Home to an estimated 124 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in Africa and one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, with an estimated 6.4% growth rate in FY2021/22.  Ethiopia had previously enjoyed annual growth of nearly 10% per year over a 15-year period until 2019, driven by a state-led model involving large public investments in agriculture, enabling infrastructure, and manufacturing. Public investments averaged over 15% of GDP over that time and were financed by external debt and by domestic and diaspora savings. GDP growth slowed beginning in 2019 to around 6% per year due to multiple shocks, including COVID-19, a series of failed rains in the country’s lowlands, and conflict, particularly the severe fighting in the country’s North in 2020-2022.  With inflation running at over 30% for more than two years, a high risk of debt distress, limited reserves, and an overvalued local currency, Ethiopia faces significant macroeconomic challenges. The consistently high economic growth until 2019 resulted in overall positive poverty reduction trends in urban and rural areas. The share of the population living below the national poverty line decreased from 30% in 2011 to 24% in 2016, and human development indicators also improved. However, gains are modest when compared to other countries that saw fast growth, and inequality has increased in recent years.  The multiple shocks since 2019 have stalled progress on poverty reduction, negatively impacted human capital, and sharply increased food insecurity.  Over 20 million people are now estimated to need humanitarian assistance. The government has embarked on reforms to transition from a state-led model to a facilitating a more private-sector driven approach.   It launched a Home-Grown Economic Reform Agenda in 2019 and a HGER Agenda 2.0 in 2023-4, signaling that it will follow through with deep reforms to address macroeconomic distortions and drive growth.  The government has also formulated a 10-year Development Plan for 2029/30. The plan aims to foster efficiency and introduce competition in key growth-enabling sectors (including energy, logistics, and telecoms) and improve the business climate. The World Bank Group’s strategic focus is to assist Ethiopia in forging a more inclusive and sustainable growth path, supporting the objectives of the Home-Grown Economic Reform Agenda and the 10-Year Development Plan. The WBG’s wide-ranging engagement in Ethiopia’s reforms and development is underpinned by a national portfolio of 34 operations totaling US$14B in commitments together with 12 Ethiopia components of regional operations totaling US$2.6B in commitments. For more information, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ethiopia

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Portfolio monitoring: In coordination with the Senior Operations Officer, Operations Manager, and other team members, the Operations Officer will have responsibility for monitoring project portfolio and operational performance, quality and trends, including ensuring compliance with Bank policies and working with teams to develop and implement action plans to improve implementation and resolve portfolio problems.
• Communication and monitoring of country developments: In close coordination with ECR, SOO and the OM, the Operations Officer will develop and maintain regular country contacts with client counterparts in government, as well as with implementing entities, and stakeholders in general. The Operations Officer will support outreach communications and closely monitor political, social and economic developments; develop and maintain understanding of country socioeconomic and political context.
• Contributes to the review of operational documents such as Project Concept Notes (PCNs), Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), Implementation Status and Results Reports (ISRs) and Implementation Completion Reports (ICRs) for compliance with relevant Bank operational policies, procedures and templates.
• Coordinates with operational teams to review implementation readiness of projects under preparation, including advice on corporate commitments, results, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and risk management.
• Assists and organizes portfolio reviews; prepares portfolio monitoring reports and follow-up on portfolio issues.
• Contributes to addressing obstacles in project preparation and execution and oversees the implementation of action plans.
• Carries out monitoring of high-risk projects in the active portfolio, identifies issues and trends, and seeks inputs from the sectoral teams as needed.
• Is the first point of contact for project teams requiring guidance on all operational procedures, including on project preparation an implementation, Advisory and Analytics products, trust funds, monitoring and evaluation aspects, etc.
• Participates as a member of Bank missions (preparation, appraisal, supervision), conducts discussions with client representatives on selected problems and issues identified by task managers, as required.
• Carries out Trust Funds (TF) Portfolio reviews and reviews new TF proposals to ensure alignment with the country program, and contributes to preparing new trust funds, as required. 
• The Operations Officer will contribute to the preparation and quality review of briefing notes (e.g., for Spring and Annual Meetings, Sr. Management country visits, etc.) and other internal complex reports; and draft and review operational correspondence and undertake task management responsibilities as necessary and assigned by the Operations Manager.
• Contributes and/or takes the lead on key country engagement products such as PLRs, CPFs.
• Perform other operational and analytical tasks as requested by the AECE3 Operations Manager based on CMU emerging needs.

Selection Criteria

Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. economics, management, business administration, social sciences, technical studies, or another field related to development) and at least 5 years of relevant experience.

Thorough knowledge of Bank policies, procedures, guidelines, financial instruments, accountability instruments, results agenda.

Good understanding of Bank’s corporate priorities and initiatives including climate change, gender, citizen engagement, private capital mobilization/enabling, etc.

Proficient with the Bank’s operations-related information systems and tools, particularly Standard Reports, Power BI, Analysis for Office – AO, Operations Portal, Client Connection) and institutional databases (such as on climate change, gender, citizen engagement, etc.)

Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), and full proficiency in data handling and visualizations.

Proven ability to handle significant volume of data and conduct analyses using quantitative and qualitative inputs and to present findings using graphs/charts/tables.

Experience in portfolio analysis.

Demonstrated attention to detail, and follow-through.

Good writing skills and ability to create good presentations.

Demonstrated ability to carry out substantive research and analysis on a wide range of operational issues, to identify issues, and to propose solutions.

Proven ability to work both independently and in diverse teams.

Excellent interpersonal skills.

COMPETENCIES

Integrative skills

• Demonstrates understanding of working across WBG, practices and sectors.
• Demonstrates strong integrative thinking and ability to support project teams in developing an integrated point of view around development challenges.
• Demonstrates ability to seek out, collate and synthesize inputs from across sectoral and
  thematic boundaries.

 Policy Dialogue Skills

• Identifies and assesses policy issues and communicates findings/ points of view verbally and through reports and papers.
• Plays an active role in the dialogue with government and/or other stakeholders as part of Bank teams.
  Knowledge and Experience in the Development Arena
• Demonstrates full familiarity with the World Bank Group’s organizational structure, complementarities among different Bank Group agencies, with an ability to apply this knowledge.
• Understands policy making process and the role of own sector of expertise in that process.
• Demonstrates familiarity with Bank’s development initiatives and policies and practices related to lending and non-lending operations.
• Finds relevant information/data and examines similar policy questions in multiple regions.
• Contributes to the development of offers/ relevant tools for clients.

Communication & Influencing Skills

• Tailor communication style to meet audience needs and delivers information effectively in support of team or workgroup.
• Has strong analytical writing ability.
• Bank Instruments, Policies, and Procedures, and Ability to Proactively Apply Them
• Knowledge of key strategic, analytical, and financing instruments.
• Familiarity with Bank policies, procedures, and systems (including financial management, and procurement).
• Good knowledge of Bank operational policies and procedures.
• Ability to review strategy, sectoral/ASA, and project documents for compliance with relevant Bank operational templates, policies, and procedures.
• Advanced knowledge and practical skills in using key relevant WBG data systems and tools such as the
• Operations Workspace, data reports, etc.
  

Strategy Formulation and Policy and Program Design

• Solid knowledge and experience of country cross-cutting and/or macro issues relevant to World Bank Group’s work
• Ability to distill programming options from country engagement issues and priorities
• Ability to translate understanding of key corporate and development partner initiatives related to country engagement into formulating options for Bank engagement, including key country engagement products
  

Project Design, Implementation, and Management

• Experience with project preparation and management concepts and processes
• Ability to support project teams, partners, and clients in project preparation and implementation (including liaising with experts on planning, budgeting, project financing, procurement, disbursement, legal issues, and safeguards)
• Ability to identify key risks in achieving expected project outcomes, proposing tailored mitigation measures with attention to good practices
• Ability to carry out data collection and background analysis on relevant project design and implementation issues, including good practices and lessons learned
• Ability to contribute to the development of action plans to resolve preparation and implementation bottlenecks and monitor the execution of such plans
• Ability to draft sections of key documents, keep project records in the Bank systems, and draft meeting minutes
  

Portfolio Management and Results Monitoring

• Ability to independently monitor and analyze portfolio data (including trust funds), prepares materials for portfolio reviews/ deep dives, including areas of project risk assessment, ratings and mitigation measures, and results monitoring, and identify cross-cutting issues and key trends
• Ability to: (i) identify key portfolio risks in achieving expected project outcomes, proposing tailored mitigation measures with attention to good practices; (ii) carry out data collection and background analysis on relevant project design and implementation issues, including good practices and lessons learned; and (iii) contribute to the development of action plans to resolve preparation and implementation bottlenecks and monitor the execution of such plans.
• Ability to contribute to portfolio reporting focusing on the Region’s/CMU performance indicators, interacting with task team leaders and other departments on emerging issues while flagging issues to CMU management.