior management, the GEF Council, and across different organizations of the GEF partnership. The ideal candidate would bring to the position a good understanding of key players and partners in transboundary waters on global and regional levels.

Specific duties include the following :

Project Review and Regional Team Participation

1. Participate and contribute to the successful execution of the Programming Division work programs and business model, including regional and country resource programming, strategic work in regional and country dialogues, resource programming with GEFSEC Regional Team(s), GEF Agencies, and Countries.

2. Manage reviews of project proposals to be financed by the GEF Trust Fund, according to the agreed project review criteria, provide guidance on major issues involved in the development of project proposals and assist in overall preparation of work programs to be presented to council.

3. Participate in the GEF work within one or more Regional Teams, including participation in country dialogues, expanded constituency workshops, and the GEF Country Engagement Strategy. As required, represent the GEF at a senior level at international, political, scientific, and operational forums.

4. Support the development and implementation of strategies and work programs to enhance GEFs impact and support the management of GEF’s portfolio of ongoing projects through supervision, monitoring, and evaluation activities with GEF Agencies and countries.

5. Support the development and implementation of results-based management (RBM) and the integration of knowledge management in RBM, operational processes and procedures.

6. Participate in outreach to relevant countries in international fora, in particular UN-Water and related international freshwater instruments, as directed.

7. Provide quality inputs to the CEO and senior management on country and thematic briefings, talking points, speeches, analytical / strategic documents and GEF knowledge management.

8. Undertake additional IW-related duties as agreed with the Manager of the Programming Division.

Participation in (IW) Focal Area Team

1. As part of the IW Focal Area Team, take a lead role in coordinating the IW transboundary freshwater portfolio - including source-to-sea linkages- in at least two regions, including managing upstream dialogues

2. Contribute to the GEF replenishment process and provide constructive inputs to the new programming and policy reform / directions.

3. Contribute to effective coordination of GEF’s strategic engagement related to freshwater international engagements, such as UN-Water and UNECE / Water Convention, and relevant international negotiations, as agreed with the Manager, Programming Division. Promote regular and informed communication about the GEF programming with relevant member countries, secretariats, and organizations.

4. Support the development and delivery of GEF portfolio and thematic reports and publications, Council documents, engagement plans, and other work products related to 4 above.

Selection Criteria

• The candidate should possess a master’s degree with at least eight years of experience, or a ., with five years of experience in the field of integrated water resource management, natural resources management, pollution prevention, environmental sciences, or other relevant disciplines. Deep experience and existing professional network within the international freshwater community is strongly preferred.
• Experience and expertise in freshwater conservation in Africa and Asia is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of the operations of the Global Environment Facility is strongly preferred, especially experience designing or managing transboundary freshwater projects ideally within one or more of the 18 GEF agencies.
• Ability to think analytically, strategically, and programmatically. Demonstrated capacity to synthesize information and produce scientific reports, narratives, analyses, and strategies. Ideally has a demonstrated peer-reviewed publication record.
• Ability to develop, utilize and analyze results frameworks, metrics and key performance indicators, and data related to freshwater conservation status, trends, priorities and outcomes.
• Experience with engaging and building respectful partnership with stakeholders, international organizations, development agencies, scientific and technical bodies, developing country counterparts, and NGOs.
• Record of constructive and positive engagement with client Governments, donors and other stakeholders, especially in developing countries;
• Knowledge of and, ideally, experience working with Indigenous Peoples on environmental issues.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including ability to communicate complex issues to a wide range of audiences.
• Knowledge of other UN languages, especially French, Spanish and Arabic, is desirable
• Willingness to frequently travel to global, regional and national GEF related events

Competencies

WBG Culture Attributes :

1. Sense of urgency : Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.

2. Thoughtful risk-taking : Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.

3. Empowerment and accountability : Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.