Senior Financial Sector Specialist-World Bank

• A Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Management or a related field. Professional certificates in these fields would be an advantage.

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience including of working in the private sector/financial sector/public sector/international organizations. 

• The ideal candidate will have a combination of experience both inside the World Bank Group (including experience of financing/lending projects and ASA/AAA activities and familiarity with Bank policies and procedures) and outside the World Bank Group (with financial sector institutions and/or financial regulators or financial sector policy makers).  

• The ideal candidate should have strong areas of technical expertise in understanding financial markets, and have work experience from amongst central bank strengthening/financial regulation and supervision, banking reform and bank restructuring, financial infrastructure, financial inclusion, MSME and infrastructure finance, housing financing.

• Must have experience with a broad range of financial sector policy and technical issues, with a strong background in financial inclusion and/or development finance and/or financial systems issues.  Experience of South Asian financial sector, in particular in Pakistan, would be required.

• Good knowledge of financial development issues and demonstrated ability to engage in a broad range of policy issues including access to finance/financial inclusion, rural finance, financial sector regulation and supervision, banking reform and restructuring, infrastructure finance, etc.

• Proven ability to be innovative and “push the boundaries” on financial sector development.

• Should be a mature professional with a demonstrated ability to mentor and incentivize teams, inspire confidence in senior country officials, and work in a culturally diverse environment.

• Possess strong client engagement skills.  

• Outstanding judgment on operational, country, and practice issues. Strong results focus, with a track record of leading teams to deliver high impact projects and activities. 

Required Competencies:

• Lead and Innovate – Develops innovative solutions with others.

• Deliver Results for Clients – Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client.

• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries – Initiates collaboration across boundaries and broadly across WBG, and brings differing ideas into the forefront.

• Create, Apply and Share Knowledge – Creates, applies and shares knowledge from across and outside WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions.

• Make Smart Decisions – Recommends and takes decisive action.

• Operational Project Management – Demonstrates in depth knowledge and understanding of project management tools & methodologies, as well as of Bank instruments and processes related to project preparation & implementation, resource management, and stakeholder communications.

• Operational Policies Application to the Project Cycle (fiduciary, disbursement, safeguard and GAC policies) – Possesses a strong understanding of procurement and disbursement policies; knows what issues might arise and who to involve in problem resolution.  

• Team Leadership – Leads teams to achieve challenging outcomes, providing a role model and enhancing the team-leadership skills of team members.

• Knowledge of Relevant Bank Procedures and Associated Guidance – Has a solid understanding of all aspects of BP 8.60 and associated Good Practice Notes; has experience in designing DPOs. 

• ESW/TA Policy, Strategic and Technical Analysis for Country/Sector Issues – Participates fully in the production of quality AAA work and policy papers, leveraging relevant analytical tools and a grasp of issues surrounding policy and sector reform.  

• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.

• GP/Network Representation – Demonstrates ability to coordinate, participate in, and act as a catalyst for, strategic cross-sector dialogues within the global practice, across the country, among Bank colleagues and other development institutions, government, and other organizations.  

• Policy Dialogue Skills – Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.  

To assist with its growing and complex work program, F&M GP seeks to hire an experienced and highly motivated professional to join in Islamabad/Karachi (final location to be determined but in any case work and travel to both these cities will be required). The person will be part of the Pakistan Country Team and will be expected to represent F&M GP in country. 

Amongst other things, the candidate will be expected to:

• Lead the policy dialogue on finance and markets while actively participating and contributing to multi-sectoral teams involved in policy based operations, investment lending or ASA/AAA. 

• Lead and/or support the implementation of ongoing Finance & Markets financing/lending projects and advisory services and analytics (ASAs) and develop a work program of future financing and ASAs to meet the country’s needs in line with country/regional and GP priorities. The candidate will serve as task manager for both lending and non-lending programs and contribute to the delivery and quality of financing and knowledge engagements in the region. 

• Work closely with Program Leaders and CMU to ensure the integration of relevant financial sector issues in country strategy, SCDs/CPFs and work programs.

• Lead in country strategic dialogue with clients on the design of policies to promote sound, efficient and inclusive financial sectors;  provide inputs to other Global Practices on financial sector related policies; build and lead teams; develop and maintain relationships with clients in government and the financial sector.

• Develop effective coordination with other Global Practices (GPs) within the Equitable Growth Finance and Institutions (EFI) Global Practice Group and other GPs and development partners.

• The candidate will be expected to mentor junior staff; lead and/or contribute to training programs.

• The candidate will produce technical notes, briefings, presentations, etc. on fields of expertise.

• The candidate will be expected to engage in business development: cultivate strategic relationships with country clients and the CMU, follow up and collaborate within F&M GP towards building multi-year country engagements. 

• Knowledge Management, Teamwork and Mentoring: promote synergies across product teams, providing support through trouble shooting anticipating problems and solving them. Facilitate cross learning across projects, regions and best practices.