Antecedentes

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The World Bank Group office in Amman intends to use the services of an individual consultant (IC) to work as an Urban Development Consultant to provide support to on-going and pipeline activities in urban development, municipal services delivery, solid waste management and resilience. The selected IC will be expected to work for up to 150 days in the period September 1, 2022 – June 30, 2022. This consultancy will be based in Amman, with regular field visits across Jordan expected as part of the detailed tasks, described subsequently.

Regional Context

The Middle East and North Africa Region (MNA) at the World Bank serves 21 client countries with a total population of about 335 million.  Clients range from upper middle-income countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are more interested in the Bank’s Reimbursable Technical Assistance, analytical and advisory services; to middle income countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, and two low-income countries, Yemen and Djibouti.  Hence the range of needs for advice, support and cross-fertilization of experiences is wide and challenging.

The MNA Urban, Resilience and Land Unit (SMNUR) consists of both headquarters and field-based staff in eight country offices (Amman, Tunis, Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Rabat, Riyadh and Jerusalem).  The portfolio comprises a diverse set of projects under supervision and has an active lending pipeline for further growth. 

The SMNUR team works across a complex institutional environment, in partnership with many different units within the Bank given the cross-cutting nature of urban, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), land, and resilience issues.  The span of work of SMNUR extends to all active clients in the region, and across a variety of financial and technical assistance support. This includes financial and technical assistance to client countries, as well as the provision of Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) from the Bank to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The thematic work of the SMNUR unit cover an active portfolio and a growing pipeline for lending, and a large RAS and TF program. The portfolio responds to the demands articulated by the MNA strategy and covers a range of urban programs and a growing disaster risk management and resilient recovery agenda, given the vulnerability of most of MNA countries to a wide range of risks, including disasters, climate change, and most prominently, conflict.

The MNA Urban, Resilience and Land Unit (SMNUR) is led by Practice Manager based in Beirut country office, in Lebanon, and serves the whole MNA Region. 

 

Deberes y responsabilidades

The selected Urban Development Consultant will be based in Amman-Jordan and will report to a group of Task Team Leaders/Technical staff managing investment financing and technical assistance SMNUR portfolio in Jordan. He/She will work across the Urban and DRM program in the area of urban development, DRM and conflict recovery. He/She will be expected to support these staff with preparation and implementation of lending operations, advisory and analytical work, contribute to implementation support efforts and dialogue with Government of Jordan partners and other stakeholders. Given the multi-task nature of this position as fitting the diverse SMNUR portfolio in Jordan, the selected IC is expected to demonstrate strong knowledge with the multifaceted nature of urban and municipal services delivery challenges and priorities in Jordan, and strong collaborative competencies, working with colleagues across the range of technical areas.

The Consultant’s responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following:

  • Provide task managers with support across all our engagement in Municipal services delivery, City development initiatives, DRM, Solid Waste Management, Municipal reform and Climate Resilience and Conflict Recovery, and Climate Change and Urban Nexus dialogue, and provide technical support to the task managers towards promoting and implementing SMNUR program agenda in Jordan, including through contributing to dialogue with clients and the County Management Unit (CMU) of the WBG;
  • Participate in and contribute to operational, analytical and policy dialogue internally and with Jordanian counterparts as part of the SMNUR Urban, Land and DRM program in Jordan, including
    • preparation and implementation support towards lending operations,
    • prepare technical inputs, think-pieces/write-up and presentations, and
    • follow up with government stakeholders, as needed, under the guidance of task managers,
    • development and implementation of cutting-edge analytical instruments and knowledge products,
    • help teams organize knowledge exchanges to introduce regional and global good practices on various relevant topics;
  • Support task managers in monitoring implementation progress and achievement of outcomes by:
    • organizing operational meetings with Government partners and their staff to discuss implementation progress,
    • assessing progress against workplans and key targets and results and reporting back to task managers with identification of challenges and solutions.
    • Participate and lead technical discussions as guided by task managers, as part of regular implementation support missions;
    • Carry out data collection and field visits to locations of the various interventions and provide technical implementation support, especially civil engineering and structural soundness of physical works activities. Anticipate, identify and report on issues and risks, and purpose corrective measures to task managers, and review compliance with technical World Bank requirements;
    • Interacting with client representatives, project implementing agencies and their teams, and local and international institutions, over issues of project implementation and the overall priorities within the SMNUR portfolio and engagement in Jordan;
    • Supporting the task managers with budget monitoring and disbursement projections and liaise with SMNUR budget team as needed
  • Draft/contribute to World Bank research, technical/analytical writing, reports, and operational documents including
    • Implementation Status Reports, Concept Proposals, Appraisal Documents, and visibility/outreach documents,  
    • Contribute to and review technical and operational documents submitted by client teams and consultants, including technical assessment and diagnostic reports, analysis reports, Operations Manuals, progress reports, and workplans. Provide inputs to task managers on reviewed documents. Initiate discussions with client teams on behalf of task managers to share comments.
    • Contributing to reviews and supervision of consultants' reports and outputs as commissioned by various project teams
    • Contribute to project communication products, including blogs, newsletters, videos, etc. to disseminate project progress, results and lessons learned;
    • Work within country and Practice teams in the identification of urban development and resilience issues, including contributing to sector updates for Jordan;
    • Work/collaborate with different team members and technical specialists in support of the various SMNUR operations in Jordan, analytical undertakings, national and sector policy reviews and recommendations.

Competencias

  • Strong technical working capacity in at least two disciplines within urban development, including municipal finance, solid waste management, Disaster Risk Management, Urban Planning, urban resilience, etc.
  • Excellent report writing skills and verbal communication skills in English and Arabic, with demonstrated ability to write reports, briefs, summary updates, and prepare presentations with clear, concise, and impactful messages is essential. Ability to use various media and the internet to produce visibility material is a plus.
  • Broad experience with historic and emerging socio-economic challenges in Jordan, and an understanding of international financial institutions and aid organizations. Previous Experience working on World Bank funded operations or development support with Global Financial Intermediaries or on projects funded through GFIs is preferred.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to coordinate with clients, trainees, and training facilitators.
  • Track record of strong relationship management skills, problem-solving skills and tactful communications is desired.
  • Strong analytical and conceptual skills, and highly detail oriented, including Monitoring and Evaluation experience.
  • Excellent organization skills and ability to work within tight deadlines.
  • Experience with data entry and databases maintenance.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

  • Master’s degree in Urban Planning, Civil engineering, Urban economics, Urban design, City Management, MBA, or other related fields, and minimum 5 years of relevant experience, and a B.S. C in Structural or Civil Engineering, or Relevant field.

This is a local short-term consultancy contract limited to a maximum of 150 billable days during a given fiscal year (July – June). Based on the consultant’s performance, business needs and funding availability, the assignment could be extended.

Interested candidates can submit their CV and a Cover Letter to Ms. Ruba Al-Noubani, Program Assistant ralnoubani1@worldbank.org by not later than 5 pm Amman time on December 5, 2022.