Manager - E&S Risk Management

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

13d•Onsite

About The Position

At 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 www.worldbank.org The WBG Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Vice Presidency is the core unit responsible for Group-wide institutional risk oversight, including establishment and monitoring adherence to risk policies and guidelines and risk assessment and reporting to the Board and executive management. Its mission is to enable and support the WBG to achieve its goals in a financially sustainable manner. The VPU assists management with identifying and managing Group-wide cross-cutting risks, enhancing risk response decisions, reducing financial and operational surprises and losses, seizing opportunities and improving deployment of capital. The WBG CRO Vice Presidency includes the IBRD/IDA, IFC, and MIGA risk teams and covers a wide range of financial and non-financial risks. To enhance accountability and credibility, the World Bank Group (WBG) has established an independent second line of environmental and social (E&S) risk oversight within its Chief Risk Officer (CRO) function. While operational teams at the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA are responsible for designing and implementing projects in accordance with E&S policies, the newly formed E&S Risk Department—led by the WBG Global Director for Environment and Social Risk—oversees, monitors, and evaluates E&S risk and performance. The department is currently seeking a Manager to lead its E&S Risk Management unit.

Requirements

Master’s degree in environmental science or a related field is required.
At least 12 years of international experience in the public sector, private sector, and multilateral development finance, with a focus on environmental and social management.
Experience managing environmental or social risks, with significant involvement in E&S issues for complex, multi-stakeholder projects across various sectors and regions.
Experience in development activities aligned with the mission, strategy, and values of World Bank Group E&S Policies and Standards.
Leadership and people management experience in large, diverse, and technical organizational settings.
Ability to provide intellectual leadership, support talent development, motivate teams across locations, mentor colleagues, and promote new organizational practices.
Knowledge of WBG markets, including FCS and IDA countries.
Proficiency in written, verbal, and public speaking skills, with the capacity to represent WBG in global and regional ESG forums.
Experience representing WBG to external clients, government authorities, stakeholders, and critics.
Willingness to travel as needed.
Compliance with World Bank Group managerial selection criteria, such as effective team leadership, cross-functional influence, openness to innovation, and commitment to developing emerging talent.
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 E&S Risk Management team, oversee specialists and manage all aspects related to team performance, including budget allocation, staffing decisions, and work planning.
Supervise a group of E&S staff, providing guidance and support in performance evaluations, onboarding, training, professional development, and handling various administrative tasks.
Oversee and manage E&S risks across the WBG project portfolio through the Integrated Risk Information System.
Intervene and collaborate with regional E&S teams to address complex and high-risk situations in portfolio projects, with the goal of improving E&S performance.
Identify systemic issues through periodic portfolio reviews.
Design and support corrective actions in collaboration with regional teams and ensuring transparency throughout the project lifecycle.
Lead, oversee and support the regional teams in management of direct complaints and overseeing cases handled by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) and the Inspection Panel (IP).
Clear management responses and actions for direct complaints.
Support the WBG E&S Director in clearing and approving responses to CAO and Inspection Panel compliance cases.
Provide strategic leadership and guidance to ensure effective social and environmental risk management in line with WBG policies and E&S review procedures.
Assign appropriate E&S risk and performance ratings.
Provide clearance at defined administrative touchpoints during the project lifecycle.
Work closely with regional teams on complaints and complex projects.
Coordinate with WBG’s global policy unit to maintain consistent E&S standards and supporting their application through WBG operations.
Guide regional project teams in applying WBG policies and procedures and standards for high-risk or complex projects, ensuring ongoing compliance with E&S risk requirements.
Assign and collaborate with E&S special operations and response teams to address issues in complex cases and high-risk projects, working proactively with regional teams to improve E&S performance.
Manage E&S risks for WBG operations, identify systemic and emerging portfolio risks, and support risk reviews and the implementation of corrective actions.
Represent the WBG to maintain its leadership position in environmental and social risk management and assures stakeholders that WBG projects adhere to environmental and social responsibility standards.