Closing date:

Senior environmental specialist (climate change / carbon finance assistant team leader)

City/location:
Washington, DC
Organization:
World Bank, the

This job posting has closed

Background / general description

The World Bank supports countries in their efforts to address the causes and impacts of climate change under the broad umbrella of its Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change (SFDCC). Capacity building is one of the SFDCC pillars and a cross-cutting theme in each of its other pillars.

As part of this broad charter, the World Bank Institute (WBI) implements a Climate Change Practice, the strategic objective of which is to “accelerate learning and knowledge sharing by development practitioners to help countries move faster towards low carbon development and climate resiliency”.

An important component of WBICC is the Carbon Finance Assist (CF-A) – a corporate capacity building program implemented in close coordination with the Carbon Finance Unit (CFU) and the Regions of the World Bank. The main goal of CF-A is to enhance the capacity of developing countries to enable their effective participation in the global carbon market contributing to their sustainable development. It does so by providing technical assistance, developing and delivering targeted training to different stakeholders, facilitation of carbon market development (including co-organizing the Carbon Expo), and creating inter-active learning programs (including e-learning).

CF-A is an $18m multi-donor trust fund in operation since 2005 and has completed the first phase of its implementation – during this period the program has had a presence in over 60 countries in addition to regional and global level activities. The program is now in the process of developing the next generation capacity building activities in carbon finance and low carbon development in line with the evolution the carbon market has witnessed over time. In line with this evolution, CF-A is shifting its focus towards the next generation of carbon market instruments, such as CDM Program of Activities, REDD, and other programmatic approaches.

As part of the broader framework of WBICC which has Cities and Climate Change as one of its two main ‘lenses’ (the other focal area being Agriculture Water & Climate Adaptation), CF-A is developing learning programs and facilitating peer-peer learning customized for cities, with a special emphasis on (but not limited to) the energy sector. In this context, CF-A seeks to integrate more closely with Operations and the Anchor, and place its carbon finance assistance in the more comprehensive context of climate finance, e.g. in Operations where carbon finance is one element in a package of IBRD, CTF, and other MDB financing for ‘green development’ or similar initiatives. As the first phase draws to an end, CF-A will have to enter a new round of fund-raising for the next phase, by positioning the program to effectively address the emerging capacity requirements of our client countries in a post-2012 regime.

WBICC has about 10 professionals, and about 5 are working specifically on CFA supported activities.

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 renewable term appointment.

Duties and accountabilities

It is to lead this transition and scale up, that WBICC is seeking to recruit a highly experienced and expert professional. The chosen candidate will provide intellectual and managerial leadership to the CF-A program and be responsible for technical, analytical, marketing, and operational aspects of the program. He/she will ensure the delivery of various current program commitments in different geographical regions, and proactively develop future capacity building opportunities in climate change/carbon finance. The consultant will report directly to the Climate Change Practice Manager (WBICC).

Specific tasks:

Leadership

1. Lead the overall design, management, and the implementation of CF-Assist, including development and implementation of individual components such as carbon finance innovation, cities and climate change.

2. Provide intellectual leadership in guiding the design and implementation of the current and next generation of capacity building initiatives for priority target audiences (e.g. cities), and sectors (e.g. energy).

3. Represent CF-A and WBICC in various global and other forums, under direction from the senior management;

4. Assist the Practice Manager in mobilizing additional resources through participation in dialog with various donors.

Collaboration

5. Work closely with various internal partners in the World Bank Group (Carbon Finance Unit, Anchors of Environment, Energy, Transportation, Urban, etc., ESMAP, other practice areas in WBI such as Urban) to leverage inputs as well as to facilitate WBICC’s contribution to corporate activities.

6. Work in close coordination with Bank regional operational units to ensure proper integration of CF-F activities with operational priorities and the ongoing policy dialogue, to achieve synergies across activities where feasible.

7. Liaise actively with the diverse sets of stakeholders, such as country and regional clients at various levels, global players such as UNFCCC, private and public sector industries, UN and multilateral agencies, financial institutions, global climate change networks, etc. to ensure proper visibility and networking so as to enhance the program effectiveness.

8. Ensure close coordination with CF-Assist Trust Fund donors by arranging periodical consultations, furnishing regular program and financial reports, informing them of program developments, etc.

Implementation

9. Undertake country missions and communications to implement technical assistance activities to meet identified capacity needs in countries, sectors, cities, etc. as per work plans

10. Lead the development and updating of learning programs on various aspects of climate change, carbon finance and urban issues;

11. Identify, develop and nurture regional/local institutions as ‘knowledge hubs’ to promote scaling up of capacity building services developed under CF-A and WBICC;

12. Ensure quality control of WBICC funded programs, implemented by external and internal partners;

13. Provide coordination and program leadership in organizing WBICC/CF-A events at global and regional level (e.g. Carbon Expo, Carbon Forum, etc.);

Teamleadership


14. Provide mentorship to the team members through technical advice, structured supervision and objective feedback; and

15. Implement any other related tasks, as necessary, under direction from Practice Manager and WBI management team.

Selection criteria

- Advanced degree in developmental economics, environmental/natural sciences, international affairs, engineering, or business administration and a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience.

- Specific knowledge of climate change field, including Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms and carbon finance and climate finance highly desirable.

- Work experience/residency in developing countries would be desirable.

- Peer-recognized leadership/expertise in related areas (climate change mitigation, clean energy promotion, natural resources management, sustainable urban development, etc.) would be desirable.

- Previous work experience within a multilateral or an international non-governmental organization would be desirable, and in particular demonstration of an understanding of World Bank Group operational policies, practices and procedures would be desirable.

- Practical experience with capacity development and training is highly desirable;

- Proven ability to work with multi-cultural teams with members in multiple locations; and

- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Good working knowledge of other UN languages such as French and Spanish would be desirable.

The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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