World Bank Group Hiring for Education Specialist Job at Washington, DC Full Time

Who we are

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis. It is the only global partnership and fund dedicated entirely to helping children in lower-income countries get a quality education, so they can unlock their potential and contribute to building a better world.

We bring together governments, teachers, civil society, donors, United Nations agencies, development banks, businesses and private foundations to achieve our shared vision that every child deserves to learn.

What we do

GPE currently supports 76 low- and lower-middle-income countries to transform their education systems so that all children can get the education they need to thrive. We work where the needs are greatest and focus on reaching the children who are the most vulnerable, including girls, children with disabilities and those who live in countries characterized by extreme poverty or conflict.

How we work

Transforming education is about creating lasting changes and achieving impact at scale. GPE’s new strategic plan, GPE 2025, sets out to deliver this transformative change by convening partners, mobilizing funds and catalyzing reforms to help partner countries get more girls and boys in school, improve teaching and learning, and build equitable, inclusive and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century.

Our unique approach works. Since 2002, 160 million more children in GPE partner countries have set foot in classrooms for the first time, more than half of them girls. In 2020, GPE was also the largest provider of education grants in the global COVID-19 response, rapidly providing partner countries with vital resources to ensure that learning could safely continue.

Raise Your Hand

In July 2021, the Global Education Summit raised a record US$4 billion from donors for GPE’s Raise Your Hand campaign. This put GPE firmly on the path to achieving its fundraising target of at least $5 billion over the next five years to transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories. At the Summit, Heads of State and Government from partner countries made historic commitments to domestic education financing and GPE also mobilized an unprecedented number of pledges from businesses, private foundations and development banks.

A fully funded GPE would enable up to 175 million children to learn and help get 88 million more girls and boys in school by 2025. In the longer term, this investment could add $164 billion to economies in GPE partner countries, lift 18 million people out of poverty, and protect 2 million girls from early marriage.

Governance and organizational arrangements

The GPE Board of Directors includes ministerial-level board members and alternates representing 20 constituencies that reflect the Partnership’s breadth. The Board Chair is HE President Jakaya Kikwete and the Board Vice Chair is Dr Susan Liautaud. The Board of Directors, with its three standing committees, provides policy and strategic oversight and approves or delegates funding decisions.

The GPE Secretariat, with over 130 employees and hosted by the World Bank, is responsible for translating the policies and strategies set by the Board into practical support for partner countries, coordinating with diverse stakeholders and galvanizing global support for SDG4. The Secretariat’s headquarters are in the World Bank’s offices in Washington, D.C. and the European office is in Paris with a satellite office in Brussels. This is an international recruitment subject to compensation on the local pay scale for the selected duty station, and global mobility benefits may apply as per World Bank Group policy.

ABOUT THE TEAM

CEP acts as GPE Secretariat’s primary relationship coordinator with country partners. We support national evidence-informed policy dialogue at country level, including on the development and implementation of inclusive Education Sector Plans, Partnership Compacts, Joint Sector Reviews, etc. to accelerate transformative progress in policy priorities. The CEP Team comprises three Regional Country Support teams, the Education, Policy and Learning team and the Strategy and Coordination team.

Education Policy and Learning (EPL) is a team of CEP. Working at the nexus of global and country levels to advance progress in thematic areas central to GPE 2020, EPL’s primary objective is to consolidate evidence on the challenges and what works in GPE’s priority areas, including identifying cross-country needs, mobilizing, curating and disseminating knowledge across the partnership, and collaborating with partners in technical initiatives.

ABOUT THE JOB

Description

The successful candidate will be a member of GPE’s Education Policy and Learning (EPL) team, working in close cooperation with other teams of the Secretariat. They will act as a Thematic Lead in the area of Education Systems Strengthening which includes Systems approach; Education Policy Planning, Budgeting and Monitoring; Education Finance; Organizational and institutional capacities. They will report to the EPL team lead. Note that the position may be in either Washington, D.C. or Paris, France, at the discretion of GPE management. They will support the Secretariat in demonstrating GPE’s leadership in supporting country-led system transformation, more specifically, in the area of Systems Strengthening.

Duties and Accountabilities

Responsibilities include the following:

• Lead evidence work including the consolidation and uptake of evidence across the Partnership to identify and promote what works for systems transformation.
• Support the implementation of the GPE2025 Strategy, e.g., leading or supporting adaptations to the methodological approaches and guidelines underpinning the Operating Model.
• Support Country Teams in providing technical backstopping, analytics and evidence for informing country policy dialogue and the roll-out of the GPE 2025 operating model.
• Identify and respond to the demand of country partners to share and exchange knowledge and good practices.
• Develop and disseminate a range of knowledge products (e.g., policy briefs, factsheets, technical guidelines) and knowledge/learning events (policy talks, regional policy and technical engagements, etc).
• Support the development of communication and advocacy-related outputs (e.g., blogs, press releases, website content).
• Contribute to strengthening internal capacities on country-led system transformation
• Develop and maintain professional global and regional networks with technical partners working on similar areas, including establishing “soft” communities of practices.
• Represent GPE in external engagements, including participation in relevant global/regional and technical partnerships, initiatives and platforms, research fora and evidence networks.
• Actively find opportunities to promote gender equality in the portfolio to advance the hardwiring of gender equality in the GPE2025 Operating Model.

• Master’s degree in economics, education, gender, development studies, or a related field.
• At least five years’ experience in international education development.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English required
• Proficiency in French/Spanish/Portuguese desired

Competencies

• Thematic Expertise – Deep knowledge in education systems strengthening, including the following areas: Systems Approach; Education Policy Planning, Budgeting and Monitoring; Education Finance; Organizational and institutional capacities. Some experience supporting related education sector reform, policy making and implementation in education systems strengthening. Knowledge of evidence bodies and evidence of what works in those area(s). Developing network in this thematic area. Desirable, but not required -Knowledge in one or more of the other policy and enabling factor areas outlined in GPE’s 2025 strategy: Education finance, education planning and management, education in fragile contexts, girls’ education, inclusive education, learning, teacher development, other areas relevant to work of GPE.
• Collaboration & Teamwork
• Accountability & Results Focus
• Communication & Interpersonal Skills
• Adaptability – Models
• Planning & Organizing
• Foundational Technical Knowledge in Education & Development
• Policy Dialogue Skills.
• Quantitative and Analytical Skills
• Education Research and Data Analysis
• Partner Engagement Skills