Junior Professional Associate

at  IFC Systems Corporation

DESCRIPTION

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org

JUNIOR PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATES – PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Junior Professionals Associate Program (JPA) offers an exceptional opportunity for recent graduates to embark on a professional journey, providing a three-year contract with valuable work experience within a diverse and dynamic environment and the potential of field work experience. The program is an excellent platform to sharpen your existing skills and to develop new ones, all while gaining a profound understanding of the challenges associated with reducing poverty and fostering shared prosperity on a livable planet.
We will provide you with the opportunity to gain entry-level professional experience in a premier development institution, on an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) contract with benefits. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org/careers/jpa

The following are minimum requirements to be eligible for the JPA program:

• Be 32 years of age or younger
• Hold a bachelor’s degree
• Be fluent in English

The JPA program at the World Bank is a highly competitive initiative. Candidates who are being actively considered for positions may be required to present academic transcripts and professional references. The World Bank’s Human Resources team and hiring team will reach out exclusively to individuals selected for assessment and interviews.
Positions may be in any of the World Bank’s offices worldwide.

THE ITALIAN SOCIAL PROTECTION AND JOBS REIMBURSABLE ADVISORY SERVICE PROGRAM

In 2018 the Italian Ministry of Labor and Social Policies (MoLSP) requested the World Bank’s assistance through a programmatic Partnership Agreement for Advisory Services (PAAS) activity to support the homogenous implementation of a poverty reduction program across the country. In particular, the PAAS has the objective of contributing to the Government of Italy’s capacity to implement the program according to minimum common service standards. This will be achieved by providing technical assistance to the Italian Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MoLSP), Italian regions and municipalities. Activities at the national level include support to training, communities of practices, the development of a case management system (Gestionale Patto per l’Inclusione Sociale or GePI) and monitoring and evaluation. Evaluation activities include an impact evaluation (randomized controlled trial, RCT), which started in April 2024. The objective of the RCT is to evaluate the value added of process of social inclusion measures over and above the income transfer. The social inclusion program is a multi-step personalized program whereby a case manager is matched to the RDC beneficiary households, activates a personalized plan to match the household and its participants to tailored social services available in the cluster.
The World Bank is the partner of choice for countries across the region on topics of social assistance given our institutional knowledge, reputation for sound unbiased technical assistance, and lending instruments to assist with implementation of reforms and administrative changes. The ECA SPJ team is looking for a JPA to assist teams with analytical and operational tasks on the Italian RAS program.

o Strengthening the knowledge and evidence around case management systems through in-depth analysis and reviews.

• Other activities in support to the implementation of the poverty reduction program.
• Provide daily coordination between the WB team and the MoLPS team, ensuring that concerns are effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be of potential concern to one or both parties, and ensuring that effective and productive collaboration is maintained.
• Conduct data cleaning and analysis to ensure maximum data quality

The ECA Social Protection and Jobs unit is seeking a Junior Professional Associate (JPA) capable of supporting a high-quality engagement with the Italy RAS WB and MoLSP teams. This expected engagement comprises support to the implementation of the impact evaluation and other research and analytical activities as well as support to the implementation of the poverty reduction program. The assignment will entail direct engagement with the client government and under the supervision of the project’s Task Team Leader and the M&E Specialist, in close coordination with the whole Italy GMI project team.

Key responsibilities in this position would include:

• Support the implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation components, with a focus on the evaluation and knowledge generation. Specifically, make substantial contributions to:

  o Creation of key technical documents for the social inclusion pathways impact evaluation (survey instruments, data quality protocols, evaluation and data collection progress reports).
  o Design and organization of quantitative and qualitative work to complement the evidence from the impact evaluation, using qualitative and quantitative methods, including Focus Group Discussions.
  o Advance the implementation of the social inclusion pathways impact evaluation, ensuring that the intervention/treatment object of the impact evaluation is carried out in accordance with the impact evaluation design through continuous training and interactions with the local level, liaise with the national level and the evaluation working group and leading the work of the Community of Practice of the municipalities involved in the impact evaluation.

  o Strengthening the knowledge and evidence around case management systems through in-depth analysis and reviews.

• Other activities in support to the implementation of the poverty reduction program.

• Provide daily coordination between the WB team and the MoLPS team, ensuring that concerns are effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be of potential concern to one or both parties, and ensuring that effective and productive collaboration is maintained.
• Conduct data cleaning and analysis to ensure maximum data quality.