Operations Officer

Job #:
req36641

Organization:
World Bank

Sector:
Other

Grade:
GF

Term Duration:
3 years 0 months

Recruitment Type:
International Recruitment

Location:
Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):
English

Preferred Language(s):

Closing Date:
6/2/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

The People Vertical
The World Bank Group (WBG) is the largest provider of development finance and solutions for human development, working with high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries to develop country-tailored solutions for human development (HD) under the themes of education, health, social protection, jobs and gender. The HD PG coordinates with other Practice Groups to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to development challenges, and through the World Bank Regional Units is expected to deliver the strongest and most pertinent support to our client countries.

The People Vice Presidency (HDVP) at the World Bank Group is made up of the Departments for education; health, nutrition, and population; and social protection and jobs; additionally, the HDVP houses the gender group. As such, HD is central to the World Bank Group's goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and raise shared prosperity.

The primary challenges of health development relate to health, nutrition, and demographic transitions, through an agile short-term response, and a sustainable and inclusive longer-term response that tackles inequitable opportunities and outcomes in the health sector globally, regionally and within countries. The fundamental challenge is to preempt, prevent and mitigate the developmental impact of these challenges now and into the future. Specific challenges include: providing equitable, efficient, accountable and sustainable financing of health coverage; providing equitable, quality, appropriate and scaled-up delivery of priority public health services according to need; mobilizing the appropriate quantity and quality of key health systems inputs related to health workers, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare technology and facilities; and strengthening models of governance for the health sector that recognize core functions for government, responsibilities/accountability of key actors and enhance competencies for governance across levels (local, national, regional and global) and sectors (public/private/civil society, as well as government sectors such as education, transport, social protection, etc.).

Health Department
The World Bank Group (WBG) supports countries' efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and to provide quality, affordable health services to everyone -regardless of their ability to pay - by strengthening primary health care systems and reducing the financial risks associated with ill health and increasing equity. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health

The Health Department is led by a Director, who has overall responsibility for the GP. The Department works with and across multiple sectors, in recognition of the fact that Health outcomes often depend on actions that lie outside the health sector. Accordingly, a capacity to work across GP boundaries, forge coalitions and influence multi-practice solutions are essential for achieving the major objectives of improving health outcomes.

Unit Context
Global Financing Facility ContextThe Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) is a multi-stakeholder global partnership housed at the World Bank that is committed to ensuring all women, children and adolescents can survive and thrive. Launched in July 2015, the GFF supports 36 low and lower-middle income countries with catalytic financing and technical assistance to develop and implement prioritized national health plans to scale up access to affordable, quality care for women, children, and adolescents. The GFF also works with countries to maximize the use of domestic financing and external support for better, more sustainable health results. The GFF is squarely focused on prioritizing and scaling up evidence-driven investments to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition through targeted strengthening of primary health care systems - to save lives and as a critical first step toward accelerating progress on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The GFF has pioneered a shift from traditional development approaches to a more sustainable way forward where governments lead and bring global partners together to support a prioritized, costed national plan. Through this partnership, the GFF aims to mobilize additional funding through the combination of grants from a dedicated multi-donor trust fund (the GFF Trust Fund), financing from International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the crowding in of additional domestic and external resources. To date, the GFF has mobilized more than $2.5 billion in trust fund resources. This approach and these resources have catalyzed high-impact investments for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition in the world's most vulnerable countries. More information is available at: www.globalfinancingfacility.org

The GFF partnership is led by the GFF Director; the day-to-day management of the GFF team is the responsibility of the GFF Manager. The GFF secretariat, which is based at the World Bank and is situated in the Health D, works to deliver on the GFF objectives. This includes working with countries to develop quality investment cases, managing the GFF Trust Fund, technical assistance to regional teams, and supporting the GFF Investors Group, the governance mechanism for the GFF.

Background
The GFF Secretariat is looking for a highly motivated and organized Operations Officer to support its operational and trust fund management functions. The implementation of the new GFF 2026-30 strategy includes two main shifts in the work of the GFF's Trust Fund Management and Administration Workstream. On the one hand there is increased focus on providing on-budget support to GFF client governments, for which the GFF's Joint Financing Framework (JFF) is an important modality - the JFF facilitates the allocation of donors' bilateral contributions as Recipient-Executed co-financing of government operations. On the other hand, the GFF is restructuring its technical support to WB task teams and the operations they prepare and supervise, aiming to anchor this Bank-Executed work within regional units to ensure regional and country-level ownership and accountability. Both tasks require broad-based professional knowledge on lending and Trust Fund operations, and the ability to work with senior staff across regional units as well as external (donor) counterparts.

Working under the guidance of the TF Management and Administration Workstream Lead, the Officer will coordinate moderately complex TF/operational assignments with a high degree of initiative, propose practical solutions to issues, and serve as a working-level point of contact for internal and external counterparts.

Duties & Responsibilities:
The Officer's duties will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Coordinate the GFF's Joint Financing Framework (JFF)
• Support the entire JFF cycle, including supporting WB task teams and GFF Country Focal Points in initial conversations with prospective donors, developing and sharing JFF guidance materials, facilitating donor engagement and contributions, directing the JFF grant establishment processes, and preparing financial and technical JFF progress updates for donors and GFF Leadership.
• Serve as a focal point for task teams and donor counterparts on JFF-related queries, synthesizing key issues and translating operational guidance into clear, actionable advice tailored to diverse audiences.

• Coordinate the New BETF Technical Assistance Approach
• Coordinate the preparation and monitoring of Regional Annual Workplans for GFF activities (preferably within Regional Programmatic Advisory Services and Analytics - PASAs), working closely with Regional coordinating staff to consolidate inputs and ensure timely review and clearance.
• Work together with Regional coordinating staff on TA/PASA management and administration matters, providing guidance on applicable Bank TF procedures and troubleshooting operational issues as they arise.
• Monitor key BETF portfolio metrics, prepare country portfolio summary reports and identify cross-cutting trends and systemic issues across the BETF portfolio and propose practical solutions to operational bottlenecks, drawing on knowledge of Bank instruments, policies, and the project cycle.

• Maintain GFF Secretariat Monitoring and Portfolio Monitoring Systems
• Maintain regularly updated key GFF Secretariat information for its Leadership Team in a dedicated Dashboard-style space, covering various elements of budget, portfolio and contributions monitoring. Prepare integrated analytical summaries and briefings derived from this data for the GFF Leadership Team and portfolio review meetings.
• Support the GFF Country Engagement Information Management System, contributing to enhancements to BETF and RETF workspaces for the new TA approach in coordination with the CES team - including testing, roll-out, and implementation.
• Contribute to the development of operational guidance notes, briefings, and knowledge products derived from portfolio monitoring insights and lessons learned, and support their dissemination to address operational risks and strategic issues and strengthen portfolio implementation quality.

• Support GFF Donor Contribution and Cash Flow Management
• Monitor GFF donor contributions and GFF cash flow status, maintain an up-to-date tracking system, and address queries from donors and internal counterparts.
• Coordinate the process of receiving new donor contributions to the GFF, including coordination with DFI, LEG, VP Front Office and relevant Bank units to ensure proper processing and documentation.
• Coordinate donor-requested audits, including preparation of documentation, liaison with relevant counterparts, and follow-up on findings and recommendations.
• Manage Transfer Out (TO) processes, including preparation of disbursement requests, projection of transfer schedules, quality assurance of financial reports for compliance with GFF and Bank requirements, and coordination of new TOs.

• Operational Delivery, Quality, and Monitoring
• Provide operational advice and guidance to GFF Workstream Leads (WSLs) and Country Focal Points, and coordinate to resolve TF/operational bottlenecks and ensure compliance with GFF policies and Bank procedures.
• Liaise with corporate counterparts in DFI, LEG, HR, TACT/WFA, and WGP in alignment with agreed approaches to resolve TF operational issues and facilitate smooth day-to-day Secretariat functioning.
• Train and mentor new Secretariat staff and STCs on TF-related procedures, systems, and operational processes, sharing knowledge in a structured and accessible manner.

Selection Criteria
• Master's degree in Economics, Business Administration, International Development, Public Policy, Finance, or a related field
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in supporting large-scale development programs in low and low-middle income countries
• Knowledge of key challenges, priorities and solutions related to the TF Program Management and Administration work of the GFF.
• Full familiarity with WBG operational policies, procedures, and systems, including BETF and RETF trust fund instruments, ASA monitoring, and key corporate and TF processes.
• Demonstrated experience in BETF and RETF portfolio monitoring and related donor engagement in an international development context is a requirement.
• Practical experience related to the development, roll-out and use of TF program specific country-centered portfolio management portal
• Advanced knowledge and practical skills in using key WBG data systems and tools (e.g., Operations Portal, SAP, Business Intelligence).
• Strong network of professional contacts in corporate units related to TF Program Management and Administration (DFI, WFA, TACT, LEG, etc.).
• Demonstrated ability to seek out, collate, and analyze inputs across workstreams and organizational boundaries and identify cross-cutting trends and systemic issues within a portfolio to develop an integrated view of (TF) operational issues and key risks, and translate findings into actionable recommendations for different audiences.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks independently, work effectively under time pressure, and proactively resolve issues with a solutions-oriented approach.
• Strong analytical writing skills, with a proven ability to prepare, and communicate on, financial and technical reports, briefings, and guidance materials tailored to diverse audiences.
• Experience working across sectoral, practice and disciplinary boundaries and with multiple stakeholders - both internal and external.
• Ability to contribute to operational learning and knowledge dissemination, including through the preparation of guidance materials, lessons learned, and training for colleagues on TF procedures and operational systems.
• Ability to deal sensitively in multicultural environments and demonstrated commitment to the highest standards of professional integrity.
• Fluency in written and spoken English required.

COS competencies: https://worldbankgroup.sharepoint.com/sites/myhr/documents/career%20management/professional%20famil