Short Term Temporary Position to support Knowledge Hubs work program,

Knowledge Exchange Secretariat, World Bank Institute, Knowledge Exchange Practice Unit

150 days, Location: Washington DC

Background / General Description

The past decade has brought about tremendous change in the international development landscape. Development countries and emerging markets are increasingly playing critical roles as new poles of growth. To foster development they rely more and more on experiences and tested implementation approaches from peer countries in the South. The World Bank and the development community at large have recognized this shift towards multi-polar growth that differs so much from traditional northern-led development paradigms.

Recent multi-polar growth has been linked to a broad diversification of sources of knowledge. Smart knowledge sharing around development experiences and practices between Southern partners is proving as critical to spur mutual learning across national and regional boundaries. South-South cooperation and Triangular partnerships between Southern and Northern partners are complementing the mix.

The World Bank considers Knowledge Exchange to be an effective instrument to accelerate development processes, helping get to better results faster by inspiring and equipping change agents with successful experiences from peer countries and institutions. Early evidence further suggests that Knowledge Exchange broadens the menu of development options, strengthens local ownership and leadership, and promotes endogenous capacity development.

As a facilitator of knowledge exchange, connecting demand for development know-how to successful experiences across the world, the Bank is actively moving towards becoming a “Solutions Bank”. In doing this, the Bank recognizes that development solutions do not necessarily come from multilateral institutions but are very often anchored in developing countries and emerging market economies. The Bank is well positioned to support knowledge exchange through its unique capacity of local presence in over 120 countries and broad thematic applied expertise which allows it to know both the demand for solutions and possible supply of development expertise.

The World Bank Institute (WBI) is the part of the World Bank that is uniquely dedicated to Capacity Development. Its mission is to strengthen the capacity of domestic leadership teams and multi-stakeholder coalitions to collaboratively tackle pressing development challenges and opportunities. Through its reorganization in 2009, WBI has developed 4 lines of business: 1) South-South Knowledge Exchange; 2) Scanning and Scaling Innovation; 3) Structured Learning; and, 4) Leadership and Coalition Building.

Within WBI, the Knowledge Exchange Practice (WBIKE) is the home for the South-South Knowledge Exchange business line. Part of the Operations Department, WBIKE has the mandate to mainstream South-South Knowledge Exchange (SSKE) into World Bank products and services, in a strong partnership with frontline operational teams. The unit supports Bank staff and clients with a variety of services and tools. These include amongst others (i) trainings and clinics on the how to of results-focused KE, (ii) support instruments such as the South-South Facility, (iii) analytical work on KE effectiveness and options for institutionalizing KE, (iv) partnerships and peer learning forums on operationalizing and institutionalizing KE (“Knowledge Hubs”), as well as (v) partnerships and networks that support KE implementation, such as GDLN and APDev. As part of its work program on GDLN, the unit houses the GDLN Global Secretariat.

To deliver on the mainstreaming agenda, WBIKE has organized itself into three teams: an Advisory Services team,  a Communications team and the Knowledge Exchange Secretariat team.

Within the World Bank, the Knowledge Exchange Secretariat team acts as the Bank's corporate home for Knowledge Exchange. It develops the analytical underpinning for knowledge exchange work, develops and supports strategic efforts related to knowledge exchange and seeks to create a governance mechanism to mainstream knowledge exchange in the Bank. Outside the Bank the team develops and nurtures thriving networks and partnerships that foster an enabling environment in which knowledge exchange is recognized as an effective mechanism to replicate and adapt successful implementation strategies for sustainable development. Its work is currently organized around five areas of work.

1.)    As the corporate home for KE, develop the analytical underpinning for KE work in the Bank, looking at KE effectiveness and its linkages to results and poverty reduction. Work on partnerships for KE to further foster the enabling environment for KE to thrive in the Bank’s client countries.

2.)    Facilitate country capacity strengthening in KE towards the development of country knowledge hub capacity through (1) analytical work, and (2) the development and fostering of a community of Knowledge Exchange country officials and practitioners and on a cross-regional level.

3.)    Support the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) in its mandate to serve as the Global Secretariat to the network, implementing global governance decisions by the GDLN global board in areas such as technology management, business development, communications and affiliation management.

4.)    Manage the World Bank’s South-South Experience Exchange facility (SSF), an innovative multi-donor trust fund to finance, on a country demand basis, South-South Knowledge Exchanges.

Specific duties and accountabilities:

Under the work program on knowledge hubs, and as a direct follow-up to a high-level meeting on Knowledge Hubs in Bali, Indonesia in July 2012, the team is seeking a consultant/STT to support the development of a community of practice (CoP) on Knowledge Hubs. This effort is based on a close collaboration with partners such as the governments of Indonesia and Korea, JICA, UNDP, amongst many other organizations and country partners and will be based on 4 streams of work: (1) The development of a virtual community, integrated in existing online platforms, (2) the organization of regular peer learning events, (3) the development and implementation of regional knowledge forums and (4) the planning towards a second high level meeting to take place in 2014.

The selected candidate may also support advisory service efforts by the Advisory services team of WBIKE, depending on demand.

The selectyed candidate is further expected to:

• Help in the preparation and implementation of the CoP, and help manage membership and member      engagement related processes.
• Help organize the virtual platform and actively contribute content to the platform.
• Plan, organize and implement CoP related peer learning events at global and regional levels, many of which      will be organized virtually through online modalities or video conferencing.
• Work seamlessly with the core partners that have agreed to be the initial drivers of the CoP.
• Develop discussion reports, raise emerging issues, challenges and opportunities and keep abreast of requests for additional peer learning from countries.
• Participate in all team meetings.
• In order to deliver on the above tasks, the selected candidate will maintain the relationships with the relevant stakeholders throughout all phases of this initiative.
• Support all communications related efforts on the KE and Knowledge Hub agendas.

Selection criteria

• Masters degree in a relevant field (e.g., knowledge management, public policy, public management, business administration) and at least ten years of relevant work experience;
• Sound knowledge of the political landscape of development cooperation, the South-South knowledge exchange agenda and/or the development effectiveness debate;
• Knowledge of developing country conditions related to institutional strengthening and capacity development;
• Proven ability to have initiated, developed and/or supported communities of practice and/or institutional/practitioner networks;
• Proven event management skills;
• A solid understanding of conceptual, analytic, design, and implementation aspects of knowledge exchanges for results-oriented capacity development;
• Ability to build ownership and generate enthusiasm among diverse external and internal stakeholders around new initiatives and programs;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with an authorizing environment that involves a multitude of stakeholders;
• Excellent task and project management skills, with experience in the coordinating across units and institutions;
• Effective interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to work effectively as an integral part of multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural and multi-agency teams;
• High level of energy and initiative, and ability to deal with rapidly shifting priorities and work demands;
• Experience with and up-to-date knowledge of web-based tools and products that support knowledge sharing and collaboration;
• Good analytical, writing, and communication skills;
• French and/or Spanish language skills a plus.

Note: This is a Short Term Temporary position for approximately 150 days until end June 2012. The position is located in Washington DC. The selected candidate will report to the Team Leader of the WBIKE Knowledge Exchange Secretariat.

Please send your application and CV to Jess Ngo (jngo1@worldbank.org) no later than CoB 10/31/2012. Kindly put "Application: Knowledge Hubs STT" in the title of your email.