Disaster Risk Management Specialist Job #: req32729 Organization: World Bank Sector: Disaster Risk Management Grade: GF Term Duration:ย 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment Location: Kinshasa,Congo Democratic Republic Required Language(s): French, English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 4/28/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
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ย Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
Infrastructure Practice Group
Globally, one billion people live more than 2 kilometers from all-weather roads, 685 million people lack electricity, and nearly 4 billion people lack Internet access. Access to basic infrastructure services is critical for creating economic opportunities for the poor. The Infrastructure (INF) Practice Group within the World Bank is charged with developing sustainable solutions to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies. The INF Vice Presidential Unit (VPU) currently consists of four global practices (GPs): Energy & Extractives (EEX); Transport (TRA); Urban, Resilience and Land (URL), and Infrastructure Finance Practice (IFP). It oversees the World Bank's work across energy and transport sectors, urban development, as well as efforts to promote energy transition, low-carbon transportation, livable cities, disaster risk resilience, land management, and quality infrastructure services through public-private partnerships. Infrastructure represents around $110 billion of the Bankโs portfolio. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/infrastructure.
THE โURBAN, RESILIENCE and Landโ (URL) GLOBAL PRACTICE
GP-URL covers a wide Range: (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 Development Policy Loan with Catastrophe Deferred Draw-Down Option CAT-DDO), and resilient reconstruction (including post-disaster damage and loss assessment).
AFRICA URBAN AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT UNIT
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 regionโs 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 has 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. Disasters affect 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 changed has the potential to significantly worsen the situation.
To this end, the Africa Urban and Disaster Risk Management Unit (IAEU2), 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 โ cities, municipalities, and rural districts โ 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.
Duties & Accountabilities:
The selected candidate will be based in Kinshasa, DRC, and is expected to perform the following duties:
โข Participate and contribute to cross-sectoral engagements such as Systematic Country Diagnostic and Country Partnership Framework and other CMU-led activities;
โข Contribute to the overall program development in DRC within the Africa Urban and DRM programs
โข Support the DRC Task Teams and the Government in executing necessary analytics to prepare new operations in direct response to the countryโs natural hazards, including flood and soil erosion hazard mapping and risk assessment, the quality control and supervision of external consultants and technical specialists work as well as developing targeted Terms of Reference.
โข Participate and contribute to project supervision for urban resilience investment operations, including reviewing Terms of Reference (TORs), specifications and bidding documents.
โข Interact with clients on areas involving resilient urban development, emergency response, and DRM, in collaboration with other global practices and development partners.
โข Support WB and governments teams in resolving implementation issues.
โข Manage 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;
โข Supervise the work of consultants and technical specialists to ensure consistency and conformity to Bank standards; evaluate studies and sector-related project documentation.
โข Participate in professional development and knowledge sharing activities in the URL Global Practice;ย
โข Perform other duties and functions as assigned by the Practice Manager.
Selection Criteria
โข Masterโs or Ph.D. degree in technical fields relevant to municipal service provision and urban resilience such as civil, environmental engineering, hydrology, disaster risk management, or equivalent
โข At least six years of relevant experience on projects covering resilient urban infrastructure, disaster risk management, emergency response, or related fields;
โข Experience working on complex urban resilience programs;
โข Demonstrated skills to engage and effectively contribute to dialogue with both local communities affected by urban risks as well as city leaders and decision makers;
โข Experience working with a wide range of partners, NGOs, international organizations, development partners and the private sector;
โข Understands policy making process and the role of own sector of expertise in that process;
โข Demonstrates a foundational familiarity with the urban resilience and DRM policies, strategies, local government and institutions relevant to the project or analytical work;
โข Experience and understanding of the World Bank's operations and full range of Bank products and services, and up-to-date knowledge of the Bank's operational policies and processes is desirable;
โข Excellent analytical writing ability;
โข Fluency in English and French (spoken and written) is required.ย
If the selected candidate is a current World 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 aย 3 years 0 months term appointment.
The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in race, gender, nationality, culture, and educational background.ย Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.ย All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
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