Program Assistant

at  World Bank Group

DESCRIPTION

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? 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 and promoting shared prosperity. 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, visit www.worldbank.org.

COUNTRY AND POSITION CONTEXT

The World Bank Group’s Office in Vienna houses several programs of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Regional Hub. The World Bank Regional Director for the Western Balkans is also the Head of the Vienna Office. As of August 2024, besides staff and management of the Western Balkans CMU, the Vienna office hosts around three hundred global practice staff and managers of the ECA Region, some global teams, and the IFC. In order to ensure efficient support to Practice teams and management based in Vienna, the World Bank office in Vienna is seeking a well-organized, proactive and motivated individual for a Program Assistant position to support the Infrastructure (INF) Practice Group.

The selected candidate will report to Practice Managers and coordinate their work with the office of the Country Director for the Western Balkans who is also overseeing the Vienna office. They are expected to provide Administrative/Office Support to Practice Managers from INF, liaising frequently with team members both in World Bank Washington, Vienna, and other country offices.

The Program Assistant will be expected to:

• Provide administrative support to Practice Managers by managing calendars, organizing meetings, prioritizing and resolving scheduling conflicts and competing demands, ensuring background materials for meetings are available
• Respond and handle a wide-range of extensive and diverse inquiries, prioritizing and making timely decisions
• Communicate information to appropriate staff inside and outside the immediate work team
• Provide primary assistance in the implementation of the Practice Managers’ work program, including some specialized support in a specific area(s), e.g. task management, database management, etc.
• Participate in developing project/product timelines, using appropriate software, as well as support teams in using AI tools to accelerate, deepen, and sustain development impact
• Assist with preparing and processing project documentation in line with the Bank standard procedures
• Handle administrative and logistic arrangements for conferences, workshops, retreats, etc.
• Provide support with implementing a system to support office space coordination as guided by management
• Support the Practice Managers’ administrative procurement needs, following the World Bank corporate procurement policies; facilitate hiring of consultants and firms and coordinate invoicing; manage travel arrangements for consultants and group trips and submit travel expenses
• Provide support with all types of administrative requests such as office supplies order, staff directory changes, email distribution lists, visitor’s pass, videoconferences, Webex
• Provide back-up support to other Program Assistants in their absence or during periods of heavy workload. This may also include backing up the receptionist or other staff mapped to the CMU
• Undertake ad-hoc tasks as assigned by the Head of the Vienna office, as needed