Transport Specialist

Job #:
req30518
Organization:
World Bank
Sector:
Transportation
Grade:
GF
Term Duration:
3 years 0 months
Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment
Location:
Pretoria,South Africa
Required Language(s):
English
Preferred Language(s):

Closing Date:
12/6/2024 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of fiveinstitutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org .

Eastern and Southern Africa

Home to about half a billion of Africa's people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The subregion boasts of some of the world's richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.

The subregion harbors some of Africa's protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continues to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

The World Bank's Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,207 staff, mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities :

• Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.
• Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa's vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030 - a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
• Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.
• Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities. With the influx of COVID-19, we are mobilizing financial support and timely analysis and advice to countries across the subregion to deal with the pandemic.
• Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure. A number of East African countries recently had to deal with a debilitating Desert Locust infestation that threatened the already precarious food security situation. The Bank has put together a program to help affected countries deal with the scourge.
• Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.
• Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Bank is a dedicated partner for Eastern and Southern African countries, helping them deliver strong development outcomes for their people. A brighter future for Africa is a better future for the world.

The Infrastructure Practice Group

Globally, 840 million people live more than 2 kilometers from all-weather roads, 1 billion people lack electricity, and 4 billion people lack Internet access. Access to basic infrastructure services is critical for creating economic opportunities for the poor. The Infrastructure Practice Group is charged with developing sustainable solutions to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies.

Transport Global Practice

Better transport has the potential to improve the lives and livelihoods of billions of people by facilitating access to jobs, markets, and essential services such as healthcare or education. The World Bank provides financial and technical assistance to help countries implement sustainable mobility solutions that create real, lasting development benefits. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport

The IAET2 unit is seeking to hire a highly motivated locally recruited Transport Specialist (GF) to be located in Pretoria, South Africa. and reporting to the Transport Practice Manager of IAET2.

The selected specialist will be working with a broader team of specialists managing and further developing the transport program in South Africa. The role of the GF based in Pretoria is to support the day-to-day dialogue with the different stakeholders and government counterparts and lead or co-lead the activities in the program. The Transport Specialist must have a strong profile and in-depth experience in urban transport in Southern Africa and be able to handle both broad and deep technical demands around urban transport. The candidate must also have strong client engagement and communication skills, being able to articulate urban transport problems to diverse audiences and develop solutions based on strong technical depth.

In this regard, the candidate should have:

(i) Solid operational experience to provide close implementation support to clients in the region and managing an active and diverse transport sector portfolio, with a deep technical focus on urban transport.

(ii) Strong entrepreneurial skills and energy to support the program in South Africa.

(iii) Strong analytical skills

(iv) Strong communication and people skills with an ability to work in a diverse and multidisciplinary team

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Overview

The IAET2 unit of the World Bank serves 14 client countries. Clients range from middle-income countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, Seychelles to low-income IDA countries such as Lesotho, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros. Areas of particular interest for the transport sector in these countries include rural transport for agricultural productivity; urban transport for enhancing functioning of urban areas and improving accessibility to jobs and social services by the poorer segments of the population; regional integration corridors for facilitating trade and reducing logistics costs; investments in ports, railway, and air transport, for improving connectivity within and across countries; PPPs to bring in efficiencies in the provision of infrastructure and services; road safety interventions to reduce the high number of traffic fatalities in the client countries and addressing mobility constrains of women.

• Lead and manage advisory and analytical activities in urban mobility in South Africa
• Support the Practice Manager, the Regional Director in further developing and/or revising transport strategies.
• Engage with, advise and provide guidance to clients in designing and advancing transport policy and institutional reforms and capacity building programs in urban transport, seeking to develop capacity in the implementing entities to plan, develop, and manage transport projects.
• Participate in the policy dialogue with external stakeholders and development partners under the guidance of the Country Director/Management, the Practice Manager, and the Lead Transport Specialist
• Advise government counterparts on technical matters associated with urban transport projects, the formulation of policy, and measures to strengthen institutional arrangements.
• Facilitate project implementation including providing procurement and contract management support and advice to project implementing agencies.
• Provide support to improve the quality of urban transport projects in general, through peer reviews, technical advice, and quality assurance.
• Participate in cross-sectoral teams responsible for preparation of policy notes, Country Partnership Frameworks, public expenditures reviews, sectoral studies, and research and policy development activities on the topics/sections pertaining to the transport, urban development, trade and competitiveness, and environment sectors.
• Support World Bank-wide professional community of staff engaged in the transport practice by participating actively in the Global Solutions Group on Urban Mobility and drafting of technical notes, and supporting cutting-edge work in collaboration with other global practices to enhance knowledge creation and dissemination, and expanding the existing knowledge base;
• Represent the World Bank at public events relevant to the sector.

The Transport Specialist will be based in the World Bank's Pretoria office. She/He will report to the IAET2 Practice Manager. Her/His activities will be identified with the Practice Manager and adjusted based on business needs. She/He will also be a larger part of the transport team in South Africa and liaise and work with other global practices and cross-cutting solutions areas, as relevant, and ensure appropriate collaboration and partnership between Government, the World Bank Group, and other international and bilateral organizations involved in the transport sector in the southern Africa sub-region.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced degree (at least Masters or equivalent) in transport planning/transport economics/transport engineering or other related disciplines
• Sustained record of achieving high-quality substantive results in the transport sector over a period of at least 5 years.
• Proven experience in the transport sector, with demonstrated ability to work on at least three of the following areas: a) engaging public sector leaders in urban transport; (b) developing and implementing public transport improvement strategies; (c) formulating and engaging on transport policy or frameworks; (d) transport demand modelling and forecasting; (e) transport data analysis for compliance and ongoing monitoring; (f) implementing complementary road, traffic management and/or non-motorized transport plans; (g) transformation of informal public transport modes; (h) activities related to implementing integrated public transport networks and subsidy policies; (i) sustainability and green transition projects within public transport; (j) mitigating demand and sustainability risks during public transport start-up and operational phases; and (k) project management, team leadership and client relationship management
• Experience in working with cross-sectoral teams, including teams for safeguards and fiduciary aspects, and knowledge of key cross-cutting issues that impinge on the performance of the transport sector and on which the development of transport sector infrastructure and services needs to create positive effect, including environmental and social impacts, land acquisition and resettlement, gender equality, road safety, climate change, and the interplay with digital technologies for enhance transport sector performance.
• Proven track record of design and implementation of transport programs, and experience of working on programs financed by the World Bank or other development partners, multilateral or bilateral, is a plus.
• Familiarity with the challenges facing the transport sector in Sub-Saharan Africa would be an advantage.
• Proven ability to build client relationships involving multiple stakeholders, to discuss transformative transport policies or reforms.
• Good oral and written communications skills.
• English essential.

For information about WBG Core Competencies, please visit: https://bit.ly/2kb IA7O .

Poverty has no borders. Neither does excellence. Therefore, we continually search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe. We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC , including our values and inspiring stories.

Job ID req30518