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, visit www.worldbank.org.

The Governance Global Practice (GGP) brings together professionals in procurement, financial management, taxation, regulatory policy, transparency, digital governance, law and development, anticorruption and social accountability to develop innovative, integrated solutions to pernicious institutional problems.

The GGP utilizes a problem-driven diagnostic approach, combining global comparative knowledge of reform successes and failures with keen understanding of the institutional challenges and opportunities of developing countries. The GGP engages on core and cross cutting themes including Public Financial Management; Subnational/decentralization; State Owned Enterprises/Corporate Governance; Tax Administration; Fiduciary Assurance; Public Institutions; GOVTECH, Anticorruption, Open Government and Political Economy.

Public Finance and Procurement (EGVPF) Global Unit

The EGVPF Global Unit is responsible for issues related to Public Financial and Investment Management, procurement, standards and codes around transparent financial management in public and private sectors, corporate governance, state-owned enterprises, corporate financial reporting, tax administration and domestic resource mobilization, and fiduciary assurance. The Unit leads the global engagement program on tax administration which has a comprehensive coverage of all aspects involving tax and customs administrations.

The program covers all aspects of institutional framework of revenue administrations, paying special attention to institutional arrangements, administrations’ degree of autonomy, responsibilities of the tax administration, and external oversight. It aims to help improving analytical capabilities of tax administrations in client countries as governments strive for sound fiscal policies, revenue forecasting expertise is increasingly stand out as a core function of budget and revenue management.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

The candidate will report to the Practice Manager of the Global Governance Unit responsible for the Tax Administration Program for all technical and human resource-related matters. He/she will be responsible for contributing to the Global Program, establishing multi-annual activities and work programs in consultation with the Practice Manager and the Global Leads of the Domestic Resources Mobilization (DRM) Global Solutions Group, delivering key activities on the ground, and coordinating the work of a number of colleagues mapped to the Tax Administration Program. He/she will be also responsible for leading the interactions with donors and other international development agencies and coordinating efforts across the Bank to advance the Tax Administration agenda at the global and regional levels. He/she will consult with the Global Leads of the DRM Global Solutions Group and involve them in discussions with donors and other partners.

The Senior Governance Specialist will be expected to:

• Lead analytical work for the Global Tax Administration Program.
• Represent the World Bank in international fora, establish collaborative relationships with donors and other international development actors.
• Apply his/her experience and expertise to WBG projects and analytics as assigned, including providing expertise to project teams and client countries. He/she should be capable of providing relevant, practical advice to senior government officials on contemporary practices in Tax Administration. Provide support to operational teams on Tax Administration lending activities and ASAs across Regions.
• Cultivate strategic relationships with the constituent groups of the Prosperity Vertical and GGP units, CMUs, client countries and Development partners for business development. The latter involves supporting the Manager to liaise with donors and establish and/or maintain coordination and collaboration arrangements.
• Co-lead the development of capacity building curricula for Tax Administration Forums and other global and regional events including agenda setting, creating presentations and training materials.
• Provide technical inputs to analytic works and reports (conduct analysis, report findings, and develop policy recommendations), in close collaboration with the relevant TTLs and sector experts within and outside the Bank.
• Undertake other analytical and administrative duties as may be assigned by the Practice Manager.

Selection Criteria

• An advanced degree (preferably PhD) in economics, public policy, political science or a relevant discipline, with relevant hands-on experience in the revenue administration system of a country.
• Comprehensive understanding of public finance policies, strategies, institutions, governance, and regulations is a requirement.
• Strong interpersonal, communications and writing skills, and excellent written and oral communication skills in English-an excellent command of English is a must.
• Strong planning, writing, communication, and data analytics skills to carry out research and analytical tasks on a wide range of issues, review and interpret information/data, identify trends and issues, and recommend actions/solutions.
• Proven research interests in revenue administration issues-a strong track record of academic and policy-relevant publications is a plus.
• Strong team player with a capacity to work effectively across different sectors and within diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
• Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
• Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results.
• Capacity to work with tact and diplomacy with staff at all levels, often under tight time pressure in a busy environment.
• Experience in client dialogue and supporting the design and delivery of technical assistance programs.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

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