Manager, Innovation & Capabilities

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

23h•Onsite

About The Position

The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions driven by a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, we help solve the world’s greatest development challenges. When you join the World Bank Group, you become part of a dynamic, diverse organization with 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide. We work with public and private sector partners, invest in groundbreaking projects, and use data, research, and technology to bring tangible and transformative change around the globe. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org. VPU Context: The Managing Director and WBG Chief Knowledge Officer’s (MDK) mandate is to lead the institution’s Knowledge Bank agenda, shaping how the WBG generates, manages, and deploys knowledge to advance the mission of fighting poverty and boosting shared prosperity on a livable planet in emerging markets and developing economies; oversees strategic engagement and partnerships with governments, civil society, foundations, and philanthropic partners, ensuring that the WBG remains a trusted global platform for proven solutions, policy guidance, and development innovation. The work supports the institution’s mission to deliver replicable, scalable, and results-driven solutions to sovereign and private sector clients alike. The WBG Knowledge Bank is organized into five Verticals—Digital and AI, Infrastructure, People, Planet, and Prosperity—each combining public and private sector expertise. In addition, three horizontal departments have been established to work across the institution’s traditional sectoral (vertical) boundaries. These horizontals are designed to break down silos, facilitate knowledge flows, and support integrated, impactful solutions for clients. The three horizontal departments are: Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Learning and Outcomes. Unit Context: The Department for Innovation develops and pilots new initiatives and drives forward-thinking approaches to address complex development challenges facing the world today. It does so by surfacing and accelerating early-stage innovations that tackle complex and persistent development issues through the WBG Innovation Awards, unlocking the WBG's collective innovation intelligence through the Global Knowledge Platform (The Innovation Portfolio for Development Outcomes P513924), mainstreaming transformative capabilities such as geospatial intelligence to strengthen development decision-making, fostering a culture of innovation within the Bank, collaborating with external partners and across the WBG to tap into expertise, and spreading successful innovation to transform future Bank engagements.

Requirements

Master’s degree in relevant field with 12 years of or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Emerging leader/top talent, credible and trusted.
Experience leading innovation accelerators or similar programs at the corporate scale.
In-depth technical expertise in innovation, including human-centered design, innovation frameworks, tools, and best practices.
Strong familiarity with GenAI applications and comfort deploying AI models to solve complex problems.
Hands-on experience in implementing innovation processes in development context.
Technical expertise in strategic planning, portfolio management, reporting, finance and operations.
Ability to collaborate with internal and external partners.
Strategic and systems thinker, able to see the big picture and connect the dots.
Empathic, collaborative, high EQ and people skills.
Credible, strong communicator, able to lead with courage of conviction.
Proven track record of building and managing teams and creating an enabling work environment.
Prior work experience in achieving results on the ground in more than one world region. A corporate assignment may substitute for experience in a second world region.
Strong written and oral communication skills in English. Knowledge of other languages a plus.
Proven ability to effectively plan, direct, organize and administer diverse activities to ensure effective delivery of work program.
Strong influencing and team-working skills. Inter-personal skills to facilitate work with a wider range of individuals and groups from culturally diverse background and institutions.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of other languages a plus.

Responsibilities

Oversee the Global Knowledge Platform for Innovation: Provides strategic leadership for the design, development, and continuous evolution of the Global Knowledge Platform, driving the WBG's shift from fragmented experimentation to a coherent, data-driven innovation system, while instilling a culture of evidence-based, tailored engagement for development impact. Leads the development of a structured, searchable innovation intelligence base by synthesizing large volumes of unstructured WBG data – including over 8,500 project evaluations, IEG assessments, operations portals, and trust fund records – directing the use of AI/ML and Generative AI tools to produce a unified, quality-controlled dataset and identify clusters, gaps, and opportunities across the innovation portfolio. Leads the curation and production of actionable knowledge products – including policy briefs, case studies, toolkits, and playbooks – and oversees the development of an AI-enabled interface (Innovation Guru) to make innovation insights accessible to frontline WBG staff, with a roadmap for expansion to external audiences. Builds and manages strategic partnerships with internal WBG units such as the Knowledge and Outcomes Horizontals, DEC, OPCS, and IFC, and with external organizations such as the OECD, UN agencies, and innovation funds, to advance the platform's reach and support cross-border replication of high-impact innovations. Oversees the design and delivery of structured learning programs and peer exchanges to build innovation capacity among WBG practitioners, policymakers, and partner institutions.
Manage the Innovation Awards program: Provides strategic oversight and leadership for the end-to-end delivery of the WBG Innovation Awards cycles — from nominations and selection through pilot funding, milestone tracking, and reviews — ensuring the program operates as a durable, institutionalized engine of innovation. Guides the team in supporting the acceleration of award-winning innovations, including brokering high-level strategic partnerships with external players, overseeing institutional engagement with WBG units (e.g., LEG, BPS, OPCS, ITS), providing targeted innovation services to refine the innovation, directing the development of corporate scaling plans for innovations without a clear institutional home, and sandboxing common challenges faced by many innovators. Provides structure, templates, and advice for innovation teams preparing for senior management engagement, including for engaging with the President, the OLT, MDs, and VPs. Oversees the program engagement with the International Advisory Board — spanning member recruitment, onboarding, mid-term reviews, and ongoing engagement with award-winning teams. Champions innovation as a recognized WBG core competency by directing HR recognition mechanisms (People Pages badges, CV notations, completion certificates). Sets the strategic direction for internal and external communications around the WBG Innovation Awards to cultivate a culture of innovation, overseeing the production of compelling communication materials across multiple channels and formats – such as blogs, videos, and intranet features – while ensuring effective use of dissemination platforms, including the Knowledge Horizontal Impact Academy and fostering synergies with complementary innovation work programs.
People Management: Models exemplary WBG leadership values and managerial behaviors and reinforces these qualities in own team and staff. Drives and inspires technical excellence within the team by creating an environment of inclusion, learning, and innovation that attracts and develops the best talent reflective of the diversity of our clients. Supervise the work program of a team of ~10-12 members covering the WBG Innovation Awards, the Global Knowledge Platform, learning/education, internal and external engagement/communication, others depending on the needs of the innovation program and program assistant. Formal tagged manager for staff who will be deployed in innovation initiatives and supervised by H-level Innovation Lead Officers (who will report to the Director). Supports Innovation Director in developing and implementing appropriate strategies for staffing, deployment, talent, and performance management. Represents the Innovation agenda in broader WBG corporate discussions, ensuring the unit's work program remains aligned with evolving institutional priorities and contributes to the organization's strategic direction.
Resource Management: In consultation with relevant stakeholders within the WBG, decides on the best use of internal and external resources for maximum client and developmental impact. Support the Director, Innovation in preparing, securing, and distributing funding to initiative and capabilities teams (serve as “Finance Manager” for the Innovation Function). Is accountable for delivering the agreed-upon work program through cost-effective use of resources (human and budget) within the agreed parameters and in compliance with internal controls and policies and ensures timely delivery and overall quality of outputs.