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Home > Jobs > Employment Opportuni... > Professional/Technical

The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) administered by the World Bank and funded through international partnerships with a wide range of External Support Agencies assists national, regional and local agencies responsible for water and sanitation in developing countries to help the poor gain sustained service access.  The WSP supports the reform of sector approaches and focuses on poverty-targeted, gender-sensitive, community-based solutions in rural settlements, urban areas, and small towns.  A current major thrust of the Program’s business plan is helping its clients to prepare for and implement actions towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.  In pursuing their mission, WSP staff provide advisory support to projects and policies, help identify and disseminate best practices and lessons from experience across countries, and facilitate informal networks of practitioners and sector stakeholders. Additional information about WSP can be found on the Program website (www.wsp.org).

The WSP is led by a Program Manager located in the World Bank's Energy, Transport and Water Department in the Sustainable Development Network (SDN) Vice Presidency. The Program works closely with the Bank's regional operations and partners through four regional offices in South Asia, East Asia/Pacific, the Latin America and Caribbean Region, and Africa.  The WSP in South Asia (WSP-SA) currently operates through a regional office in Delhi and country offices in Bangladesh and Pakistan.  The WSP-SA office is managed by a Regional Team Leader who is accountable to the Program Manager in Washington.  The Bangladesh country office is led by a Country Team Leader.

The challenges facing urban water supply and sanitation service delivery in Bangladesh are expected to increase, both as a result of the country’s growing urban population as well as the lack of policy and programmatic focus on these systems, in particular for urban sanitation.   As a result of lack of focus on policies and programs to address urban sanitation accumulated over the past years, crisis situations such as this year’s floods exacerbate existing difficulties in providing clean water and safe disposal of excreta waste.  In Dhaka alone, lack of sewage collection and adequate disposal, in addition to commonplace pollution caused by untreated industrial effluents, has resulted in unprecedented cases of diarrhea; hospitals treating close to 1,000 cases daily over the period of one single week. 

In order to design and implement effective urban water supply and sanitation policies that address the different needs of the different types of urban populations that exist in Bangladesh, an improved understanding of the opportunities and existing limitations for each of the city corporation and pourashava tier is needed.

As a member of the Water and Sanitation Program –South Asia team in Bangladesh, the specialist will perform the role of a senior specialist in the design, preparation, implementation, and supervision of WSP-SA’s high level policy support to clients and designing and implementing learning and capacity building programs for UWSS systems.

Duties and Accountabilities

•	Contribute to developing and implementing WSP-SA’s program support on urban water and sanitation and solid-waste, with an emphasis on legal and institutional framework reforms for cities and urban municipalities (pourashavas).   

•	Contribute to the design and implementation of policy interventions for scaling up successful services delivery models for urban areas, provide policy advice at the national levels targeting improved water and sanitation services to the poor. 

•	Lead missions and play a senior role in the interface with Government of Bangladesh and local governments for cities and urban municipalities. Design and manage policy interventions, for increasing civic engagement in sector reform process in order to generate ownership of, and support to policy and institutional reforms initiated at all levels (city or small towns/ utilities).  

•	Support World Bank operational teams in project preparation and appraisals, including preparing background documents, monitoring progress and undertaking field visits.

•	Supervise short-term consultants, and ensure consistency and conformity to Bank standards; 

•	Promote the exchange and dissemination of best practices, including the production of short case or thematic notes. Contribute to the dissemination of information in the area of urban services policies and strategies that impact on the urban sector by preparing relevant case studies, strategy papers and publications.

•	Administrative and other tasks required to support the Bangladesh Country Team Leader in developing and managing the annual work plan, periodic reporting, budgets and consultants.
•	Reports to the Regional Team Leader and Bangladesh Country Team Leader for overall work allocation and responsibilities, liaises with the sector thematic coordinator and other WSP regional and global team members. Works closely with other Water and Sanitation Program-Bangladesh staff (including other Bangladesh Country Team consultants),WSP staff in other offices and World Bank Dhaka staff;

•	Member of Bangladesh Country Team;
Free form description

Selection Criteria

The specialist will be a senior sector professional, with experience in urban services, water supply and sanitation (programmatic and project design, technical assistance to service providers and public sector officials, policy analysis, and donor coordination).  Minimum specifications will be:

•	An advanced degree (s) in a field relevant to the WSP, such as, Economics, Urban Planning, Public Administration, Business Management or Engineering. 
•	Minimum  8 years of experience with a focus on public policy, Urban Water Supply, municipal and city reform, as well as a demonstrable understanding of Bangladesh’s city corporations and urban municipalities.
•	Strong analytical skills, methodological rigor and problem-solving ability;
•	Extensive knowledge and understanding of urban water and sanitation issues, institutions, pro-poor policies, intergovernmental fiscal relations in Bangladesh, union and local laws, regulations and directives relevant to urban local governments and UWS in Bangladesh or countries similar to Bangladesh;
•	Ability to lead professional teams in the design and execution of policy programs and projects; and to operate effectively in a matrix management environment, both as a team leader and member;
•	Ability to deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues;
•	Ability to produce quality work under pressure and adhere to deadlines.
•	Demonstrated project management skills;
•	Ability and willingness to travel within Bangladesh and occasionally abroad.
•	Effective verbal and written communication skills in English; ability to think and write clearly and to focus on key issues.

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