Operations Officer

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. The South Asia Region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) is at a pivotal stage of development. Rapid economic growth—driven by urbanization and demographic trends—has reduced poverty, but significant disparities persist. The region also faces increasing climate risks, environmental pollution, and structural challenges, including informality and low female labor force participation. Sustained, private sector-led growth—anchored in investments in infrastructure, logistics, energy, and connectivity—is critical to generating jobs needed to employ South Asia’s sizeable youth population. At the same time, the region needs to continue building human capital so that South Asia’s population is well equipped for the jobs of the future. SARDE is recruiting a high-performing, experienced Data Scientist/Operations Officer to lead the department's work on results measurement, corporate priorities, jobs, and impact. SARDE's 15 Washington-based staff work closely with Country Management Units (CMUs), Verticals, and Global Practice (GP) units in the region, and with relevant global units, to achieve regional objectives. Note: This internal requisition is open to WBG staff only (including short-term and extended-term consultants/temporaries). External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate applies, their application will not be considered.

Requirements

Master's degree in data science, statistics, economics, econometrics, or a related quantitative field, with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience.
Demonstrated experience with results frameworks, M&E systems, and the WBG Corporate Scorecard, including compiling and managing outcome indicator and target data.
Strong programming skills in Python, R, or Stata, plus SQL. Demonstrated experience building dashboards in Power BI or Tableau and working with the Bank's data systems and tools.
Demonstrated ability to apply AI tools effectively in analytical work, with curiosity and initiative in exploring emerging AI capabilities.
Strong knowledge of World Bank operations, including financing instruments, operational policies and procedures, the project cycle, and accountability and decision-making. Solid experience in pipeline and portfolio management.
Good understanding of the Bank's corporate priorities, including Jobs, Climate Change, Gender, FCV, Maximizing Finance for Development, and Outcomes.
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. This includes presenting complex analysis clearly and persuasively to senior management and non-technical audiences and preparing reports and presentations using MS Office and AI tools.
Strong attention to detail and follow-through, and the ability to manage diverse tasks on short deadlines in a fast-changing environment.
Proven ability to build strong working relationships with colleagues and clients, showing empathy, reliability, and a willingness to help others, and contributing to a culture of trust, collegiality, and shared success.
Openness to change and feedback, and a proactive approach to their own professional growth.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent (FCV) contexts.

Responsibilities

Compile, clean, and maintain datasets on Corporate Scorecard outcome indicators and targets across the SAR portfolio. Work closely with the Outcomes department to keep them consistent with corporate methodology notes and definitions.
Provide quality assurance, as part of Development Effectiveness, on results reported by task teams: assess the inclusion, quality, and relevance of Scorecard and jobs indicators; flag inconsistencies and gaps between expected and reported results; advise teams on indicator selection, baselines, and target-setting.
Apply advanced methods, including machine learning and text analytics, to extract results information from project documents and identify trends across the portfolio.
Build and maintain interactive dashboards (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) for management to monitor portfolio performance, results reporting, and progress against Scorecard and other corporate targets.
Lead the region's preparations for deep dives, stocktake, and other country and thematic reviews related to data, measurement, results, and targets, and follow up on recommendations.
Prepare analytical notes, briefings, talking points, and presentations for the RVP, DSO, and regional management. This includes the monthly Delivery Review Meetings (DRM), MOU discussions with the MDO, the Annual and Spring Meetings, and corporate reporting cycles.
Support the design and monitoring of the region's MOU, working with SARDE's data team and providing backup as needed, and tracking progress on SAR's other corporate commitments.
Support monitoring and analysis of the region's portfolio, pipeline, operational performance, and risks, including its use of IDA across all relevant Windows.
Review corporate reports, operational documents (IPFs, DPFs, PforRs), country engagement products (CPFs, PLRs, CLRs, SCDs), and other operational requests. Check them for consistency with corporate policies and guidelines, regional priorities, and quality standards.
Collaborate with GPs, CMUs, OPCS, the Jobs Group, and DEC to align regional analysis with corporate guidance. Advise SARDE colleagues and GP and CMU teams on complex operational issues.
Champion innovation, including integrating AI tools into operational processes and SARDE's day-to-day work.
Build task teams' capacity on results measurement and the use of Scorecard data.
Contribute to knowledge sharing and to SARDE's Learning Program for regional staff, covering operational matters, institutional changes under OpsEE, and integrated WBG approaches.