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Job #122359
Job TitleManager, DIME Unit, DECOS
Job FamilyEconomic Policy
Job Type
GradeGH
LocationWashington, DC
Recruitment TypeInternational Hire
Language RequirementEnglish [Essential]
Closing Date31-Oct-2012

Background / General description:
WORLD BANK GROUP CONTEXT Innovation and partnership bond the five institutions of the World Bank Group (WBG): the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help poor nations reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve the quality of life. The World Bank Group’s work focuses on achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goals call for eliminating poverty and achieving inclusive and sustainable globalization. The MDGs lay out a blueprint for the World Bank Group, setting its priorities and measuring its results. The World Bank is the world’s largest funder of education; the world’s largest external funder of the fight against HIV/AIDS; a leader in the fight against corruption worldwide; a strong supporter of debt relief; and the largest international financier of biodiversity, water supply, and sanitation projects. UNIT CONTEXT With the establishment of the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) initiative in 2005, the World Bank has rapidly assumed a leadership role in the development community on impact evaluation (IE) and is now managing the largest program of IEs of any development bank or agency. The DIME unit located in the Operations and Strategy department in the Office of the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President (DECOS) anchors and supports the Bank-wide DIME initiative. It provides oversight, coordination and technical support to Bank-wide activity on IEs (a total of more than 375 active IE products evaluating the impact of about $18 billion in Bank lending) and directly manages a large portfolio of IEs (more than 125 products evaluating the impact of about $10 billion in lending). These IE activities span about 80 countries. The DIME unit conducts IE research, provides technical and advisory services to Bank operations and clients on IEs, and supports capacity building through provision of knowledge and training. It helps in the translation of findings from IEs into knowledge and learning to inform project design and implementation and policy making. DIME has a central role in the current effort in the Bank to strengthen the use of evidence in, and the results focus of, Bank operations and policies. DIME engages actively with external partners and with the community of IE researchers and practitioners at large. More recently, under IDA 16, DIME has taken on a key role in the implementation of scale-up of IEs in IDA-supported operations. DIME manages several grant-financed activities. In 2011, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) contracted DIME to carry out IEs of investments financed by the GAFSP and managed by multiple supervising entities (AfDB, IDB, FAO, IFAD, WB). The DIME-GAFSP is a $5 million trust fund dedicated to this purpose. Another important recent expansion of DIME’s grant-funded activities is the approval in 2012 by the Gates Foundation of a grant of $4.5 million to finance a program of IEs in health. Twenty-six additional grants amount to a total of $7 million. Looking ahead, a proposed IE Umbrella Facility (IE UF) will allow a consolidation and more strategic use of grant resources for IE, supporting IEs Bank-wide across regions and sectors and strengthening IE research, knowledge generation and dissemination. The DIME unit will administer the IE UF. The proposed UF has received strong expressions of support from interested donors (with possible initial commitments of $75 million over five years). Another key initiative is Open IE Knowledge, which aims to improve the capture and sharing of IE knowledge using innovative web-based applications, better connecting researchers and producers of IE knowledge with users. In view of the rapidly expanding IE work program and related human and budgetary resources managed by the DIME unit, Bank management has decided to establish the position of Manager, DIME unit. The manager’s direct span of control will be about 7 staff and six extended-term consultants, plus several short-term consultants, among them external senior researchers and two dozen young researchers in the field. In addition, the manager will act as a co-supervisor for some regional IE staff and support the Bank’s broader IE practice consisting of about 100 staff and consultants. The total financial resources currently overseen by the DIME unit is about $18 million, which is likely to increase significantly with the proposed IE UF. The Manager, DIME unit, will report to Director, DECOS. ***The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of race, gender, nationality, culture, and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 4 year renewable term appointment. Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 4 year term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities:
The Manager, DIME unit, DECOS is accountable for performing the responsibilities, modeling the behaviors and maintaining the technical competencies (listed below) in his or her capacity as a member of the DECOS Management Team in the DEC VPU. Accountability means being answerable for managing quality, risks, results, institutional initiatives and compliance with Bank policies and procedures. RESPONSIBILITIES The manager will take responsibility for the DIME unit’s people, work program, and budget management in providing leadership and support to IE strategy and scale-up in the Bank and strengthening its links to the Bank’s knowledge, results, and openness agendas, including: Business Management (incl. strategy, operations and quality control) responsibilities: • Strategically scales up DIME’s work Bank-wide to increase the generation of IE knowledge through research and other analytical products, systematize its use in Bank operations and country policies, and implement an open-knowledge strategy for IE. • Makes DIME services and structures available inside and outside the Bank, connecting users and producers of IE knowledge across the development community to improve development effectiveness. • Effectively supports the scale-up of IDA IE commitments, as well as the growing use of IEs in middle-income country programs. • Supports the systematic and effective integration of IE knowledge in country projects and programs. • Helps to improve the quality of operations at entry through the use of existing evidence and incorporates learning in projects to guide mid-course corrections. People/ Talent Management responsibilities: • Manages staff and nurtures and retains talent to keep up with the growing and diversifying IE agenda. • Manages the unit staff’s recruitment, evaluation, and career development. • Manages and oversees the engagement of technical consultants. Resource Management responsibilities: • Manages Bank budget and grant resources (including the proposed IE UF) and channels them to Bank-established priorities. • Manages the unit’s budget. • Ensures effective formulation of the unit’s budget proposal/input into budget decisions and manages the unit’s financial resources effectively and efficiently. • Promotes effective donor coordination and relations with other development partners and stakeholders. • Manages good relations, collaborating and coordinating with the on-the-ground donor community—bilateral agencies, regional and other multilateral agencies—to strengthen country-led development processes. Relationship Management responsibilities (Internal and External): • Keeps Bank senior management and the Bank-wide DIME Steering Group informed of progress on the IE program and engages with them on issues of strategy and priorities, and manages periodic reporting to the Board’s Committee on Development Effectiveness. • Interacts closely with partners in the Bank to maximize synergies between the DIME-led IE efforts and the Bank’s knowledge and results agendas. • Engages and strengthens links with outside partners, including IE researchers, practitioners, and donors. • Provides ongoing representation of the Bank and outreach to key stakeholders. Keeps the unit abreast of that dialogue. • Represents the unit at public and professional fora to help and promote the unit’s leadership position. Knowledge Management responsibilities: • Assures quality of IE products by mobilizing necessary technical expertise and instituting appropriate processes. • Strengthens the feedback loop from IEs to knowledge through research papers, policy briefs, seminars, and other knowledge products and dissemination means. • Implements an open data and open knowledge policy, including making all IE information publicly available, through the web and other means, in useful and innovative ways. • Disseminates best practices and lessons learned. • Manages the learning and knowledge flows.
Selection Criteria:
• PhD or Master’s degree in economics with substantial professional experience (typically the successful candidate will have about 10 to 12 years of professional experience). • Excellent technical skills and demonstrated track record of quality research and analytic work in development economics, as evidenced by research papers and other analytic outputs. • Excellent knowledge of the theory and practice of impact evaluation, including research output and operational experience. • Credibility with internal and external community of IE researchers and practitioners. Recognized and highly respected by peers in IE research and practice. • Demonstrated capacity for innovative thinking – in knowledge generation, dissemination, and use. • Excellent leadership and managerial skills, including strategic thinking, team leadership, work program development and delivery, and resource management. Demonstrated leadership and management potential. • Strong commitment to knowledge sharing and staff development, including mentoring and motivating staff. • Strong internal and external partnership skills, client orientation, and ability to work with a range of stakeholders. • Proven ability to work in a collaborative environment with team members and other colleagues and across organizational boundaries. • Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a matrix management setting and to influence and change behavior without formal authority. • Superior level of resourcefulness, ability to work with considerable autonomy, and capacity to work under pressure and through the whole spectrum of activities from the strategic level to the resolution of specific implementation issues. • Ability to take principled and balanced positions on complex and difficult issues. • Broad knowledge of Bank’s products, services, and processes. • Strong communication skills, including the ability to write and speak persuasively and present ideas clearly and concisely. Core Competencies • Client Orientation - Translates insight into practice across disciplines, hierarchies, geographies and organizational units in service of clients. • Drive for Results - Ensures successful implementation and delivery of key programs and projects, ensuring that outputs positively impact results. • Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Creates a team climate of practical and innovative action, facilitating collaboration between competing interests and stakeholders. • Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Demonstrates command of all forms of communication and presents in a clear, objective and engaging manner in high-level settings; ensures knowledge is captured and shared in a variety of ways. • Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Serves as a trusted advisor to others on their decisions, ensuring alignment across units and optimal impact on the organization as a whole. Bank Managerial Competencies • Courage of Your Convictions: Outstanding WBG managers demonstrate the confidence in their convictions and the integrity to express themselves to peers and superiors even if it is easier or more comfortable to refrain from speaking up. They have the confidence, balanced with humility and judgment, to operate with the intent of doing what is right for the WBG and its clients GH Behavior Anchor: Promotes and role models speaking with candor. • Leading the Team for Impact: Outstanding WBG managers focus on the WBG purpose and mission in order to provide on-going clarity and vision to their teams. They align capabilities and resources around the WBG mission. They create an energizing and empowering work environment where people are engaged and have the resources necessary to do their jobs, while holding team members accountable for results and improvement. GH Behavior Anchor: Drives sustained team performance • Influencing Across Boundaries: Outstanding WBG managers persuade, convince and create buy-in for ideas and initiatives in order to advance their own goals and strategies, consistent with the WBG mission and vision. GH Behavior Anchor: Persuades indirectly •Fostering Openness to New Ideas: Outstanding WBG managers create open and innovative climates for the people around them. They are transparent, open to divergent views and encouraging of these attributes in others. They promote broad thinking and frank discussion, welcoming others’ input into the decision-making process, and they build on others’ ideas. GH Behavior Anchor: Cultivates diversity and inclusivity • Building Talent for the Future: Outstanding WBG managers build people’s capabilities for the future by supporting and leveraging the diversity of staff in terms of their race, gender, nationality, culture, educational and professional backgrounds. They create growth opportunities for others, encouraging them to stretch beyond their current experience or comfort zone. They provide ongoing feedback and development, including long term career development and mentoring, as well as hold their team members accountable for developing others. GH Behavior Anchor: Stretches Others

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