Job Description

ETC- Social Development Specialist

Job #: req38803 Organization: World Bank Sector: Other Grade: EC3 Term Duration: 1 year 0 months Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment Location: Bogota,Colombia Required Language(s): English, Spanish Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 11/12/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The objective of this assignment is to provide senior technical support to the Social Policy team in LCR on social inclusion, migration, and forced displacement, with a focus on national and subnational coordination, workplan development and management, and multistakeholder engagement for the economic inclusion of migrants, refugees, and host communities in Colombia and Ecuador. The role requires a senior specialist capable of independent technical judgment and high-level engagement with government entities, civil society, and private sector actors, with key functions in socioeconomic diagnostics, results monitoring, gender mainstreaming, and the design and facilitation of public-private coordination mechanisms and social appropriation processes.

Under the guidance of the Social Policy team, the ETC will:

• Provide strategic and technical leadership in national and subnational coordination in Colombia and Ecuador, ensuring coherence between national policy frameworks and the territorial activities of the GCFF TA, and developing and adaptively managing workplans with subnational government counterparts, civil society, private sector actors, and international partners.
• Coordinate the production and application of specific socioeconomic diagnostics, assessments of population needs, employer demand, sectoral gaps, and regulatory bottlenecks to generate the evidence base for targeted policy reform and market-responsive public-private inclusion solutions.
• Provide strategic and technical leadership and advice to subnational government counterparts and task teams across the project cycle (from design to implementation) on complex issues related to migration governance, institutional reform, public-private inclusion solutions, and gender mainstreaming, supporting the creation of enabling conditions for the socioeconomic integration of migrants, refugees, and host communities.
• Design and facilitate public-private coordination mechanisms and social appropriation processes for interventions, building collaborative arrangements between national and subnational governments, private sector actors, and civil society that foster community and institutional ownership.
• Oversee the design and implementation of institutional strengthening interventions, with particular emphasis on subnational governments and civil society, in support of quality, strategic coherence, and effectiveness.
• Negotiate with government counterparts and internal clients on sensitive and complex issues related to coordination, project prioritization, and institutional change, maintaining trust-based relationships.
• Supervise multidisciplinary teams, lead technical relations with partners, and oversee consultancies and technical assignments financed under the GCFF TA, providing quality assurance and coherence across public-private and civil society components.
• Monitor implementation progress against agreed workplans, results frameworks, and milestones, flagging risks and bottlenecks to the TTL in a timely manner and proposing corrective actions as needed.
• Inform and co-design new lending and ASA operations integrating social inclusion, migration, and public-private engagement components, evaluating their alignment with country partnership frameworks and regional priorities.
• Support resource mobilization efforts and serve as a technical bridge across WB Practices, ensuring coherence with the forced displacement and migration agenda.
• Lead or co-author knowledge products (including policy notes, diagnostic reports, and technical briefs) and represent the Social Policy team at local, regional, and global convenings, positioning the World Bank as a knowledge leader on public-private socioeconomic integration of displaced populations.

Deliverables:

• Workplans for Colombia and Ecuador, updated on a rolling basis and aligned with government priorities and private sector needs
• Social appropriation plans and interinstitutional coordination frameworks and protocols for national and subnational articulation mechanisms
• Socioeconomic diagnostics, needs assessments, and evidence-based analyses informing public-private inclusion solutions
• Policy notes, technical briefs, and knowledge products supporting the team’s learning agenda on migration, forced displacement, and socioeconomic integration
• Inputs to institutional strengthening frameworks and capacity-building plans for subnational governments and civil society
• Progress reports, field mission reports, and contributions to GCFF trust fund reporting.

Selection Criteria

Education and experience

• Master’s degree in social sciences, public policy, international development, migration studies, economics, or a related field.
• At least 8 years of professional experience in social policy, multisectoral coordination, institutional strengthening, or related areas, with a strong track record in Latin America.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating complex, multi-actor programs or platforms involving national and subnational government entities, including ministries, interinstitutional bodies, and local or regional authorities.
• Experience developing and managing workplans, monitoring frameworks, or operational plans in multi-stakeholder settings, with demonstrated ability to adapt programming to evolving institutional priorities.
• Proven experience integrating gender and intersectional approaches into the design, implementation, or monitoring of development programs targeting vulnerable populations, including migrants, refugees, displaced persons, or host communities.
• Experience contributing to the development of legal and regulatory instruments (such as laws, decrees, or public policies) related to the rights and social and economic inclusion of vulnerable populations.
• Demonstrated experience producing and applying socioeconomic diagnostics and evidence-based analyses to inform the design and implementation of public-private multisectoral programs for the attention and socioeconomic integration of displaced and vulnerable populations.
• Experience designing and facilitating social appropriation of infrastructure, programs, and processes to foster community and institutional ownership.
• Proven track record of leading complex initiatives or organizations, including senior management, advisory, or board-level responsibilities.
• Prior experience working within or in close collaboration with the World Bank Group or other multilateral development institutions is strongly preferred.

Technical competencies

• Solid knowledge of social inclusion, migration, and territorial development policies and institutional frameworks in Latin America.
• Demonstrated capacity to produce and apply socioeconomic diagnostics, needs assessments, and evidence-based analyses to inform multisectoral program design and coordination.
• Solid understanding of social inclusion principles, territorial development approaches, and labor market integration strategies for vulnerable populations.
• Expertise in gender and intersectionality frameworks as applied to displacement and economic inclusion.

Leadership and strategic skills:

• Proven ability to serve as team leader, independently managing complex coordination challenges and applying sound judgment in politically sensitive and rapidly evolving contexts.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex initiatives or organizations at senior management, advisory, or board level, including oversight of multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to negotiate with internal and external counterparts on sensitive and delicate issues, building trust-based relationships that enable institutional agreements.
• Experience reviewing and assessing the quality of technical outputs prior to delivery or during implementation, ensuring coherence and rigor across joint products.

Communication and knowledge:

• Ability to produce high-quality written and oral communications in Spanish and English, including policy notes, coordination frameworks, workplans, and progress reports.
• Experience designing and facilitating knowledge sharing processes, including social appropriation of programs and infrastructure, to foster community and institutional ownership.
• Demonstrated capacity to translate complex technical evidence and analytical findings into actionable recommendations for government counterparts, partners, and communities.

Languages

• Fluency in Spanish and English required

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.

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.

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