Principal Investment Officer - Global Sector Lead, Manufacturing

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), within the World Bank Group’s Prosperity Vice Presidency, is seeking a senior professional to serve as Global Sector Lead for two or more manufacturing subsectors. Coverage will be assigned according to institutional priorities and the candidate’s expertise. The role provides strategic leadership, business and investment judgment, sector credibility, and practical guidance across the World Bank Group’s public- and private-sector engagements. The Global Sector Lead works with other sector leads, industry specialists, regional and country teams, investment staff, upstream and advisory teams, economists, and technical colleagues. The position translates global industry knowledge into country strategies, market creation, investable opportunities, and stronger portfolio outcomes, connecting policy and regulatory reform, public investment, private capital, and firm-level competitiveness. The role shares accountability for sector strategy and positioning; business development and project generation; operational quality; market creation and investment-enabling reforms; global knowledge, partnerships, and thought leadership; and the development and deployment of sector talent and resources. The position may oversee or supervise staff and consultants assigned to relevant work programs and requires travel as needed. This is an open-ended staff position based in Washington, DC. The requisition is open only to World Bank Group and IMF staff, including eligible consultants and temporaries; external applications will not be considered.

Requirements

Master’s degree or equivalent advanced qualification in engineering, business, finance, economics, international development, or another field relevant to the sector portfolio.
At least 15 years of relevant experience across manufacturing, private investment, development finance, commercial or investment banking, private equity, industry operations, strategy, or related fields, including substantial responsibility for complex business and investment decisions.
Demonstrated depth in at least two manufacturing sectors or value chains and ability to transfer commercial and strategic judgment across adjacent sectors.
Strong record of business development, investment or project generation, client engagement, and delivery of commercially grounded solutions.
Ability to evaluate business plans, market positioning, technology choices, project design, capital programs, execution plans, operations, and commercial strategies, and to identify assumptions material to viability and development impact.
Strong understanding of how policy, regulation, infrastructure, trade, skills, finance, and firm capabilities interact in manufacturing value chains, and ability to connect public- and private-sector interventions.
Excellent analytical skills, sound business judgment, and ability to synthesize complex technical, commercial, financial, and policy information into strategic and operational recommendations.
Ability to lead across organizational boundaries, influence without formal authority, build trusted relationships, and work effectively with senior public- and private-sector counterparts.
Ability to generate ideas, challenge assumptions constructively, build consensus, and turn knowledge into executable programs and investments.
People leadership, mentoring, communication, and presentation skills; openness to feedback and diverse perspectives; and commitment to collaborative delivery.
Commitment to sustainable development and the World Bank Group’s mission, strategy, and values, with sensitivity to multicultural environments.
Excellent written and spoken English.
Willingness and ability to travel as required.

Nice To Haves

A combination of strong technical and commercial training.
Experience in emerging markets and in greenfield, expansion, modernization, or turnaround situations.
Depth in sectors such as critical and advanced materials; chemicals and fertilizers; automotive, electronics and machinery; batteries; or clean technology products.
Additional languages relevant to emerging markets.
Experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent contexts.
Ability to responsibly leverage digital and AI-enabled tools to enhance productivity, learning, and decision-making.

Responsibilities

Lead the formulation, periodic refresh, dissemination, and implementation of strategies for assigned manufacturing sectors, aligned with country and regional priorities and the broader Manufacturing strategy.
Represent the World Bank Group’s role, value proposition, and support offer to governments, private companies, industry associations, development partners, investors, and other stakeholders.
Monitor structural shifts, technologies, trade and supply-chain dynamics, resource and energy constraints, circularity, decarbonization pathways, and changing business models affecting investment opportunities in emerging markets.
Define strategic themes, priority markets, client segments, and scalable interventions, linking them to development impact and operational delivery.
Lead global sector reviews of market outlook, pipeline, commitments, portfolio performance, emerging risks, lessons, and opportunities for replication or scale-up.
Identify and support business and project origination with regional and country teams, drawing on country strategies, sector diagnostics, client coverage, and market-creation potential.
Develop client engagement plans; identify strategic companies, investors, technology providers, and value-chain partners; and manage selected high-priority relationships.
Source, assess, and pitch investment opportunities, including greenfield capacity, modernization, resource efficiency, localization, supplier development, processing, and value-addition platforms.
Conduct value-chain diagnostics to identify entry points, constraints, investment gaps, competitive advantages, and opportunities to improve productivity, complexity, resilience, and sustainability.
Support the design of investment acceleration platforms, industrial or processing zones, supplier-development initiatives, technology-partner outreach, demand aggregation, and other justified scalable approaches.
Work across the World Bank Group to identify and address policy, regulatory, infrastructure, skills, standards, trade, and other constraints on investment.
Provide sector, commercial, and strategic input throughout the project cycle, from business development and screening through appraisal, decision review, commitment, implementation, and portfolio supervision.
Help teams identify suitable clients and projects, test business fundamentals, and screen out proposals without credible market positioning, technology pathways, operating models, execution capacity, or commercial viability.
Ensure project documents and decision materials reflect current industry conditions, benchmarks, portfolio lessons, commercial and technical risks, and appropriate mitigations.
Advise on market demand, competitive positioning, inputs and utilities, technology and processes, scale, capital intensity, ramp-up, operating assumptions, supply chains, and other determinants of project viability.
Provide parameters and challenge assumptions for financial and scenario analysis; consult risk and credit colleagues on sector-informed project selection and deal-acceptance criteria.
Support upstream, advisory, and investment engagements; promote consistency across comparable projects; and advise regional management and teams on early-stage project development.
Partner with portfolio teams to assess material changes in client operations and markets and design timely responses to risks or opportunities.
Connect policy dialogue, analytical work, public and private investment, guarantees, mobilization, advisory support, and firm-level solutions into coherent sector and country engagements.
Build partnerships across World Bank Group institutions and with governments, sponsors, investors, industry participants, research organizations, and development partners.
Support government engagements to develop competitive manufacturing and processing value chains, applying commercial judgment about which value-chain stages a country can credibly host.
Facilitate collaboration across regions and practices so global knowledge, tested approaches, and client relationships are deployed effectively.
Lead or sponsor sector diagnostics, guidance notes, frameworks, case studies, benchmarks, and operational tools that address concrete business and policy needs.
Facilitate knowledge sharing and adoption of lessons from investments, portfolio experience, upstream work, advisory engagements, and public-sector operations.
Develop thought leadership on private-sector-led industrialization, supply-chain resilience, critical-materials value addition, sustainable manufacturing, circularity, low-carbon production, advanced manufacturing, and emerging-market participation in global value chains.
Represent the institution at selected industry forums and engage with senior public- and private-sector stakeholders.
Promote fact-based, practical knowledge products that clarify industry shifts and the World Bank Group’s comparative advantage and generate actionable opportunities.
Anticipate senior management and Board information needs and respond on strategy, country and regional programs, pipeline, commitments, portfolio performance, development impact, and growth barriers.
Mentor and coach colleagues, strengthen sector skills, and contribute to recruitment, onboarding, learning, and succession planning.
Coordinate with other Global Sector Leads and Industry Specialists, clarify accountabilities, and deploy expertise against institutional priorities.
Oversee or supervise staff and consultants as appropriate and support disciplined use of administrative, analytical, upstream, and advisory resources.
Foster collaboration, practical problem solving, technical rigor, inclusion, accountability, and constructive challenge.