E T Consultant

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/who-we-are/ibrd The World Bank Office Beijing's Urban, Resilience and Land (URL) team has engaged Xiaona Liang as a Short-Term Consultant (STC) since 2022. Over the course of this engagement, she has functioned as a core and continuous team member, providing substantive technical and operational contributions across a portfolio exceeding US$1 billion in investment projects and a growing body of Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) activities. The nature and scope of Xiaona's contributions have evolved well beyond what periodic short-term engagement can adequately support. Her role has become embedded in the full project cycle — from identification and preparation through to supervision and post-evaluation — and in the continuous design, coordination, and delivery of the team's expanding knowledge agenda. Given this evolution, converting her engagement from STC to Extended Term Consultant (ETC) for the January–June 2027 period is warranted and necessary for the following reasons: Knowledge program stewardship. As the World Bank–China partnership transitions from lending to knowledge cooperation, the URL team is launching an ambitious two-way knowledge agenda under the new PASA (P517187): China Low-Carbon and Nature-Positive Cities: Integrating Global Knowledge and Sharing China's Experience for Productive Growth. The knowledge activities under this program demand consistent, high-quality coordination, technical content leadership, and relationship stewardship over extended timeframes. Xiaona has been instrumental in building the team's knowledge event infrastructure and stakeholder network, and her continued engagement is essential to delivering on FY27 commitments. Relationship capital and domestic network. Xiaona's prior professional experience at the Tongji University Architectural Design Institute, combined with over four years at the World Bank, has afforded her an intimate understanding of China's urban systems, policies, and regulatory landscape, as well as a strong domestic professional network across government, academia, and research institutions. This network is strategically critical to the team's ability to convene partners, gain institutional access, and co-design knowledge products that are both technically credible and policy-relevant. Operational continuity and feedback to knowledge agenda. FY27 is a pivotal year for the URL China portfolio. The Green Urban Development Project (P506807) is entering its critical implementation phase, requiring sustained technical oversight to establish a strong foundation for success. The Gansu Linxia Low Carbon Urban Development and Transport Project (P513471) continues at a critical preparation and early-implementation stage; while the GEF-7 Green and Carbon Neutral Cities Project (P173316) will be in its final year. Xiaona's accumulated institutional knowledge across these projects, spanning design choices, counterpart relationships, technical rationale, and field realities, is not readily transferable and cannot be replaced by short-term inputs. A key role is to extract relevant operational knowledge and client network to feedback into the knowledge ecosystem. An ETC designation appropriately reflects the ongoing, structured, and programmatic nature of her role and provides the institutional stability needed to advance the team's priorities in the critical FY27 period. 2. Objective: The objective of this assignment is to engage Xiaona Liang as an ETC to provide high-quality technical, operational, and knowledge-related support to the World Bank Office Beijing's Urban, Resilience and Land (URL) team. Her contributions will span two complementary areas: (i) active contribution to the team's knowledge agenda, through stakeholder engagement, coordination and outreach, technical inputs, and the research and preparation of materials for knowledge activities, and (ii) continued support to the implementation of selected urban lending projects, with a focus on reinforcing innovation dimensions. 3. Scope of Work and Responsibilities A) Knowledge Agenda – new China URL PASA (P517187) The new PASA is the primary vehicle for the URL team's knowledge work in FY27–28, organized around an inbound/outbound framework. Xiaona will be an active contributor across both streams. Inbound Knowledge Activities

• Nature-Positive Cities and Urban Regeneration Diagnostics: Contribute substantive technical inputs and research to the diagnostic process examining selected urban regeneration pilots and international benchmarking exercises. Support the analysis of top-down and bottom-up regeneration approaches, generate comparative evidence, and help synthesize findings into client-ready materials.
• Urban Resilience Technical Advisory: Support technical advisory activities for national and subnational government partners, drawing on her knowledge of China's regulatory and institutional landscape to identify opportunities for integrating international good practice.
• RAS Demand and Feasibility Assessment: Contribute to background research and stakeholder consultations to assess opportunities and risks of fee-based RAS engagements, building on evidence generated through inbound knowledge activities.
• Policy and Institutional Review: Conduct analysis of relevant national and subnational policies, regulatory frameworks, and institutional arrangements — particularly as they relate to urban resilience, nature-positive development, and urban regeneration — to identify gaps, opportunities, and entry points for World Bank engagement. Outbound Knowledge Activities
• China Module for the WBG Academy Global Livable Cities Program: Co-lead the preparation of standardized, exportable case materials and applied exercises drawing on China's urban development experience, suitable for use in global training and exchange programs. Ensure technical accuracy, relevance, and accessibility for international audiences.
• Global and Regional Knowledge Exchange Events: Support the identification of priority themes, curation of content, coordination with Chinese counterparts, and organization and delivery of knowledge events. Events expected in FY27 include an Urban Resilience Knowledge Exchange in Q3 FY27, and other forums connecting China with the Bank's global urban platforms (e.g., GPSC, Urbanization and Development Conference, World Urban Forum).
• South-South Knowledge Products: Contribute to the identification, packaging, and dissemination of China's urban experience for global audiences, with particular attention to topics such as low-carbon planning, urban-rural integration, and nature-based solutions. B) Investment Lending Support, feeding back into Knowledge Agenda The ETC will provide substantive technical support on lending implementation for the Green Urban Development Project (P506807) and the GEF-7 Green and Carbon Neutral Cities Project (P173316), with emphasis on quality assurance and innovation capture to cross-feed with the knowledge agenda. Specific responsibilities include:
• Supporting implementation supervision, including the review of technical reports, work plans, procurement submissions, and progress documentation submitted by implementing agencies and consultants.
• Providing technical guidance to clients on urban planning, landscape design, nature-based solutions, and integrated low-carbon approaches.
• Contributing to the identification, documentation, and dissemination of innovation dimensions embedded in the project — particularly the integrated low-carbon and nature-positive planning methodology as a replicable model for other cities.
• Contributing to the preparation of knowledge outputs suitable for global dissemination through the Bank's knowledge platforms, including the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) and the WBG Academy.
• Supporting mission preparation and follow-up, including drafting aide-mémoires, back-to-office reports, and technical notes.
• Liaising with counterparts, facilitating timely information exchange, and supporting risk identification and mitigation. C) Cross-cutting Technical and Operational Contributions
• Data Collection and Synthesis: Gather, analyze, and synthesize spatial, socioeconomic, environmental, and sectoral data in support of project and knowledge activities.
• International Good Practice Research: Provide comparative analysis and case studies on international urban development experience relevant to low-carbon development, urban resilience, nature-positive cities, and urban regeneration, to inform both project design and knowledge products.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Coordination: Maintain and develop relationships with key institutional partners, including line ministries (MNR, MOHURD, MEM, NDRC/CCUD), subnational governments, Chinese academic and research institutions, and international organizations. Leverage her existing domestic professional network to facilitate access, co-ownership, and joint agenda-setting.
• Knowledge Event Planning and Facilitation: Lead or contribute to the planning, logistics, content quality control, and delivery of workshops, seminars, and capacity-building events. Ensure China-specific content is technically rigorous, policy-relevant, and effectively communicated.
• Technical Communications: Draft and review presentations, policy notes, technical briefs, and knowledge products for both internal World Bank audiences and external counterparts and partners.
• Mission Support: Participate in field missions as required, including preparation, facilitation, and follow-up documentation.