Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? 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 and promoting shared prosperity. 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.
The Human Development (HD) Practice Group (PG)

The World Bank Group (WBG) is the largest provider of development finance and solutions for human development working with high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries to develop country-tailored solutions for human development (HD) under the themes of education, health, social protection, jobs, and gender. The HD PG coordinates with other Practice Groups to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to development challenges, and through the World Bank Regional Units is expected to deliver the strongest and most pertinent support to our client countries. 

The Human Development Vice Presidency (HDVP) at the World Bank Group is made up of the Global Practices for education; health, nutrition, and population; and social protection and jobs; additionally, the HDVP houses the gender group.  As such, HD is central to the World Bank Group’s goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and raise shared prosperity on a livable planet. 

Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice

The central contribution of the Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Global Practice to the WBG’s twin goals is to enable the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), in which all people are effectively covered by essential health services, and nobody suffers undue financial hardship as a result of illnesses. In the quest for UHC, the HNP Global Practice is building on progress made in the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, an array of analytical and advisory services, strategic partnerships with partner institutions and other financing agencies, and an active lending portfolio. The HNP Global Practice includes staff members in Washington, DC and country offices.

The HNP Global Practice is led by a Global Director, with the overall responsibility for the GP. The HNP Global Practice Leadership Team, which leads and manages the HNP GP, consists of the Global Director, Regional Directors, and Practice Managers. The HNP Global Practice works with and across multiple sectors, in recognition of the fact that HNP outcomes often depend on actions that lie outside the HNP sector. Accordingly, a capacity to work across GP boundaries, forge coalitions and influence multi-practice solutions is essential for achieving the major objectives of improving HNP outcomes.

The Global Health Unit 

The Global Health Unit (GHU) supports WBG HNP teams across the globe to deliver better results through World Bank financed health systems projects and analytical work. The GHU is led by the Practice Manager and has five technical teams on health financing, service delivery, pandemic preparedness and response and public health, climate and health and nutrition. The GHU provides technical assistance to clients and regions, develops analytical work and thought leadership in key technical areas and is responsible for the knowledge and the learning program for client countries and staff. In addition, the GHU manages the institutional relationships with global health institutions and other partners and is responsible for fundraising for the HNP GP. 

Duties & Responsibilities:

The health financing team of the HNP GHU is seeking to recruit a high-performing, dynamic and experienced senior health economist. 

The team is responsible for the Unit’s contributions to thought leadership, analytical work, technical assistance, knowledge products, learning agenda and global partnerships in health financing. The health financing work program also supports cross-cutting themes with the other priority areas listed above (service delivery, pandemic preparedness etc.) and the overall GHU strategy. In this process, the team convenes and works with internal and external partners to help client countries develop high-performance health financing for accelerated progress toward UHC. The successful candidate will report on a daily basis to the global program lead for health financing and will co-design, implement, and co-manage specific health financing workstreams.

The successful candidate key duties include to:
• Contribute to health financing program and strategy design which requires the identification of global knowledge gaps and of products that are impactful and actionable for regional and country teams as well as for clients.
• Lead the development, technical delivery, and dissemination of high-quality knowledge products and presentations in collaboration with relevant partners, and contribute to the management of budgets and resources to achieve this.
• Provide technical assistance and support the policy dialogue on health financing in priority countries and respond to specific country requests.
• Provide technical leadership over one of the priority areas including priority setting and benefits packages design, payment and purchasing arrangements design, implementation and governance; analytical and policy work to support equity-enhancing improvements in financial protection, including though pooling arrangements; public finance and macro-fiscal analyses for health.
• Contribute to (i) the delivery of knowledge and learning programs focused on cross-country and regional syntheses, (ii) the HNP GP’s learning program (e.g., flagship course) and (iii) the design and delivery of engagement strategies with staff interested in health financing (communities of practice, seminars, etc.).
• Work with other priority areas to deliver joint products and support.

Selection Criteria

The successful candidate will have:

• Minimum Education/Work Experience: A master's degree in economics, health financing, or other relevant discipline (a doctoral degree is an asset) plus a minimum of ten years of relevant work experience;
• Field experience in working on health financing in three or more low and/or middle-income countries;
• Experience disseminating analytical information with multiple stakeholders, leveraging evidence to influence decision-making and fostering improvement in interventions and outcomes;
• A proven track-record of leading or making substantive contributions to analytical work on health financing;
• Experience developing and managing a portfolio of work/work program – including managing workplans, timelines, budgets, and reporting on results;
• Strong track record in cultivating and leading teams that collectively deliver results, as well as experience mentoring and supporting staff, combined with the ability to foster a collaborative work culture;
• Experience in an international development or research institution/agency/firm necessary, experience with World Bank operations preferred;
• Experience with quantitative analysis and data visualization tools (Excel or equivalent, Stata, R or other similar software package);
• Fluency in English (excellent oral and written communication skills) is essential, with ability to prepare documents on complex subjects, speak and write persuasively, and present ideas clearly and concisely. Fluency in French an asset;
• Ability to work simultaneously on a variety of issues and tasks, independently adjusting to priorities as needed and achieving results in line with agreed objectives. Ability to deliver against ambitious deadlines; 
• Adept at developing, supporting and leading the implementation of work programs within and across teams in a multicultural environment;
• Excellent interpersonal and partnership skills, diplomatic acumen, including a strong client focus, and the ability to foster collaborative relationships are required.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

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.

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, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.