Job Description

E T Consultant

Job #:
req38116
Organization:
World Bank
Sector:
Disaster Risk Management
Grade:
EC3
Term Duration: 1 year 0 months
Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment
Location:
Sydney,Australia
Required Language(s):
English
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date:
8/21/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. 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.

Natural disasters pose severe and growing threats to the livelihoods, infrastructure, and fiscal stability of Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The region is among the most exposed in the world: small island economies face disproportionate risk from tropical cyclones, storm surge, floods, tsunamis, and drought, with disaster losses routinely representing a significant share of national GDP. Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of these events, compounding existing vulnerabilities and constraining development outcomes across the sub-region.

The World Bank’s Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance team (CDRFI) under the Financial Services Sector Global Department supports client governments in building financial resilience against disaster shocks. Through the Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP), the team provides technical assistance, analytical work, and advisory support, backed by the World Bank’s suite of crisis response and financial protection instruments. These instruments span contingent financing arrangements, sovereign risk transfer solutions, comprehensive national disaster risk financing strategies, public asset insurance programs, and adaptive social protection linkages, among others. The team works closely with regional and country-level World Bank management, government counterparts, and development partners to develop and implement solutions appropriate to each country’s risk profile and institutional context.

The Pacific DRF program spans a growing range of country engagements across Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia, including active or pipeline in-country engagements as well as regional platforms such as the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC). There is increasing demand for senior technical and engagement leadership across this program.

The CDRFI team is seeking an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) to provide senior-level technical advisory and engagement leadership across the Pacific DRF work program. The ETC will contribute as needed to other CDRFI regional engagements, subject to team priorities and workload.

Duties and Responsibilities

The ETC will support multiple World Bank engagements, primarily across Pacific Island Countries, and will contribute to the broader CDRFI work program as required. The ETC is expected to take a lead role in scoping, structuring, and delivering country and regional engagements, working closely with regional and country-level World Bank directors, Practice Managers, and Task Team Leaders (TTLs) to define priorities and shape work programs. Specific responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Technical Leadership and Advisory Services
• Lead or co-lead the delivery of DRF diagnostics, national DRF strategy development and implementation support, and associated analytical outputs for Pacific Island Country clients, drawing on technical expertise in disaster risk finance, catastrophe risk analysis, and financial sector advisory.
• Provide technical guidance on the design and implementation of DRF instruments and mechanisms, including sovereign risk transfer products (parametric insurance, catastrophe bonds, and risk pooling arrangements), contingent financing facilities, disaster reserve funds, and risk-based public financial management frameworks.
• Support government counterparts in developing and refining national disaster risk profiles, assessing existing DRF instruments and financing gaps, and identifying options to strengthen financial protection across risk layers.
• Contribute to regional platform work, including engagements involving the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), and other sub-regional bodies and initiatives, as required.
• Provide actuarial and quantitative analysis on an ad hoc basis to inform client engagements, policy dialogue, and internal decision-making.
• Review and quality-assure technical outputs, including diagnostic reports, strategy documents, financial models, and presentations produced by STC consultants and other team contributors.

• Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Dialogue
• Engage with senior government officials, including counterparts in Ministries of Finance, central banks, and national disaster management authorities, to advance the DRF agenda at the country and regional level.
• Work closely with regional and country-level World Bank directors and management to align the CDRFI Pacific work program with Country Partnership Frameworks and broader World Bank operational priorities.
• Represent the CDRFI team in stakeholder consultations, interagency coordination forums, regional workshops, and donor dialogues, as required.
• Develop and maintain working relationships with development partners active in the Pacific DRF and resilience space, including regional bodies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, and other relevant institutions.
• Support the mainstreaming of DRF considerations into broader policy and planning frameworks, in coordination with World Bank teams working across social protection, infrastructure, climate adaptation, and public financial management.

• Work Program Development and Operational Support
• Work proactively with regional FCI colleagues and country management to identify emerging DRF needs and opportunities across the Pacific, and contribute to the design and scoping of new engagements and analytical programs.
• Prepare and contribute to project documents, terms of reference, aide-mémoires, technical briefs, and other operational documentation required to initiate, structure, and manage World Bank engagements.
• Participate in country missions and in-country consultations as required, including joint missions with World Bank operational teams across the Pacific.
• Support the coordination and oversight of STC consultants/ICs and other technical contributors to Pacific DRF engagements, including through task assignment, output review, and work plan coordination.
• Monitor progress against work program objectives and contribute to results reporting, trust fund budget management, and donor reporting as required.

• Knowledge Management and Capacity Building
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products, technical guidance notes, and global public goods drawing on experience and lessons from the Pacific DRF program.
• Lead or support the design and delivery of capacity building programs for government officials in Pacific Island Countries, covering DRF concepts, financial instruments, and analytical tools appropriate to their context.
• Contribute to internal team learning and knowledge sharing, including through peer review of outputs from other regional programs, contributions to internal seminars and events, and participation in the CDRFI team’s broader knowledge agenda.
• Develop training materials, briefings, and communications to support client understanding of DRF frameworks and crisis response instrument options.

• Contributions to Other Regional Engagements
While the primary focus of this position is Pacific Island Countries, the ETC may be called upon to provide technical inputs or advisory support to CDRFI engagements in other regions as required by team priorities. Such contributions may include peer review of technical outputs, ad hoc analytical inputs, or participation in specific deliverables, and will be agreed with the Practice Manager in the context of the broader work program.

Selection Criteria

• Education: Master's degree or higher in actuarial science, economics, finance, public policy, or a closely related quantitative or development discipline is required.
• Experience: A minimum of twelve years of relevant professional experience in disaster risk financing, sovereign risk advisory, catastrophe risk analysis, or closely related fields, including direct experience working with governments in developing countries on risk financing programs.
• Pacific experience: Demonstrated experience working in Pacific Island Countries or comparable small island developing states is strongly preferred. Familiarity with the institutional context, risk profiles, and development challenges specific to the Pacific sub-region is a significant advantage.
• DRF technical expertise: Substantive knowledge of DRF instruments and mechanisms, including sovereign risk transfer products, risk pooling arrangements, contingent financing facilities, disaster reserve funds, and public financial management reforms related to disaster risk. Quantitative and analytical skills, including experience with catastrophe risk modelling or actuarial analysis, are an advantage.
• Stakeholder and policy engagement: Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with senior government counterparts and manage substantive policy dialogue in a development context. Experience navigating complex institutional environments, including within multilateral development banks or comparable organizations, is valued.
• Communication and writing: Strong analytical skills and a demonstrated track record of producing high-quality technical reports, policy documents, and advisory outputs. Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are required.
• Teamwork and coordination: Demonstrated ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams across institutional and cultural boundaries, including experience coordinating and reviewing the work of consultants and external specialists.
• Additional languages: Knowledge of additional languages relevant to Pacific Island Countries or the broader Asia-Pacific region is an advantage, though not required.

Reporting Arrangements and Contract
This assignment will be undertaken as a full-time Extended Term Consultant (ETC) appointment. The ETC will report to the Manager, Disaster Risk Finance, Financial Services Sector Global Department, World Bank Group. Day-to-day work will be undertaken in close coordination with relevant TTLs and senior specialists within the DRF team with responsibility for Pacific Island Country engagements.
The initial appointment will be for one year, with the possibility of renewal for up to an additional two years, subject to business needs, funding availability, and satisfactory performance. As per World Bank Group policy, Extended Term appointments are subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years.
The position may be based in Sydney, Australia or in an agreed duty station, with travel to Pacific Island Countries and other mission locations as required by the work program.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

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