Operations Officer, Djibouti

Description

The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions driven by a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, we help solve the world’s greatest development challenges. When you join the World Bank Group, you become part of a dynamic, diverse organization with 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide. We work with public and private sector partners, invest in groundbreaking projects, and use data, research, and technology to bring tangible and transformative changes around the globe. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

VPU Context:  

The Middle East and North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan Region serves twenty two countries across different income groups, of which fourteen are active/potentially active IBRD/IDA borrowers (Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, West Bank and Gaza, Tunisia, and Yemen), with a total of 251 projects and over $51 bn in total commitment. Eight are users of the Region’s non-lending services, mostly on a reimbursable basis (Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Malta, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).  The mission of the region is to foster sustainable growth with a focus on job creation and poverty reduction, economic and social inclusion, and good governance. The region attaches importance to creating a supportive work environment based on the values of teamwork, transparency, trust, and client service, underlined by professional excellence. The region places high value on diversity. The region is organized into seven Country Departments (CMUs), the Office of the Regional Chief Economist, and the Development Effectiveness Unit (MNADE).

With an expanded regional strategy, the World Bank aims to help the region weather the current crises, move from stabilization to transformation, unlock its vast economic potential of youth and women, develop its human capital to adapt to global megatrends, and foster innovation (https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena).

Unit Context: 

Djibouti is one of the smallest countries in Africa, with an area of 23,200 square kilometers and a population estimated at about 990,000. The size of its economy limits its ability to diversify production and increases its reliance on foreign markets, making it more vulnerable to market downturns and hampering its access to external capital. With less than 1,000 square kilometers of arable land (0.04% of its total land area) and average annual rainfall of only 130 millimeters, Djibouti depends almost completely on imports to meet its food needs. As of June 2025, Djibouti’s active portfolio comprised 20 IDA projects worth about US$577 million. The portfolio is focused on energy, transports, digital transformation, education, health, social safety nets, energy, rural community development, slums upgrading and urban poverty reduction, governance, and private sector development, with an emphasis on women and youth. For more information on Djibouti, please visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/djibouti

The Djibouti Joint Country Office is seeking to recruit a highly motivated Operations Officer who will report to the WBG Joint Country  Resident Representative supporting the program across the World Bank Group. This is a local TERM (2 year) position based in the World Bank’s office in Djibouti.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Joint Operations Officer will report directly to the Joint Resident Representative (JCR) and will provide substantive operational, project, research, statistical and other analytical support to the JCR ) and WBG Task Team Leaders with respect to the country work program activities. He/she will assist in the monitoring and evaluation of the overall country portfolio performance, as well as in monitoring and managing individual activities in the portfolio. More specifically, the Operations Officer will undertake the following tasks:

Specific duties will include:

• Carry out responsibilities for a variety of operational tasks (e.g. participating as a full member of a multi-disciplinary team and undertaking straightforward assignments of project preparation, appraisal and supervision).
• Provide inputs to or prepare diverse operational products/outputs (e.g. sector and country briefings, background reports, case studies, portfolio performance reviews, etc.).
• Review and process operational documents, coordinating across disciplines and project components, across IDA, IFC and MIGA
• Respond to ad hoc information requests from internal and external parties.
• Support the CMU to undertake portfolio reviews to continually address implementation issues, realism of project ratings, and trends in the performance of the portfolio over time.
• Work with clients and the project teams to address implementation issues and ensure high quality and results on the ground.
• Contribute to the policy dialogue led by the CMU.
• Contribute to the external partnership development work of the CMU and WBG Task Teams.
• Undertake other tasks on reporting of project and portfolio performance, participate in the preparation and presentation of CMU-wide reports to Senior Management and/or external partners.
• Provide support to WBG teams preparing new projects and during implementation.
• Work independently, seeking guidance on complex projects/issues
• Work implies frequent interaction with the following: (i) counterparts in Government and in a variety of international and other partner organizations, private sector, academia etc.; (ii) counterparts within and across operational units, CMU, Global Practices; (iii) Bank managers up to Director or equivalent
• Works in close coordination with IFC investment, advisory, and upstream teams to ensure alignment with broader IFC strategy and objectives to support the identification and development of impactful pipeline of projects.
• Works in close coordination with MIGA to ensure alignment with MIGA strategy and objectives to support the identification and development of impactful pipeline of projects as relevant.