WBG Resident Representative, Guyana and Suriname

WBG Resident Representative, Guyana and Suriname

Description

At 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 www.worldbank.org

Background:
To address country development needs and global challenges with impact and at scale, IBRD/IDA, IFC and MIGA are increasingly working as One World Bank Group through purposeful collaboration, coordination, and deployment of our collective knowledge and services. Through this approach, we aim to streamline and simplify our country engagement, allowing countries to better leverage the comparative advantages of each WBG institution and access solutions that maximize the respective strengths of the public and private sectors. 
A critical role in delivering on this approach is the new joint Resident Representative role that is being established in several countries to represent the WBG in relationships with the government, private sector clients, and key partners and oversee the operations, investments, and programs of all WBG institutions in the country. The WBG is seeking a joint Resident Representative for Guyana and Suriname based in Georgetown, Guyana. The Resident Representative reports to the IBRD Division Director for the Caribbean and Haiti with a dotted line to the Trinidad WBG Country Manager and the IFC Regional Director for CCM-Central America & the Caribbean and serves as a member of the IBRD and IFC regional management teams.

VPU Context:  
The World Bank Group serves 33 client countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LCR). Clients range from large rapidly growing sophisticated middle-income clients to IDA countries to small Caribbean states to one fragile state, and to varying degrees face three key challenges – low productivity and growth, low quality jobs and low resilience to shocks.  The region is tackling these challenges with a strong WBG approach, underpinned by selectivity and complementarity between the value added of public and private arms, and in strong partnership with relevant regional development partners. 

A.    The challenge of low growth. After recovering lost output, the region is returning to pre-pandemic low growth and productivity scenario. After a solid post-pandemic rebound in economic activity (7.2% and 3.9% growth in 2021 and 2022 respectively), GDP growth returned to the pre-pandemic low growth around 2.2% in 2023 and 2024, with a medium-term outlook of 2.5%.  With an average Gini co-efficient of [0.52] LAC remains also one of the most unequal regions in the world. It is a region where the bottom 50% earn 27 times less than the top 10%. It also represents stark differences in opportunity, a child born today in the poorest 20% quintile in LAC will on average be 17 percentage points less productive than a child born in the richest 20%.

B.    The challenge of quality jobs: the need for better quality jobs is paramount, with 6.2% unemployment rates, these low levels mask a deeper issue of job quality. Reflecting stagnating living standards, labor earnings have only grown by 1% or less per year in most countries over the past decade, and some 19% of workers in the region are earning incomes below the poverty line.  

•   Investing in foundational infrastructure critical to job creation, LAC needs to invest at least 3.1% of GDP in infrastructure investments per year, yet it only invests 2%, which is significantly lower than the world average of 5.4% of GDP. This underinvestment in physical infrastructure, including in key infrastructure sectors (including resilient transport, water, energy etc.) is holding back potential for better jobs. The region is supporting clients by supporting selective transformative infrastructure projects (e.g. urban mobility, regional transport and connectivity).   On human infrastructure challenge, firms in the region continue to cite skills shortages (55% of firms in LAC vs 45% in MIC regions) as a key barrier to growth and job creation. A child born in LAC is expected to reach only 56 percent of their productive potential. Three out of four 15-year olds fail basic math proficiency and cannot read adequately the soft side involves supporting clients revamp their education and health sectors. The region is supporting clients to revamp their education and health care sectors.

• The LAC region also needs to foster a predictable, business-enabling policy and regulatory environment. These include ensuring macro stability, eliminating restrictive business regulations in product and factor markets, and improving access to finance, especially long-term capital. Labor market regulations in LAC are noted to be on par with the most restrictive labor market regimes among OECD countries. Further, enforcement of competition policy needs to be supported due to high levels of market concentration in LAC markets: the 50 largest firms in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile have revenues greater than 30% of GDP.  At 55% of GDP, domestic credit to the private sector remains much lower than EAP (178%).
• Private capital needs to be appropriately incentivized to support the provision of public goods and investments in key sectors, especially those that have the highest potential to enable and/or create better quality jobs. However, at only 19.8% of GDP, gross capital formation remains lowest among all regions (EAP is at 38% and South Asia at 30%). Private capital mobilization in the region is being held back by shallow capital markets, lack of long-term finance, high cost of capital, regulatory and institutional barriers (including in PPP frameworks). Based on country contexts, the WBG will support investments in productive clusters (energy/mining, value added manufacturing, agribusiness, tourism, etc) across the public-private spectrum.
  The challenge of vulnerability to shocks.  Building resilience of the countries to shocks, including natural disasters, through contingent financing and other innovative risk management platforms at country and regional levels is critical given the high exposure to climate–related disasters and natural hazards. The Central America and the Caribbean have recurrent hurricanes that have impacts on GDP significantly higher than the regional average of 1.7%. Several countries are experiencing deep, long droughts, increasingly intense storms, and floods that disrupt economic activities and affect livelihoods, with impacts on the most vulnerable populations.
  
  Unit Context:
  The Caribbean Country Management Unit (LC3 CMU) covers 17 countries, with a total population of about 19 million people. The CMU and key staff, including the Country Director and Operations Manager, are based in Kingston, Jamaica. Additionally, the CMU has Country Offices in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sint Maarten, Guyana and Barbados. A Caribbean CMU anchor unit represents the CMU in Washington, D.C. and supports the overall work program.
  In collaboration with Global Practice Groups, the LC3 CMU supports the development priorities of Caribbean countries through financing (IDA, IBRD, trust fund) and knowledge services and also provides reimbursable advisory services in Overseas Countries and Territories. The active program includes a portfolio of 72 projects with commitments of $2.6bn in IBRD, IDA, and recipient-executed trust fund financing and 49 advisory services and analytics (ASA) products.
  
  Country Context:
  Guyana: The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is a small, sparsely populated country on the coast of South America with abundant natural resources. The discovery of enormous offshore oil and gas reserves is expected to make Guyana the country with the highest per capita oil reserves. Oil production, which started in December 2019, is significantly increasing per-capita GDP and generating fiscal revenue; oil GDP is forecast to constitute 20-50% of GDP over the next decade. Guyana also has fertile agricultural lands, bauxite, gold, and extensive tropical forests that cover approximately 80 percent of the country. Guyana is an ethnically and religiously diverse society, encompassing Indo-Guyanese, Afro-Guyanese, Mixed-Guyanese, indigenous Amerindian and others. With 90 percent of its about 835,000 inhabitants living on the narrow coastal plain, which represents 10 percent of the country’s area, coastal flooding is a serious risk. With an economy that is heavily dependent upon natural resources, agriculture, and remittances, Guyana is vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, commodity price fluctuations, and economic conditions in migrant destination countries.

Suriname: Suriname is a small state with a population of about 640,000 and a per capita GNI of $5,420 (2019, Atlas method). It is the smallest sovereign state in South America. Most of the population lives on the country's north coast, in and around the capital and largest city, Paramaribo. The economy is heavily dependent on natural resources, namely gold, petroleum, and agricultural products. The discovery of large reserves of offshore oil, if adequately managed, may enable fiscal consolidation and higher growth in the medium term. Following a very focused first-ever CAS in 2015, the Bank financed two IPFs that became effective in late 2019: the Saramacca Canal System Rehabilitation Project ($35m), which addresses flooding; and the Suriname Competitiveness and Sector Diversification (SCSD) Project ($23m), which supports SMEs, improvements to the business environment, and mining sector governance.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Business Management 

• Under the guidance of the Regional/Division Directors, develops, updates, and implements country-level strategies, including the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), drawing on a synthesis of enhanced diagnostics and core analytics.
• Leads the day-to-day One World Bank Group engagement with the government aligned with the CPF priorities and coordinates programming that identifies and delivers the optimal mix of private and public sector solutions.
• Contributes to increasing the speed, scale, and quality of results in the country aligned with the CPF and the WBG corporate scorecard in coordination with sectoral/industry colleagues and the country management team.
• Evaluates upstream market creation approaches and interventions for the country and engages in discussions on needed policy reforms to improve the enabling environment for private capital.
• Evaluates and provides advice and guidance to teams on the implementation of investments, advisory services, lending, and knowledge products, complemented by Global Challenge Programs (country-level operations that are part of a broader, globally coordinated thematic platform).
• Develops market knowledge to ensure that the WBG is working with the right sponsors and takes accountability for client vetting and integrity due diligence.
• Demonstrates excellent business judgment in balancing the importance of bankability, development impact, risks, and sustainability.
• Provides oversight of portfolio management and quality, working with clients and advising operational teams to address implementation and performance issues, and working to ensure high-quality results on the ground.
• Develop a pipeline of private sector engagements.
• Oversee all IFC investment and advisory activities in the country;
  
  Relationship Management 
• Leads coordination and collaboration with development partners in the country—bilateral agencies, regional and other multilateral agencies—to strengthen country-led development processes.
• Strategically engages with and manages senior-level relationships with the government, private sector clients and other key stakeholders.
• Actively engages to increase participation of NGOs, the private sector, media, state and local government, academia, and other civil society groups in the development process.
• Lead coordination with World Bank Group institutions and, with regional industry colleagues (and IBRD/IDA and MIGA counterparts), design and implement Joint Business Plans and other proactive country-level collaborations; drive IFC’s contributions to Systematic Country Diagnostics, Country Climate and Development Reports, Country Private Sector Diagnostics, and Country Partnership Frameworks;
• Build and manage senior-level relationships with key clients (government and private sector) to position IFC as the partner of choice for high-impact projects; cultivate relationships with key stakeholders (including regulators, businesses, NGOs, PE funds, and investors);
• Accountable for early review and clearance of sponsors; for all investments and Advisory Services client programs, review and validate IFC added value, development impact, and alignment with the country strategy;

Knowledge Management and Communications

• Keeps regional management and operational teams informed of economic, social, and political developments in the country, and for their implications on the work program.
• Disseminates best practices and lessons learned and manages learning and knowledge flows, including full suite of WBG products and solutions.
• Ensures the implementation of the access to information policy.
• Contributes to communicating the results of engagements internally and externally, in coordination with the communications team.
• Strengthen the IFC and WBG brands and country communications strategy, including engagement with local media;
• Represent IFC in target markets and enhance visibility by organizing and/or participating in high-profile events.

Country Team and Resource Management

• Supervises the WBG country office team, focusing on staff welfare and productivity.
• Oversees operations of the country office, including monitoring the country office budget and ensuring effective and efficient use of resources.
• Implements country office security and safety program covering WBG staff and dependents, property, programs, and information.
• Represents the WBG in the country-level UN Security Management System.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree or PhD in relevant field, including business, finance, economics, or an area of expertise specific to a sector or industry.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in positions of increasing complexity and responsibility in an international context, with demonstrated track record in country program management, business consulting, investment banking, or operational experience in a sector relevant to the country.
• Excellent understanding of the role, dynamics and interdependencies of the public and private sectors in achieving development goals at the country level.
• Portfolio management experience and proven competency in implementation support.
• Broad and deep understanding of the Evolution Roadmap and of the full range of the Bank’s financial and advisory products, services and procedures, gained through solid operational experience.
• Strong political, diplomatic, and partnership skills; ability to develop and sustain close and effective senior-level working relationships with the government, private sector clients, and partners.
• Analytical, financial, credit, integrity assessment, and business skills to identify project and program viability, assess sustainable development impact, and identify portfolio risks, and determine how to approach complex risk-reward trade-offs.
• Broad and strategic perspective and ability to translate strategy and resources into business opportunities.
• Proven track record in offering integrated solutions to clients in challenging contexts.
• Ability to influence and mobilize support across institutional boundaries.
• Excellent people management skills and ability to coach and guide staff to solve problems in a decentralized matrix environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to speak persuasively and present ideas clearly and concisely
  World Bank Group Core Competencies
  
  
  

As the World Bank Group continues to evolve, we value candidates who:

• Demonstrate the ability to collaborate effectively across teams, disciplines, cultures, and institutional boundaries.
• Responsibly leverage digital and AI-enabled tools to enhance productivity, learning, and decision-making.
• Bring experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent (FCV) contexts and are encouraged to highlight relevant experience in their application materials, where applicable.

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.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

COS Generic 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.