| Job # | 111873 |
| Job Title | Senior Social Development Specialist |
| Job Family | Social Development |
| Location | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Appointment | International Hire |
| Job Posted | 22-Sep-2011 |
| Closing Date | 06-Oct-2011 |
| Language Requirements | English [Essential] |
| Appointment Type |
Background / General description
The World Bank’s Social Development (SD) Department in Indonesia manages a large and diverse portfolio of loan operations, policy guidance, analytical work, and operational research around the themes of poverty reduction and community-driven development (CDD). The National Program for Community Empowerment in Rural Areas (PNPM-Rural) – previously the Kecamatan Development Program – is the main loan operation of the Department. The Government of Indonesia (GOI) has recently scaled-up PNPM’s rural and urban components to cover the entire country. Contributing to the GOI’s national poverty reduction initiatives, PNPM-Rural’s development objective is for villagers in rural locations to benefit from improved socio-economic and local governance conditions. This objective is being achieved through: (i) communities’ participating in an open planning process; (ii) provision of grants to communities directly and transparently to finance an open menu of poverty alleviation activities; and (iii) enhancing the capacity of central government and local governments to partner with community organizations in service provision. Within the core PNPM-Rural program, there is a pilot-program known as ‘Green PNPM’ which is designed to further integrate environmental issues into the CDD planning and implementation processes. Operationally, Green PNPM follows the same approach as PNPM-Rural - block grants are disbursed through the national budget system at the subdistrict- level to fund individual sub-projects that have been selected by communities through a gender-inclusive, competitive, participatory process. Green PNPM differs from PNPM-Rural in that it is only active in select target locations (currently, 78 subdistricts within 27 districts in 8 provinces) on Sulawesi and Sumatra Islands, and the block grant funding is specifically earmarked to finance community investments in ‘green’ sub-projects. Green PNPM is not overly prescriptive of the specific types of ‘green’ sub-projects that are eligible for block grant funding. Yet the sub-projects are expected to demonstrate a direct or indirect positive environmental/economics/social impact, focusing on the improvement of natural resource management (NRM) practices, ecological conservation, environmentally sensitive livelihood activities, and/or increased use of renewable energy (RE). A significant portion of Green PNPM’s block grants is allocated by the GOI to finance investments in decentralized micro-hydro power (MHP) schemes – which are not only in demand in many rural areas, but are also dependent on a continued and protected water flow which is best ensured through communities’ effective management of surrounding water catchment areas. In addition to the block grants, Green PNPM also funds a range of GOI-, Civil Society Organization- (CSO) and World Bank-executed technical assistance (TA) packages which are designed to facilitate the community sub-project selection and implementation processes and to evaluate the impact of the pilot-program’s interventions. These TA packages include: (i) GOI-contracted consultants responsible for facilitating community meetings and performing a range of operational tasks related to the design and management of the pilot program’s Management Information System (MIS), financial management/procurement and training, as well as for providing technical guidance pertaining to sub-project implementation regarding resource management and other environmental issues; (ii) Grants to local and international CSOs to deliver environmental awareness raising and training activities to community beneficiaries and government officials within the target area; and (iii) Social/economic studies to evaluate the impact of Green PNPM’s interventions to identify means in which environmental issues can be further integrated into PNPM’s core operations and the CDD process. Green PNPM is currently funded by two separate World Bank-administered Trust Funds, to which six international donors contribute, and have collectively pledged approximately US$ 53 million to finance five years (2008 – 2012) of block grant disbursements and TA. The technical, managerial, and administration assistance provided by the World Bank to Green PNPM is primarily channeled through the PNPM Support Facility (PSF) which houses staff and consultants dedicated to support the GOI in the implementation of this pilot program. As Green PNPM is a pilot program, in its final years of implementation a key focus of the PSF will be in (i) documenting lessons learned regarding the livelihood benefits that can derive from community investments in NRM and RE activities, and (ii) in identifying means to fully integrate its operations with those of the core PNPM-Rural program in view of a gradual national scale-up.
Duties and Accountabilities
# The primary responsibilities of the Sr. Social Development Officer are to (i) supervise the implementation of Green PNPM’s various Recipient--executed technical components; (ii) manage the implementation of Green PNPM’s World Bank executed components; (iii) support national and local GOI counterparts in addressing systemic implementation issues associated with ensuring Natural Resource Management and Renewable Energy play a greater prominence in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of local development activities; and (iv) to provide strategic guidance to the PSF in further integrating Green PNPM’s technical components into the core operations of PNPM-Rural in view of the eventual national scale-up of the program. More in particular, the responsibilities of the Sr. Social Development Office will include the following: Articulate the strategy for PNPM Green moving forward, including the strategic vision and approaches to ensure the community driven development activities in Indonesia are consistent with, and contribute to, environmentally sustainable development.
# Task Team Leader for PNPM Green. This includes the full range of Task Team Leader responsibility, including the supervision of a team of World Bank staff and consultants who provide administrative and technical assistance to Green PNPM.
# Be the point person for the World Bank Indonesia Social Team’s engagements with various GOI offices with regard to PNPM Green, including the Vice-President’s Poverty Coordination Office, Ministries of Home Affairs, Planning, Mines and Energy, and Forestry at the central and local levels.
# Provide supervision and implementation support to the GOI project implementation team to ensure high quality management of Green PNPM, including but not limited to: development/revision of annual work plans, budgets, procurement plans; training of GOI-contracted consultants and facilitators and pilot-program stakeholders; procurement of goods and consultant services; financial management systems; management information systems; and design/implementation of socialization and communications strategies. The Sr. Social Development Officer is responsible to ensure that the GOI implementation team’s practices regarding these operational matters adhere to all applicable World Bank policies.
# Coordinate closely with the teams in the PNPM Support Facility that focus on (a) field supervision; (b) Financial Management; (c) Monitoring and Evaluation; (d) Gender; (e) Knowledge Management and Communication; (f) and Trust Fund Management to ensure that the implementation support provided to the GOI is of outstanding quality, that best practices are amplified, and that systemic issues can be detected and addressed as needed. In the same vein, ensure that the lessons learned from the implementation of PNPM Green can benefit the entire program.
# Ensure that the Program draws on global best practice in the area of community-based natural resource management and renewable energy. Regularly document lessons learned and best practices from Indonesia and ensure that these are shared widely with other similar programs across the world.
# Manage Grant Agreements awarded by the World Bank local and international Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) partners tasked with delivering environmental awareness raising and training activities to community beneficiaries and local government officials. Ensure that all CSO activities are coordinated with GOI-executed activities and work to support the objectives of PNPM.
# Ensure timely disbursement of funds or, in case timely disbursement is problematic, identify and address the root causes as needed.
# Regularly conduct field supervision missions within Green PNPM target locations to identify field-level problems, recommend remedial actions, and identify means in which the pilot-program can be better integrated with PNPM’s core operations.
# Develop and regularly update information packages about Green PNPM for public relations/promotional purposes for the World Bank internal audiences, development partners, and GOI and international government agencies.
# As required, prepare briefing material on Green PNPM, develop proposals/concept notes/project papers and associated budgets related to any restructuring/additional financing, and draft official correspondences to the GOI and international donors on behalf of the World Bank concerning operational/technical/financial matters related to the pilot program.
# Coordinate with the World Bank’s PNPM operational management team on joint planning, implementation, and monitoring arrangements for PNPM and Green PNPM. Associated duties include that status reports on all Grants/Trust Funds financed by Green PNPM are updated regularly and in compliance with the World Bank’s internal monitoring requirements and adhere to the reporting requirements of the PSF.
# Keep informed about, and where possible work to coordinate Green PNPM activities with, projects managed by the World Bank Environmental teams and other complementary projects financed through other sources.
# Contribute to the design of evaluations and studies to measure the social/economic/environmental impact of Green PNPM interventions.
# Other duties and tasks as specified by the Social Development Sector Coordinator or designee. III. MANAGEMENT The Sr. Social Development Officer will be supervised by the Social Development Coordinator or whoever he/she may designate.
Selection Criteria
# Master’s or higher degree in relevant discipline, e.g., natural resource management, ecology, environmental studies, international/community development, sociology, economics, etc.
# Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in project management and operations, preferably with community development projects, or agriculture/environmental/NRM projects in a developing country setting.
# Experience working on large-scale government operations is highly desirable, as experience liaising with government officials at various administrative levels and international donors. Familiarity with environmental, NRM, and/or renewable energy issues in Indonesia and/or other countries is preferred.
# Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Must be able to produce clear, concise, and persuasive written documents including briefs, memos, reports and proposals.
# Experience working in Indonesia is highly desirable, as is a working knowledge of the Indonesian language.
# Knowledge of monitoring and impact evaluation methodologies is highly desirable.
# Familiarity with World Bank systems and procedures preferred.
# Demonstrated team leadership, initiative, and problem-solving skills. Must be able work under tight timelines.
# Excellent interpersonal skills. Team player. The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
