Senior Education Finance Specialist

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

14d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Education Finance Specialist will lead the World Bank Group Education Finance Platform and serve as the Education and Skills Global Department’s Global Lead for education finance. Based in Washington, DC, the position reports to the Manager, Education and Skills. The role provides intellectual and technical leadership across policy, knowledge, data and operational work, strengthening the Bank’s education finance analysis and its application in Public Finance Reviews, country policy dialogue and operations. The specialist will lead development and maintenance of practical guidance, analytical tools, data resources and training. This includes revising the Education Public Expenditure Review Guidelines for the Public Finance Review context; building an operational toolkit and global education finance dataset and dashboard; and extending guidance across basic education, early childhood development, higher education, TVET and skills. The role will also develop guidance on public financing that can leverage private capital where appropriate, with attention to sub-sector differences and equity. The position works with teams across the World Bank Group, regional and country teams, governments and development partners. It applies analysis to country work, supports fiscal policy dialogue and operations, builds staff capacity, leads reporting and knowledge products, and mentors colleagues. The role requires willingness to travel.

Requirements

Advanced degree in economics, preferably a PhD, focused on public economics, macroeconomics or public finance, or a closely related field.
At least eight years of relevant professional experience, including experience in a Ministry of Finance, line ministry, private sector or international organization; research institute or academic experience is acceptable when combined with exposure to public finance reform.
Expertise in public expenditure and public finance analysis, including public expenditure or public finance reviews, fiscal sustainability analysis, medium-term expenditure frameworks, budget execution analysis or expenditure tracking, and working command of relevant instruments.
Ability to engage credibly with Ministries of Finance and macro-fiscal counterparts, understand fiscal frameworks and the budget cycle, and position sector arguments within whole-of-budget discussions.
Track record of producing operational guidance used by other teams, such as methodologies, toolkits, guidance notes or diagnostic frameworks.
Expertise in the role of the private sector and mechanisms for catalyzing non-state capital.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with high-quality written outputs including published analytical work.
Experience designing and delivering capacity building and training, including curricula or learning programs for professional audiences.
Ability to combine analytical rigor with practical, solution-oriented approaches and understanding of the political economy of reform in developing countries.
Track record of leading teams and delivering complex, multi-country tasks to deadline.
Excellent written and spoken English communication skills, including presenting ideas persuasively and concisely to senior audiences.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work flexibly across assignments, manage competing demands and set priorities.
Strong interpersonal, client orientation and diplomatic skills, with effectiveness in multicultural environments.
Tact, political awareness, sensitivity and discretion when dealing with clients, staff and managers at all levels.
Team-oriented, open and collegial working style.
Willingness to travel.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the education sector or a track record in the economics of education or education finance; candidates without sector experience should demonstrate strong interest in education and ability to acquire sector knowledge quickly.
Experience with social sector expenditure analysis, including health or social protection, and expenditure spanning multiple ministries.
Experience with non-state and private financing of public services, including public-private partnerships, household and employer financing, outcome-based or blended instruments, guarantees and risk-sharing, ideally in social sectors.
Experience with student loan design, payroll levies, training funds or other instruments for financing higher education and skills.
Experience with financing data systems, databases or dashboards, and familiarity with AI-enabled tools in analytical work.
Experience in World Bank operations and advisory services and analytics.
Knowledge of another World Bank official language.
Background across a range of country contexts, including different regions, income levels and fragility contexts.
Experience collaborating across teams, disciplines, cultures and institutional boundaries.
Experience working in fragile, conflict-affected and violent contexts.

Responsibilities

Lead the WBG Education Finance Platform, including its work program, budget and trust fund resources.
Serve as the Department’s Global Lead for education finance, providing intellectual and technical leadership and acting as the senior technical voice with internal and external partners.
Convene the education finance Community of Practice and support the network of regional focal points.
Build and maintain working relationships across the Bank Group, including with teams working on macro-fiscal analysis, public financial management, private provision and financing, higher education and skills.
Position the World Bank Group in the global dialogue on education finance and represent the Department in internal and external forums.
Lead revision of the Education Public Expenditure Review Guidelines for the Public Finance Review context and maintain them as a living document.
Develop an operational toolkit of analytical modules, data templates, benchmarking approaches, reform options and country examples.
Ensure guidance addresses fiscal sustainability, financing adequacy, spending efficiency and equity, public financial management, fiscal decentralization, and non-state and complementary financing.
Extend guidance to early childhood development, higher education, TVET and industry-based training.
Develop sub-sector-specific guidance on structuring public financing to leverage private capital, including public-private partnerships, guarantees and risk-sharing, results- and outcome-based financing, student finance and employer co-financing, working with IFC, MIGA and the WBG Guarantee Platform as relevant.
Lead and contribute to global, regional and country analytical work on education finance, including completing and publishing outstanding analytical papers.
Work with regions to select countries from the Public Finance Review pipeline and lead or co-lead education components of reviews in selected countries.
Translate diagnostic analysis into recommendations for Public Finance Reviews, Development Policy Operations, Investment Project Financing, Program-for-Results operations, Country Partnership Frameworks, Country Economic Updates and Country Growth and Jobs Reports.
Participate in Bank missions and engage in policy dialogue with Ministries of Finance, Ministries of Education, development partners and other stakeholders.
Provide technical support to regional and country teams on education finance in analytical and operational work.
Consolidate education finance data into a global dashboard hosted on Data360, improve data access, reliability and comparability, and develop standardized country financing profiles.
Lead development of AI-enabled analytical tools to help teams assemble financing profiles, benchmark countries and prepare analytical inputs.
Agree data definitions and sources with partners inside and outside the Bank to avoid duplication.
Design and deliver a core education finance curriculum for the Public Finance Review context, including the fiscal framing, Ministries of Finance processes and positioning education in whole-of-budget discussions.
Train task teams, including through regional clinics alongside live Public Finance Reviews, and produce concise operational reference materials.
Lead regular reporting on the state of education finance, building on the Education Finance Watch series.
Ensure education finance knowledge products are curated and accessible through Bank knowledge platforms, and mentor staff across the Department and regions.
Travel as needed.