1.
JOB #122729
JOB TITLE: SENIOR ECONOMIST ( HEALTH )
JOB FAMILY: HEALTH, NUTRITION & POPULATION
JOB TYPE: PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL
GRADE:
LOCATION: ABUJA, NIGERIA
RECRUITMENT TYPE: LOCAL HIRE
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: ENGLISH [ESSENTIAL]

CLOSING DATE: 04-DEC-2012

BACKGROUND / GENERAL DESCRIPTION:The Africa Health, Nutrition, and Population Unit (AFTHW) is seeking a Senior Health Economist to
be part of the health team. The position will be based in Abuja, Nigeria and the candidate will report to the AFTHW Sector Manager.

Nigeria has made limited progress in delivering critical health services. There appears to have been improvement in the under-5 mortality rate (from 217 per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 171 in 2008) but overall progress is not sufficient to achieve MDG4. Government through its National Strategic Health Development Framework and Plan (NHSDP) has recognized the importance of focusing on results to make significant progress, which requires greater accountability and more attention to governance. Furthermore, health financing issues such as high out of pocket (OOP) expenditure, little fiscal space for operational expense and weak oversight of state and local government authority (LGA) budgets have been critical issues in improving accountability and governance.

With Nigeria trailing on the Health MDGs, health has been an important part of the Bank’s portfolio. The Africa Strategy– Africa’s Future and the World Bank’s Support to it – is founded on strengthening governance and public sector capacity. It recognizes that critical services are too often delivered poorly due to weak management of public funds. The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Nigeria focuses on improving governance and promoting human development. The CPS notes that the World Bank will invest in health MDGs by improving access to quality health services, vaccination coverage and maternal care services. The Bank has been supporting Nigeria over the last decade through both efforts at health system strengthening and “vertical” disease control programs, focused on HIV/AIDS, Polio and Malaria, and Maternal and Child Health.

As an initiative to strengthen governance and accountability and improve value for money, the World Bank has initiated the Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP), a US$ 170 million results-based financing (RBF) operation that aims at improving the delivery of high impact primary health care services. The project provides performance bonuses to health facilities based on their utilization and quality of services. It also provides finance to states and LGAs based on their achievement of a set of disbursement linked indicators (DLIs) that clarify responsibilities of each administration. These pilot innovations will be evaluated using rigorous impact evaluation methodologies.

In addition, with the Federal Ministry of Health and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the World Bank is preparing for quality assessment and resource tracking surveys at health facilities to: 1) identify predictors of success in quality and current gaps; and 2) assess the efficiency of budget allocation and execution and implement effective resource tracking in selected states. This aims to help the government measure quality and resource use for continuous improvement.

Further, the Bank administers the Governance Partnership Facility (GPF) in Nigeria that intends to improve the development impact of public finances through initiatives that improve sector governance, increase accountability and effectiveness and enhanced citizen voice and participation in service delivery in key areas. Components of the GPF activities include governance of service delivery in key sectors such as health and education, public financial management transparency, accountability, effectiveness and sustainability, and engagement with citizens.

To support the overall development and work portfolio of the Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) work in Nigeria including above initiatives and to deliver on the Africa strategy that uses governance as the principal measure to strengthening service delivery, the Bank seeks a Senior Health Economist. The Senior Health Economist based in Abuja is expected to strengthen the Bank’s analytical and operational activities in Nigeria by mainstreaming governance, fiscal accountability and value for money in its health portfolio.

DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:
THE SENIOR HEALTH ECONOMIST WILL:
•Support the analysis and operations of quality assessment and resource tracking surveys with the BMGF including procurement and supervision of research agencies.
•Work with the TTL, government counterparts and consultants to develop and implement a customized and health facility-based version of Public Expenditure Tracking (PET) study that works in Nigerian context where standardized process to track finance does not exist.
•Support the process of developing and customizing the service delivery indicators (SDIs) to measure the quality of health services (including knowledge and practice of health workers, availability of resources) across states.
•Support the analysis and reforms of budgeting and financial management in the participating states in the NSHIP – the work can include the detailed analysis of budget allocations to states and LGAs and non-salary recurrent expenses, and development of a prototype allocation methodologies and cash budgeting and management tools.
•Work on the GPF activities including the governance of service delivery in human development sectors (health, education, social protection), public financial management transparency, accountability, effectiveness and sustainability, and engagement with citizens.
•Support the development of the knowledge base on results based financing – including analyzing monitoring and operational information for refining strategies; engaging with colleagues responsible for specific implementation supervision of the RBF and health facility surveys including impact evaluations, information systems strengthening, etc.
•Carry out tasks that support the HNP team in Nigeria and the unit as requested by the sector manager.
•Conduct cross-sectoral support in governance, financing and financial management.

SELECTION CRITERIA:
THE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL HAVE:
GENERAL COMPETENCIES
•General and Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills – Has advanced economic and financing qualifications gained through advanced (graduate level) academic training. Has excellent quantitative skills and demonstrated track record of working with economic and sectoral data and analytical tools and models to conduct economic and financing analyses and synthesize complex results into user-friendly written outputs for team or stand-alone work.
•Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Understands policy making process and role of the health sector in that process. Able to find relevant information and examine similar policy questions in multiple regions and to distill operationally relevant recommendations and lessons from the analysis for clients.
•Problem Solving Capabilities – Identifies, structures and prioritizes issues effectively in complicated contexts of Nigeria, acts quickly to attain evidence-base for decision making and facilitates stakeholders effectively to solve problems.
•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 the government and/or other stakeholders as part of Bank teams.
•Client Orientation – Proactively addresses client needs. Takes personal responsibility for timely response to client queries, requests or needs. Anticipates client needs and responds based on clear understanding of needs and concerns. Asks probing questions to understand the client’s underlying needs and offers possible solutions.
•Drive for Results – Accepts accountability for work tasks. Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed results and has the personal organization to do so. Follows up for completion, coordinates with others, and ensures that others with whom he or she is working deliver on time and to quality standards.
•Teamwork and Inclusion – Values working in collaboration and respecting views of others. Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and output. Contributes as required to the work of others in the department. Works collaboratively and effectively within the Bank culture as well as within own and others’ cultures.

SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
•Advanced degree in Health Economics and/or Financing, Economics or Business Administration (Finance-focus) and at least 8 years of relevant experiences in the health and governance sectors;
•Knowledge and experiences in financial resource tracking in the health sector such as PET studies and public expenditure reviews (PERs), and/or in health facility surveys such as quality assessment and impact evaluation;
•Knowledge and experiences in improving social accountability and citizens’ participation and working with civil society organizations;
•Knowledge and understanding of the Nigerian HNP issues, the political economy and institutional and governance context of Nigeria;
•Experience in international development and experience in operations in a multilateral institution.
•Proven analytical skills, writing ability, and written and oral communications skills in English.

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2. JOB #: 122690
JOB TITLE: GOVERNANCE SPECIALIST
JOB FAMILY: PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT
JOB TYPE: PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL
GRADE: GF
LOCATION: ABUJA, NIGERIA
RECRUITMENT TYPE: LOCAL HIRE
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: ENGLISH [ESSENTIAL]

CLOSING DATE: 02-DEC-2012

BACKGROUND / GENERAL DESCRIPTION:The Global Partnership Facility (GPF), through a contribution by DFID in Nigeria, has made possible the establishment of a trust fund to support Improving Economic Governance in Nigeria. The trust fund provides support in six areas:

•Accountability and transparency of the financial reporting in the oil and gas sectors;
•Improved governance of service delivery – mainly in primary education;
•Improved PFM transparency, accountability, effectiveness and sustainability primarily at state level;
•Increased engagement of citizens in the development process in the Niger Delta states of Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta;
•Increased citizen voice and inclusion to strengthen voice and inclusion and social accountability; and
•Provision of just-in-time governance advice, knowledge, dissemination, mainstreaming, and program management on the governance agenda in Bank operations.

Each of the six areas are managed by World Bank Task Team Leaders.

The trust fund activities are in the main tied to ongoing and planned World Bank operations and associated government counterparts. The trust fund is set up to be implemented in two phases. The first phase running from October 2011 to February 2014 will serve to test areas of engagement, solidify counterpart engagement and achieve preliminary results. As second phase, envisioned the period from February 2014 to December 2017 will constitute the implementation phase.

Through all components, the trust fund will support the implementation of a “Strengthened Governance Approach” in the World Bank in Nigeria. The concept note for the approach is attached to these terms of references. The World Bank is looking to recruit a one year term staff specialized in broad governance issues with a focus on political economy, open government and demand side issues, to facilitate the joint implementation of the approach and trust fund.

The position will be based in Abuja, Nigeria.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 1 year term appointment.

DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:
The selected candidate will report to the AFTP3 Sector Manager in Washington and will work closely with the task team leaders and decentralized Cluster Leader (CL) based in Abuja. S/he will be expected to carry out the following duties:

•Support the day to day implementation of the Programmatic Approach to Governance in Nigeria.
•Function as a Secretariat to GPF trust fund Management Committee
•Support the day to day implementation of the GPF Trust Fund for Strengthening Economic Governance in Nigeria
•In doing the above, S/he will:
a)Support World Bank task teams in using political economy and governance analytical tools throughout the operational and analytical project cycles with a view to improving their development effectiveness,
b)Function as a Secretariat to the multi sectoral Governance Filter team, supporting task teams ahead of concept note and decision meeting reviews, brief the CD and providing follow up, as needed to sector teams,
c)Improve the linkage of supply and demand side interventions throughout the Bank portfolio,
d)Work with sector colleagues and, in particular, EXT colleagues to find new ways to engage external stakeholders disseminate Bank products with a view to improving the environment for information and transparency.

SELECTION CRITERIA:
COMPETENCIES
•Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Understands policy making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients.
•Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies and assesses policy issues and plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders.
•Integrative Skills - Working to develop an integrated view across all facets of current sector.
•General Governance and Public Sector Knowledge and Experience - Has demonstrated analytic and operational skills in the area of public sector, and has practical experience working on production of projects and/or studies on areas key to public sector.
•Written and Verbal Communication - Delivers information effectively in support of team or workgroup
•Client Orientation - Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
•Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so.
•Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
•Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
•Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others' work

OTHER SELECTION CRITERIA
•Master’s degree with at least five years of experience in public administration, economics, social science, political science, or other related field;
•Excellent analytical skills and direct experience in undertaking political economy and governance analysis;
•Excellent people skills and a proven track record of working with and for non state actors.
•Extensive experience in demand-side governance activities, including work with civil society and local communities and familiarity with instruments such as access to information, grievance redress, media development, citizens’ score-cards, participatory budgeting etc.
•Working knowledge of World Bank instruments for improving development effectiveness through governance and public sector management entry points.
•Strong client skills, including a demonstrated capacity to work with government counterparts around transparency and accountability interventions, in poor governance contexts.
•Demonstrated track-record of being a self starter, delivering tasks in time and quality ;
•Ability to work under tight deadlines and ability to juggle multiple tasks;
•Strong organizational, research, and oral presentation skills;
•Demonstrated skills and experience in project management;
•Proven ability to work in a team and intercultural environment, with minimal supervision; including strong client engagement

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