Financial Sector Specialist

Organization
World Bank
Location
Washington, DC
Job Type
Full-time
Deadline for Applications
02/14/2025
How to Apply
https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/31411?c=worldbankgroup
Where to Apply
https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/31411?c=worldbankgroup
Tags
Full-time

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank consists of two entities – the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). It is a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries. As the largest development bank in the world, the World Bank provides loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, and coordinates responses to regional and global challenges. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org.
 
CGAP is a global partnership of more than 30 leading development organizations dedicated to advancing the lives of people living in poverty, especially women, through financial inclusion. 
 
CGAP works at the frontier of inclusive finance to test solutions, spark innovation, generate evidence, and share insights. CGAP’s knowledge enables public and private stakeholders to scale solutions that make financial ecosystems meet the needs of poor, vulnerable, and underserved people and of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), including through advancing women’s economic empowerment. As a global public good, CGAP’s independent research and analysis is available to all. 
 
CGAP envisages responsible and inclusive financial ecosystems that enable a green, resilient, and equitable world for all. CGAP is guided by a five-year strategy and annual workplans – the new strategy covering FY24-28 (CGAP VII Strategy) will contribute to strengthening responsible and inclusive financial ecosystems by elevating the focus of financial inclusion to broader development outcomes.  
 
To achieve this, CGAP will focus on contributing to seven outcome areas through its work program: (i) mobilizing financial services for climate adaptation, mitigation, and a just transition; (ii) mobilizing financial services for building resilience to shocks and managing risk; (ii) mobilizing financial services for women and MSEs to capture economic opportunities; (iv) increasing the breadth and depth of financial inclusion; (v) promoting responsibility in financial ecosystems and enabling financial sector policies and regulations; (vi) enhancing the effectiveness of impact investing in inclusive finance and the inclusiveness of carbon markets; and (vii) generating and promoting evidence of what works, where, and for whom. 
 
Through its work, CGAP is committed to accelerating progress toward women’s financial inclusion, and we take a gender-intentional approach to our research and advocacy efforts.
 
This position will primarily contribute to the Financial Services for Inclusive Development Pillar (FIND), which focuses on two outcome areas – Increasing the breadth and depth of financial inclusion and mobilizing financial services for women and MSEs to capture economic opportunities. 
CGAP is housed in the World Bank. For more information, please visit https://www.cgap.org/
 
New area of work: Microfinance Digitization
 
Evidence to date shows that digitizing key business processes in microfinance institutions can lead to important operational improvements that can reduce costs, improve efficiency, increase ability to cross-sell, and increase ability to onboard more customers.  Done “right”, these different effects of digitization can combine to transform the Microfinance business model by increasing the scale and depth of operation and potentially the interest rate charged to customers, expanding the potential for impact.
 
CGAP seeks to explore the way in which properly focused and executed, effective digitization of microfinance can transform the unit economics of the business model, the overall financial performance of institutions and the potential effect on interest rates charged to customers, among other impact outcomes (such as scale, diversity of product portfolio, and reach to lower income segments).
 
Job Duties and Responsibilities:
 
CGAP is seeking a Financial Sector Specialist with foundational knowledge of microfinance business models, digital finance ecosystems, fintech innovations, and emerging business models for inclusive finance. In addition to this foundational knowledge, the selected candidate should have experience analyzing the financial performance of financial institutions, be familiar with the process of adoption of digital technologies in different aspects of the microfinance business (including digitization of products, channels, and data-driven management). The selected candidate is expected to work in initiatives at CGAP that focus on expanding the depth and breadth of the financial sector, and as such, will require a solid knowledge cutting across technology, business models, and regulatory environment. 
 
Specific responsibilities will include: 
 
• Work Program Development:  The selected candidate is expected to lead the development of a full work program in the assigned area of work, in this case, the analysis of the transformative effect of digitization in the microfinance business model. The selected candidate is expected to take responsibility for leading a project in this area of work.
• Analytical work, knowledge products and dissemination: This involves leading research initiatives, developing analyses, managing third party vendors to conduct field research, extracting insights and developing technical guidance for specific audiences.  This also involves conceptual thinking and development of frameworks to underpin our analytic work, as well as ability to synthesize and develop a big picture narrative.  The selected candidate is also expected to lead and/or contribute to technical articles, blogs, and different types of CGAP publications, directly authoring sections and working with others to develop publishable products. The candidate is also expected to contribute to lead and/or participate in learning events, presentations, webinars, and a variety of workshops and other types of dissemination events that are internal or external facing.
• Piloting solutions:  With appropriate guidance from Pillar lead and more senior Project leads, the selected candidate will work on identifying partnership opportunities with providers in emerging markets (e.g., through EOIs), and developing pilots to test new approaches, products, or business models to advance global knowledge on innovative solutions. This includes managing the pilots, internal processes, and extracting insights relevant to CGAP’s global learning agenda.  This also includes developing partnerships with private sector providers willing to share operational and financial data to support the analyses involved in the assigned area of work.
• Policy and regulatory dialogue: The candidate is expected to support and contribute to policy dialogue and discussions on regulation related to the area of focus.
• Collaboration across CGAP: The selected candidate is expected to proactively engage and share learning with other teams in CGAP as and where relevant. The candidate is also expected to collaborate providing technical inputs, reviewing other team’s work, and contributing to CGAP-wide/Pillar-wide discussions.
• Collaboration across the World Bank Group: in collaboration with the Financial Services for Inclusive Development Pillar (FIND) Lead, engage in active collaboration and knowledge sharing with the World Bank EFI VPU’s Global Practices working on financial inclusion, as well as IFC’s Financial Institutions Group working on private sector investment. In both cases liaising as needed to bring CGAP’s applied research and experience in relevant WBG work and country dialogue and to leverage existing WB and IFC knowledge. 
• Engaging with CGAP’s members: As a member organization, CGAP regularly interacts with members to learn of member priorities (and changes) so that CGAP’s work remains relevant, and to share knowledge generated by CGAP for greater influence. The Financial Sector Specialist is expected to engage CGAP members on financial sector policy knowledge generated by CGAP as well as on other interactions with CGAP’s members and partners to scale impact of our work.

 

Selection Criteria

 

The successful candidate(s) will also demonstrate the following FCI Global Practice-specific Core Competencies:
• Integrative Skills
• Policy Dialogue Skills
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena
• Communication and Influencing Skills
• A solid working knowledge of the core Financial Inclusion, Infrastructure and Access areas

In addition to meeting the World Bank-wide and FCI-specific criteria for this level position, it is expected that the selected candidate would meet the following criteria (in order of importance):

• A master’s degree in finance, Policy, Business Administration, International Development or another relevant field
• At least 5 years (preferably 7 years) of relevant professional experience in financial sector development trends, emerging business models, technologies, and policies.  Ideally analytical experience in management consulting firms, think-tanks, or financial institutions, with a focus on financial inclusion. Experience in both public and private sectors preferred.
• Relevant work experience in financial inclusion with a focus on digital financial services for the poor, microfinance, fintechs, and policy and regulation of digital financial services, emerging business models, or other relevant field.
 Experience working with private sector financial institutions, especially those focused on lower income segments, either within the institution or advising or consulting for these institutions, on areas related to their business, financial performance, product development, among other.
• Experience with financial statement analysis of banks and other lending institutions, including understanding and projecting the effects of adopting technology in different areas of the business. The ideal candidate would be able to trace the historical and/or projected effects of those technology interventions through the lender’s financial statements to their ultimate effects on net income, and effectively summarize the findings in communications a broad range of stakeholders (e.g. CFO, CEO, board members). Previous professional experience building financial models for financial institutions and/or relevant accounting and investing professional designations (e.g. CPA, CFA) a significant plus.
• Demonstrated, excellent writing and oral communication skills, including the ability to present complex issues to various external audiences, including regulators, policy makers, donors, academics and practitioners, international organizations, private sector entities, and other development actors. Proven track record with internal and external publications.
• Experience living and working in an emerging market.
• Demonstrated ability to function as a team player in a multicultural environment, in complex teams across different time zones and cultures.
• Demonstrated diplomacy and influencing skills; proven experience in dealing, both at a technical level and at a more senior strategic level, with external constituencies, including central banks, supervisors, and ministries, donners, academics and practitioners; ability to work with teams with varied priorities and agendas, evaluating what is in the best interests of CGAP and corralling parties toward a collective outcome.
• Ability to function independently with limited work direction and occasional oversight. Capacity to work simultaneously on a variety of issues and tasks independently, adjusting to priorities and achieving results within agreed objectives and deadlines.