HR Specialist - Disability Inclusion

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/who-we-are/ibrd BACKGROUND AND UNIT SUMMARY The World Bank Group (WBG) is committed to building a workplace that is inclusive and equitable for all staff, including persons with disabilities. The Inclusion & Belonging team sits within Human Resources and is responsible for operationalizing the WBG's Inclusion and Belonging framework and its Disability Inclusion Strategy across the institution globally. The HR Specialist – Disability Inclusion will serve as the institution's subject matter expert on disability inclusion in the workplace, leading the operationalization of the WBG Disability Inclusion Strategy and supporting the broader Inclusion and Belonging agenda. The role requires a combination of strategic thinking, program delivery, stakeholder influence, and measurement — working across HR, business units, and country offices to embed disability-inclusive practices throughout the organization's people processes, systems, and culture. The position is based in Washington, DC and reports to the Manager, Inclusion and Belonging.

Requirements

Master's degree in Human Resources, Disability Studies, Organizational Development, or a related field, with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated experience designing and operationalizing disability inclusion strategies within a complex organization, including the development of measurement frameworks, implementation plans, and accountability structures.
Proven ability to influence organizational behavior and drive the adoption of inclusive practices across diverse teams, business units, and geographies — without direct authority over the processes or functions being influenced.
Experience developing capacity-building programs, toolkits, and training materials on disability inclusion, accessibility, and/or related inclusion topics, with demonstrated adoption by target audiences.
Strong familiarity with international disability inclusion frameworks and standards, including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the principles of universal design and reasonable accommodation.
Experience engaging and advising senior stakeholders, including preparing governance-level materials such as board briefings, issue notes, and leadership presentations on inclusion strategy.
Experience working across inclusion dimensions (e.g., gender, caregiving, socioeconomic background) and applying an intersectional lens to program design and stakeholder engagement.
Strong program and project management skills, with a track record of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives on time and with measurable results.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex concepts into clear, audience-appropriate outputs for diverse stakeholders at all levels.
Strong analytical skills, including the ability to use data and evidence to identify inclusion gaps, design interventions, and report on progress.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality outputs in a fast-paced environment.
Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to build trust and work effectively across teams, cultures, and organizational levels.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with or engaging persons with disabilities and/or disability-led organizations (OPDs) in program design, validation, or delivery is highly desirable.
Demonstrate the ability to collaborate effectively across teams, disciplines, cultures, and institutional boundaries.
Responsibly leverage digital and AI-enabled tools to enhance productivity, learning, and decision-making.
Bring experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent (FCV) contexts and are encouraged to highlight relevant experience in their application materials, where applicable.

Responsibilities

Lead the end-to-end operationalization of the WBG Disability Inclusion Strategy, translating strategic priorities into phased implementation plans with clear ownership, milestones, and accountability mechanisms.
Design and maintain the institutional measurement architecture for disability inclusion, including baselines, phased targets, data ownership, and reporting logic to enable consistent tracking and senior-level reporting.
Prepare high-quality briefing materials, issue notes, and presentations for senior leadership and governance audiences, translating complex inclusion strategy into clear, actionable communications.
Monitor implementation progress, identify gaps and risks, and propose course corrections to the Manager of Inclusion and Belonging.
Track emerging trends, international standards (including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), and best practices in workplace disability inclusion to continuously strengthen the WBG's approach.
Advise and influence counterparts across HR, business units, and country offices to incorporate disability-inclusive practices into their existing processes and systems — including recruitment and hiring, workplace accommodations, learning and development, performance and talent management, events and communications, and country office operations.
Serve as an internal consultant to teams across the institution, providing technical guidance on how to design and deliver programs, communications, and services that are accessible and inclusive to staff with disabilities.
Partner with HR Centers of Excellence and business stakeholders to integrate disability inclusion considerations into core people processes, advocating for systemic and sustainable change rather than one-off accommodations.
Engage with Employee Resource Groups, staff networks, and persons with disabilities within the institution to surface lived experience insights that inform strategy and program design.
Build awareness and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging through targeted engagement with managers, teams, and country office leads.
Design and deliver manager-facing and staff-facing capacity-building programs and discussions on disability inclusion topics.
Develop practical tools and resources (e.g., toolkits, guides, checklists) that enable business units and country offices to implement inclusive practices independently and consistently.
Build internal capacity to sustain disability-inclusive practices, ensuring tools and training are adapted to diverse geographic and cultural contexts across the institution's global footprint.
Develop knowledge products, case studies, and lessons-learned materials that document progress and share effective practices across the institution.
Manage defined disability inclusion programs and initiatives end-to-end, from concept and design through implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
Identify and develop strategic partnerships with external organizations, non-profits, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and other institutions to strengthen the WBG's disability inclusion programming and talent pipelines.
Coordinate cross-functional delivery involving HR, Communications, Facilities, Legal, Country Offices, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure integrated and coherent implementation.
Contribute to the broader Inclusion and Belonging agenda, supporting related workstreams on other dimensions of inclusion as needed.