Urban Resilience Specialist at the World Bank Group

The World Bank Group - Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2018, the WBG committed $67 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $24 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Urban Resilience Specialist

Job ID: req31356
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Employment type: Full Time
Grade GF
Sector: Urban

Decription
The “Urban, Resilience and Land” (URL) Global Practice:

• Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Cities generate 80% of global GDP and are key to job creation and the pursuit of shared prosperity. Yet one billion city residents live in slums today, and by 2030 one billion new migrants will arrive in cities.
• This concentration of people and assets will exacerbate risk exposure to adverse natural events and climate change, which affects the poor disproportionately. The absence of secure land tenure underpins deprivation and is a major source of conflict in the urban and rural space.
• One and a half billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of violence. In the absence of services, participative planning and responsive institutions, these trends will result in increased poverty, social exclusion, vulnerability and violence. Finally, avoiding a 4-degree warmer world requires drastically reducing the carbon footprint of cities.
• The WBG is in a unique position to support national and sub-national clients to: harness urbanization and enable effective land management in support of both growth and poverty reduction; foster social inclusion of marginalized groups; support the responsiveness and fiscal, financial, and management capacities of local governments – cities, municipalities, and rural districts – to deliver local infrastructure and decentralized services; strengthen resilience and risk management related to natural disasters; reduce conflict and violence; scale-up access to finance for sub-national governments; and reduce the carbon footprint of cities.
• The WBG brings a combination of lending ($7-8 billion in annual lending to cities), analytical and advisory services (e.g., social inclusion flagship, urbanization reviews, Sendai dialogue), its growing portfolio of reimbursable advisory services, its convening power (e.g., understanding risk and the land conferences), its leveraging capacity (e.g., guarantees and risk mitigation), and its ability to work with the private sector to tackle the challenges at scale and to effect.
• The GPURL covers a wide range of development areas: (i) developing green, inclusive and resilient cities; (ii) enhancing urban and rural development through supporting and managing the urban-rural transition, assisting local development through developing land tenure, management and information systems; and (iii) assisting in disaster risk management through issues of risk assessment, risk reduction (including flood management, urban drainage, coastal management, and retrofitting of infrastructure), disaster preparedness (including hydromet services, early warning systems, and civil defense), risk financing (including Cat DDO), and resilient reconstruction (including post-disaster damage and loss assessment).

Regional and Unit Context

• Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa is occurring at an unprecedented pace. The share of Africans living in urban areas is projected to grow from 38 percent in 2016 to almost 60 percent by 2040, translating to an additional 40,000 new urban citizens every day until 2040.
• The region’s urbanization rate, one of the highest in the world, can lead to economic growth, transformation and poverty.
• However, many cities in Africa still have not fully captured the benefits of urbanization and poorly managed urbanization have exacerbated existing infrastructure challenges, resulting in increased inequality, urban poverty, proliferation of informal settlements and vulnerability to hazards.
• Adverse natural events present a serious obstacle for achieving sustainable social and economic development, particularly in vulnerable regions as Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Disaster affects the poor most severely; unplanned human settlements, unsafe building practices, high population densities, economic growth, and accumulations of assets in risk prone areas has dramatically increased exposure to hazards and increased disaster loss. Climate change has the potential to significantly worsen the situation.
• To this end, the AFW Urban, Resilience and Land Units brings together a wide range of important and interrelated development and financing instruments to support national and sub-national clients to: harness urbanization and enable effective land management in support of both growth and poverty reduction; foster social inclusion of marginalized groups;
• Support the responsiveness and fiscal, financial, and management capacities of local governments – cities, municipalities, and rural districts – to deliver local infrastructure and decentralized services; strengthen resilience and disaster risk management related to natural disasters; reduce conflict and violence; scale-up access to finance for sub-national governments; and reduce the carbon footprint of cities.

Position Context

• The West Africa sub-region harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile.
• This creates a huge development challenge which compounded with other natural shocks like floods and droughts, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.
• The WBG’s experience in Africa offers important source of insight, drawing on an array of lessons learned from multi-sector operations in FCV or disaster-conflict nexus situations.
• The AFW Urban, Resilience and Land Units (IAWU4) brings together a wide range of important and interrelated development and financing instruments to support national and sub-national clients to: harness urbanization and enable effective land management in support of both growth and poverty reduction; foster social inclusion of marginalized groups;
• Support the responsiveness and fiscal, financial, and management capacities of local governments – cities, municipalities, and rural districts – to deliver local infrastructure and decentralized services; strengthen resilience and disaster risk management related to natural hazards; reduce conflict and violence; scale-up access to finance for sub-national governments; and reduce the carbon footprint of cities.
• IAWU4 Unit is seeking a highly qualified and motivated Urban Resilience Specialist (GF). The Urban Resilience Specialist will be based in Abuja, Nigeria and will report to the IAWU4 Practice Manager based in Accra.
• He/She will work across the Urban and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) program in the area of urban development and infrastructure, with a particular focus on Nigeria.
• He/She will be expected to provide technical support in operational and analytical tasks, including but not limited to the preparation and implementation of lending operations, operational and analytical projects, contribute to teams within the unit and beyond, support cross sectoral and multi-sectoral urban development, DRM and infrastructure engagements across various global practices, and support the further development and implementation of the urban, DRM and resilience programs through a range of Bank instruments and engagement modalities.
• Given the multi-GP nature of the urban agenda, the Urban Resilience Specialist is expected to demonstrate the highest collaborative competencies, working with colleagues across the range of technical areas within the unit and, equally importantly, from other Global Practices.

Roles and Responsibilities
The Urban Resilience Specialist’s responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following:

• Provide substantive contributions to engagement in Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management through existing country programs and provide technical support towards the promotion and implementation of the urban and resilience agenda, including through participation in the Bank’s dialogue with clients.
• Support project supervision for Urban/DRM investment operations, including reviewing Terms of Reference (TORs), specifications and bidding documents, and lead supervision missions and the preparation of internal report documentation.
• Supporting/providing leadership on stakeholder engagement.
• Provide operational support to government counterparts and implementing agencies by, identifying potential problems and advising on required actions as well as overall project/program implementation.
• Provide technical and substantive inputs to analytical activities as part of the Urban and DRM program in AFW, including implementation of cutting-edge analytical instruments and knowledge products. Conduct spatial/economic/statistical analysis, desk reviews, and data interpretations on urban related issues, including urban management, finance and services; reviews and interprets data.
• Support task team leaders on coordination of stakeholders in the URL activities, including development partners, government institutions, and civil society for better implementation of the Government’s urban sector and land reform program.
• Support the task team leaders in the management of Trust Fund (TF) activities including preparation and review of grant proposals, consultation on technical issues, preparation of progress reports, project briefings, disbursements and quality control of deliverables.
• Contribute to business development in the urban development, DRM, infrastructure, and resilience areas by identifying key opportunities and priority areas for engagement and by conceptualizing, preparing and implementing urban solutions both in the operational and analytical realms.
• Support the urban and DRM team members on sector dialogue and provide inputs to technical notes, synthesize comments, and help prepare review meeting packages; assist with dissemination of findings, including drafting briefing notes, talking points, power point presentations as well as coordinating workshops.
• Participate in missions and provide technical inputs, project briefs, aide memoirs, and other materials as part of The World Bank internal documentation.
• This requisition is open to WBG staff as well as External candidates.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced university degree (Master or PhD) in a field relevant to Urban Development such as Urban Planning, Public Policy, Economics, Civil Engineering, Hydrology or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of proven experience in the urban, urban drainage/drainage sectors or in a related infrastructure field (either with a government’s authority, contractor(s), design or supervision consultant(s), or development institutions) with demonstrated ability to work on: (a) infrastructure design or planning; (b) civil works contract management and execution; (c) urban resilience policies; and (c) economic, social, and environmental impact of infrastructure investments;
• Experience in working either with the World Bank, or on programs financed by other development partners, multilateral or bilateral organizations;
• Effective verbal, analytical and written communication skills in English and a demonstrated ability to produce quality documents and analytical reports;
• Work experience in Nigeria and familiarity with the issues and problems of the Urban and Disaster risk management sectors in Nigeria are desirable;
• Familiarity with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geo-spatial analysis desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to work effectively in multi-cultural teams (with virtual teams located in different countries), and with clients, different stakeholders and colleagues across units and departmental boundaries.
• Good project management skills, an ability to work effectively on multiple activities simultaneously, strong problem-solving skills and demonstrated ability to self-navigate, with minimal support, through complex bureaucratic environments; and
• Knowledge of key developments in related sectors and on cross-cutting issues affecting the performance of the sectors, such as: environmental and social impacts, gender equality, climate change, or poverty reduction;

WBG Core Competencies:

• Drive for Results - Takes personal responsibility for producing high quality work, identifying and informing of risks, and delivering results for clients
• Lead and Innovate: Brings new and different insight; applies critical thinking to current approaches, identifies areas for improvement and tries new solutions that drive results
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries – Keeps others fully informed to ensure integration and work consistency and displays a sense of mutuality and respect.
• Create, Apply and Share Knowledge – Actively contributes to and readily applies WBG’s body of knowledge for internal and/or external client solutions
• Make Smart Decisions – Leverages available data and makes timely decision; seeks and analyzes facts, data and lessons of past experience to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others’ work.

Application Closing Date
7th February, 2025; 11:59pm UTC

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online