Education Specialist at the World Bank

The World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group, is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors.

The World Bank Group is launching a recruitment drive aimed at increasing the number of Sub Saharan Africans in its work force. This commitment to hire Sub Saharan Africans reflects the Bank Group's senior leadership commitment for a diverse workforce in which African nationals can play a key role in fighting poverty and increasing shared prosperity. Employment opportunities will be in various technical areas and professional streams for talented and diverse young professionals and mid-career level professionals to contribute and grow their skills in a career in international development.

A career with the World Bank Group offers a unique opportunity for exceptionally talented individuals with a passion for international development to contribute to solving some of the world's most pressing problems. Bank staff work with governments, civil society groups, the private sector, and others in developing countries around the world, assisting people in all areas of development, from policy and strategic advice to the identification, preparation, appraisal, and supervision of development projects.

We are recruiting to fill the below position:

Job Title: Education Specialist

Job #: 151654
Location: Abuja

Education Global Practice Context

• Education is central to achieving the World Bank Group's twin goals: it is a reliable route out of poverty because it has large and consistent returns to income for individuals and because it can drive economic growth. It is also a prime vehicle for promoting shared prosperity. The main challenge in the education sector is to achieve “learning for all, learning for life” that is, to ensure that all children and young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need for their lives and livelihoods.
• The developing world has achieved great advances in education in the past two decades, most notably in enrolling and keeping children in school and in approaching gender equality. Yet these successes in expanding access to education have highlighted the major remaining challenges: how to remove the educational barriers faced by the poorest people and those living in fragile states, and how to improve the quality of education so that schooling leads to real learning.
• The WBG and the broader education development community are increasingly shifting focus to learning outcomes. Because traditional input-driven programs often fail to promote learning, the WBG’s education strategy highlights the need for a more comprehensive systems approach to education reform, investments, and service delivery. This approach is about increasing accountability and targeting results, as a complement to providing inputs.
• And it also requires strengthening the knowledge base on education, to highlight where systems are achieving results, where they are falling short, and what the most effective solutions are. These efforts are increasingly guided by the need to invest early; invest smartly; and invest for all. Through high-quality analytical work, collection and curation of evidence, and practical know-how in these three areas, the WBG is helping its partner countries accelerate their educational progress
• The Education Global Practice is led by a Senior Director, who has overall responsibility for the practice. The Senior Director is assisted by the Director, who serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Practice. The Education Global Practice Management Team, which is the group that leads and manages the GP, consists of the Senior Director, the Director and seven Practice Managers.

Duties and Accountabilities

• The successful candidate will be part of the team working on education in Nigeria.
• He/she will be based in Abuja and join missions with other team members as needed.

Specifically, the education specialist will:

• Support and assist with the project implementation, primarily the GPE program but may be asked to support other operations as need arises;
• Coordinate the input of consultants and the Local Education Group including international development partners who will provide technical support for the GPE Project implementation.
• Support the annual review of GPE states four -year operational program and implementation plan especially proposal for SBMC, teacher professional development activities etc.
• And in consultation with other lead agencies at federal and state levels, prepare an annual implementation strategy to be carried out in each of the 5 GPE project states to adopt/adapt the school based activities including school grants at primary and pre-primary, girls and female teachers scholarship, teacher development model and its emphasis on improving teaching and learning of language and literacy in any scenarios being tried out.
• Coordinate and participate in workshops for GPE project states such as on school based development programs.
• Coordinate the work of national consultants who will assist in the federal level workshop for the 5 states and who will then follow up with field visits to review state implementation plans for teacher development and the state’s proposed annual work plan and budget.
• Review proposals for implementation of the project activities including school based teacher development program at state level and at federal level especially UBEC, NERDC, the state offices of the National Teachers Institute and colleges of education.
• Support and Participate in GPE activities at Federal level and in addition, support UBEC and Federal Agencies/Institutions to prepare a funding proposal for activities to support the state level project implementation such as the school based teacher development programs.
• Any other activities that might be required for smooth effectiveness of GPE project including attending weekly taskforce meeting and monthly Local Education Group (LEG) Meeting in Abuja.
• The appointment will be offered initially for a one year term with the possibility for extension subject to satisfactory performance.

Selection Criteria

• Post-graduate degree (masters or PhD) with minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in an area relevant to human development work, such as education, public policy or related social science fields.
• General Social Sector Knowledge and Analytical Skills: Possesses in-country knowledge in operations and education sector in Senegal and demonstrates ability to work with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions. Actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches
• Proven ability to work independently as well as ability to follow guidance from the team lead
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral
• High Level of commitment and Results Oriented.
• Experience with education program development issues in the northern part of Nigeria and internationally, preferably in World Bank funded projects.
• Lead and innovate- Develops innovative solutions.
• Deliver Results for Clients- Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs.
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries- Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
• Create Apply and Share Knowledge- Applies knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
• Make Smart Decisions- Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward.

Competencies:

• Education Knowledge and Experience - Possesses experience in working on challenging education projects, and policy-relevant analytical work
• Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
• Deliver Results for Clients - Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client.
• 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.
• 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.
• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills - Possesses Cross-country knowledge in economic specialty and demonstrates ability to link the macro, institutional, and micro-level behaviors; able to support findings/policy recommendations with credible analysis and tools.

Application Closing Date
19th August, 2015.

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

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 3 year term appointment.