Senior External Affairs Officer, GCC-Communications Vacancy-Job Ref: ACSAWB/0908/202484

Senior External Affairs Officer, GCC-Communications Vacancy-Job Ref: ACSAWB/0908/202484

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

JOB 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.

External and Corporate Relations Vice-Presidency (ECR)
The mission of External and Corporate Relations (ECR) is to help deliver financial and political support for the World Bank Group, strengthen the Bank Group’s role as a global thought leader in development by enhancing and safeguarding its reputation, and supporting operational teams to achieve country outcomes. ECR manages corporate communications and global engagement with key stakeholders, including media, civil society, foundations, private sector, and international organizations, as well as employee engagement. ECR also manages strategic communications for the World Bank’s Regions and Global Practices and leads the management of reputational risk.

GCC Context
The World Bank has maintained strong partnerships with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for more than five decades. This encompasses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The World Bank delivers cutting-edge knowledge, analytics, and policy advice to support the development agenda of the region; maintains global knowledge partnerships with GCC countries to accelerate knowledge exchange for impact for developing countries worldwide; and provides Reimbursable Advisory Services tailored to specific country contexts that consist of policy advice, implementation support and capacity building. The Bank’s work with the GCC countries has contributed to scaling up the Bank’s global experience of addressing challenges in high and middle-income countries, producing and customizing development knowledge, and delivering it as global public goods.

GCC countries are key shareholders of the World Bank Group, providing resources and active contributions to support the WBG’s work to deliver better outcomes for people and planet. The World Bank’s relationships with the GCC countries substantively engage around knowledge, RAS services and their engagement as strategic shareholders.
The World Bank Group also partners with multilateral and bilateral institutions based in the GCC region, including the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, Saudi Fund for Development, Kuwait Fund, Qatar Fund for Development, and Abu Dhabi Fund.

Such partnerships mobilize joined up approaches to accelerate speed, scale and impact for development in the region and globally.
The GCC department of the World Bank encompasses four locations: the regional hub office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, headed by the Country Director; a country office in Kuwait, headed by the Country Manager; a country office in Abu Dhabi, headed by the Resident Representative; and a country management unit at the headquarters in Washington, D.C.
External and Corporate Relations for the Middle East & North Africa (ECRMN)
ECRMN employs an extended team of professionals located in World Bank Headquarters and in country offices across the MENA region. The department works in close alignment with the operational complex and the WBG communication network, deploying state of the art communications to support country, regional and corporate priorities.

Roles & Responsibilities
The Senior External Affairs Officer/External Affairs Lead for the GCC will report to the Manager of External & Corporate Relations for MENA, with a dotted line reporting to the GCC Country Director. The roles and responsibilities of this position are as follows:
•Act as Trusted Advisor: Advise the GCC leadership team on the political economy, stakeholder perceptions, shifting external dynamics; identify opportunities to step into conversations and anticipate potential reputational risks and identify mitigation measures.
•Conceptualize and roll out implementation of communication, outreach, and engagement strategies to drive impact for the World Bank’s work, determining most effective interventions to context.
•Guide the strategic positioning of the World Bank in the GCC region for the GCC program and the World Bank’s overall engagements with the GCC countries.
•Provide message clarity and narrative development across external communications; sharpen and align messaging in relation to shifting landscapes; support thought leadership thru speeches, blogs and op-eds.
•Manage media relations with national media and tier one global media with presence in the GCC Countries, this includes for both the GCC program as well as for World Bank overall; ensure seamless internal corporate coordination.
•Build relationships and strengthen partnerships with stakeholders including civil society, universities, think tanks, foundations and partnering agencies. Spearhead active engagement programs, identify opportunities to deepen partnerships and leverage platforms for collective impact.
•Help to place a global spotlight on the World Bank/GCC global knowledge hubs, in close collaboration with the knowledge teams, leveraging corporate channels and platforms.
•Support operations and knowledge upstream with reviews, contextual analysis and messaging guidance and strategic communication advice to clients when needed.
•Lead the GCC communication team; hold cross cutting responsibilities for the regional communications; contribute to professional knowledge as a dedicated part of the Bank’s communication network.

Selection Criteria
•Master’s degree and at least eight to ten years of professional experience in Communications, International Relations/Public Affairs, Journalism, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
•Demonstrated experience and expertise designing and managing communication, outreach and engagement programs for impact, drawing on a range of approaches, based on understanding of external audiences and possessing experience with development topics.
•Strong understanding of development and political context in the GCC region; ability to grasp and articulate complex political economy and role of parties, institutions and players. Ability to recognize potential risks to the World Bank’s reputation and act on them accordingly
•Ability to recognize potential risks to the World Bank’s reputation and act on them accordingly; ability to recognize and step into emerging opportunities.
•Experience and demonstrated ability to manage relationships with critical constituencies to foster strategic partnerships. Familiarity with key actors involved in the GCC essential.
•Big-picture thinker with strong problem-solving skills while effectively maintaining a pulse on details.
•Extensive experience working in a multi-discipline fast paced environment, with flexibility, and adaptability, and ability to successfully navigate complex issues and challenges in a multi-stakeholder, multi-cultural environment.
•Outstanding inter-personal skills, judgment, and proven track record of team leadership with commitment to fostering environments of inclusiveness and respect.
•Excellent communication skills in oral and written English and Arabic required

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