Senior Program Assistant

Job #:
req38272

Organization:
World Bank

Sector:
Other

Grade:
GD

Term Duration:
3 years 0 months

Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment

Location:
Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):
English

Preferred Language(s):

Closing Date:
9/22/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

WKHVP Front Office

The Office of the Vice President is a dynamic unit that requires professional excellence, results focus and a commitment to teamwork. The Senior Program Assistant will be part of the People Vice President's front office team supporting the Director of Strategy and Operations (DSO) and the Manager for Development Effectiveness. The incumbent will provide administrative support to the Development Effectiveness team and be part of a team of A2D colleagues providing seamless support to the whole People Front Office which includes the Office of the VP and DSO, the Development Effectiveness team and the Human Capital Team. This position will offer exposure to a broad range of corporate strategy and operational issues as well as opportunities to work with a wide range of management and staff across the People Vertical departments.

The Senior Program Assistant will report to the Director of Strategy and Operations with a dotted line to the Manager for Development Effectiveness.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Department is looking for an experienced, energetic, resourceful, and tech-savvy Senior Program Assistant. The Senior Program Assistant will have the following main responsibilities:

Executive Support:
• Provide administrative support to the DSO, Manager for Development Effectiveness and broader Front Office, including managing the Director's and Manager's calendars.
• Lead complex calendars, time, and travel management, proactively resolving conflicts, and ensuring well-prepared engagements aligned with strategic priorities.
• Support administrative and operational processes, including contracts (STC/STT, vendors), payments, travel logistics, budget monitoring, recruitment coordination (Compass, interviews), and event organization.
• Prepare meeting documents, track and monitor requests for comments and other outputs requiring the Director's and Manager's reviews, approval, or signature, ensuring quality and compliance with Bank standards.
• Organize leadership and management meetings, retreats, team-building events, and support periodic external events.
• Ensuring relevant documents for the Front Office are well managed and easily retrievable in the Front Office sharepoint shared files.
• Promote teamwork and knowledge sharing by keeping staff informed, mentoring junior staff, supporting learning initiatives, and participating in Bank-wide ACS activities.
• Back-up to the Sr. Executive Assistant and the Program Assistant for the Human Capital Project.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with other senior management support staff to ensure quick resolution of issues when the need arises.
Operations and Data Management:
• Working to support the DE manager and team, preparation of regular and ad hoc operations reports / data requests / commitment tracking for the global and regional units, drawing on digital dashboards, standard reports, BI, Analysis for Office, IFC dashboard, TF center and other resources.
• Provide support to FO staff and global departments with the Operations Workspace.
• Track and monitor operational processes and procedures including timelines for Board engagements.
Project Management:
• Contribute to the delivery of core responsibilities of the Vertical in the WBG Knowledge Bank including supporting the roll out of Solutions to achieve corporate results and targets; inputs to Knowledge 360, Data 360, Sherlock and other tools; IDA commitment tracking and preparations for the IDA22 replenishment.
• Support and lead special or ad hoc projects, corporate requests and perform additional responsibilities that contribute to the effective achievement of the VPU's goals.
• Manage multiple priorities and special assignments with discretion, sound judgment, and the ability to work effectively under pressure.

Selection Criteria

Note: Preference will be given to local talent, that is, applicants that are authorized to work in the duty station for any employer. Internal applicants may apply per existing guidelines.
• Bachelor's degree with 10 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Extensive knowledge and application of WBG administrative and operational policies and procedures.
• Experience with senior level office management, executive and administrative support
• Expertise in using the Bank's operational systems and tools such as Standard Reports, Power BI, Operations Workspace, Trust Fund reports and IFC's platforms. Knowledge of technology and ability to learn tools used to develop effective delivery mechanisms for specific content, such as dashboards, websites, and mobile applications.
• Familiarity with knowledge management and communications, including intranet, newsletters, information sharing techniques.
• High degree of motivation, flexibility, reliability, and ability to handle concurrent tasks simultaneously. Excellent organizational, administrative and time management skills with proven ability to work quickly and efficiently under time pressure to successfully deliver urgent tasks with accuracy and attention to details.
• Demonstrated high level of professional maturity, emotional intelligence, and consistent respectful communication, especially under pressure-ensuring a constructive, solution-oriented environment and setting a standard of behavior expected for the Front Office.
• Strong team player and excellent interpersonal, communication and collaboration skills within team and across boundaries. Proactive, resourceful, and pragmatic problem-solver.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Diplomacy skills to interact tactfully with people at all levels. Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• Proven personal ethics and integrity, sound judgment and resourcefulness. A self-starter with positive attitude.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

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.