Marine Plastics Consultant

Published on by for World Bank

Marine Plastics Consultant

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. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Global Practice Context

Located within the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Practice Group, the Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice (ENB) provides expertise, technical assistance and financing to help low- and middle-income countries manage land, sea and freshwater natural resources in a sustainable way to help create jobs, improve livelihoods, enhance ecosystem services, decrease pollution and increase resilience to climate change. Over 360 ENB staff working across the globe help set developing countries on a clean, green growth trajectory for resilient economies and healthy communities.

ENB has five key business lines consisting of lending and non-lending services in (1) Forests, Landscapes and Biodiversity; (2) Blue Economy; (3) Pollution Management, Environmental Health and Circular Economy; (4) Environmental Economics, Policies and Institutions; and (5) Environmental Risk Management. 

ENB has three broad and distinct functions: 

1. Provides clients with lending and non-lending services aimed to support the GP’s key business lines.

2. Supports effective environmental risk management and sustainability by managing risk at the project level and creating opportunities to advance sustainable development, in part through the implementation of the Bank’s environmental policies.

3. Works closely with other sectors to mainstream environmental considerations into their policies, strategies, and operations.

Unit Context

The SEAE2 unit is one of two ENB units in the East Asia and Pacific Region (EAP) and comprises about 40 staff, of whom about 70 percent are based in Country Offices in Singapore, Cambodia, South Korea, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The rest of the team is based in Washington DC. All staff in SEAE2 report to a Practice Manager based in Sydney, Australia. The unit works closely with the second ENB unit, SEAE1 (China, Indonesia and the Pacific Island Countries), and manages a full spectrum of environment, climate change, green growth, blue economy, pollution management and natural resource lending and non-lending tasks, as well as the environmental risk management ESF/safeguards function.

Regional Context:

ENB activities in East Asia and the Pacific account for a substantial part of the ENB Global Practice’s business through (i) delivering of about 10 operations per year, amounting to about $500 million annually; (ii) conducting an active dialogue on regional issues, such as climate change, coastal and marine economies, improving governance of natural resources, watershed management, pollution management, and wealth accounting and valuation of ecosystem services; and supervising about 60 active projects in the portfolio, amounting to around US$1.8 billion in commitments. 

The problem of marine plastic waste is a transboundary issue, which requires cooperation in facing these regional problems, especially for the ASEAN region, which generates a significant amount of sea-trash compared to other regions in the world. Given the inter-connectedness of the problem, there is a strong opportunity for synergies across a regional dimension bringing together regional institutions such as ASEAN, stimulating private sector interest and potential financing, and capturing economies of scale in costs, technologies, and knowledge.

In EAP, the World Bank Group has made Marine Plastics a regional priority. Subsequently, the ENB Global Practice is leading the implementation of EAP Regional Engagement Framework for Marine Plastics. In this regard, at the national and regional level, we are building up evidence through analytical studies on solutions, technology prioritization, hotspot and baseline assessments on plastics leakage etc.; providing support to policy reforms, and technical assistance to adjust policies, enhance analysis, and finance critical investments; and bringing together blended finance options. 

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

The Extended Term Consultant (ETC) will be based in Singapore and will support the SEAE2 team, with a primary focus on strategy, advocacy, policy and investment in addressing marine plastics and related activities required to shift to a more circular economy. The ETC will report to the SEAE2 Practice Manager and work under the day-to-day supervision of the EAP regional lead focal point for marine plastics. 

He/she will have the following main duties and responsibilities: 

• As a key member of the EAP marine plastics team, contribute to the leadership of the Bank’s marine plastics and circular economy and waste management scope. S/he will therefore also be responsible for working with colleagues based in other country offices and in Washington DC, including other Global Practices (GPs), for building long-term business relationships with regional organizations and national government stakeholders, as well as development partners, private sector consortia, and NGOs.

• In particular, support the Southeast Asia Regional Program on Combating Marine Plastics (SEA-MaP), including on project preparation and extensive technical contribution to the Project Appraisal Document (PAD), coordination and liaison with key stakeholders, including the ASEAN Secretariat, and implementation of the activity on Supporting Identification of Riverine and Coastal Plastics Waste Management Solutions in Mekong countries.

• Provide task leadership of selected regional and country activities and technical support and advocacy in other countries. This will consist of strategy, technical, knowledge and operational work to develop and implement policy, advisory and investment engagements (lending and non-lending) related to addressing marine plastics in EAP countries, including participation in preparation, technical and supervision missions. Including, for example, supporting the development of a Circular Economy Roadmap in the Philippines.

• Coordinate and carry out other tasks as needed for regional tasks relating to marine plastics, including, but not limited to, organization of training or knowledge sharing events, coordinating across GPs and CMUs.

• Contribute to and carry out other environmental/ pollution management tasks as requested by the SEAE2 Practice Manager.

Selection Criteria

It is expected that the successful candidate will meet the following selection criteria:

a. Advanced degree (Master’s or above) in environmental science, environmental engineering, sustainable development, or similar relevant discipline with a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the following areas: solid waste management, circular economy, plastic value chains or equivalent combination of education and experience. 

b. Demonstrated experience working across multiple sectors and with a wide range of stakeholders, including private sector, NGOs, government and other development organizations on issues relating to waste (plastics) technologies, value chain, metrics (including as related to hydrology), and policies.

c. Direct regional and country-level experience in Southeast Asia relating to operations (project and analytical tasks) in marine plastics, waste management, circular economy, environmental policy and/or technical environmental studies would be an advantage. 

d. Familiarity with World Bank procedures and business practices is required, and project management/ operational experience in relevant technical areas is preferred. 

e. Proven teamwork and successful experience working with multi-disciplinary teams.

f. Excellent communication skills, both written and oral in English.

g. Demonstrated ability to work independently and at a high level.

h. Willingness to travel across the region, depending on ongoing restrictions associated with the COVID-19 situation.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

For information about WBG Core Competencies, please visit: https://bit.ly/2kbIA7O.
 

Note: The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable for an additional one year, at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET Appointment of two years. If an ET appointment ends before a full year, it is considered as a full year toward the lifetime maximum. Former and current ET staff who have completed all or any portion of their second-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

Information

Industry experience

Education: Masters

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Taxonomy