Operations Officer/ Senior Operations Officer - Biodiversity Markets

Background / General description:

As the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve people s lives. The mission of IFC s Environmental and Social Development Department (CES) is to be IFC s center of excellence and innovation in sustainability, focusing on improving the business performance of IFC and its clients.  Further information on CES is available at http://www.ifc.org/enviro  CES is recruiting an Operations Officer, or Senior Operations Officer, to identify, develop, appraise and supervise innovative private-sector, for profit, projects that sustainably utilize or conserve biodiversity and/or ecosystem services.  Projects are likely to be in a broad variety of real sectors such as tourism, forestry, aquaculture and agriculture or manufacturing.  They may also concern new sectors such as non-timber forest products or ecosystem services.

Duties and Accountabilities:

Under the direct supervision of the Biodiversity Markets Practice Area Lead, the Operations Officer or Senior Operations Officer will:  
	Engage in active networking, and monitoring the state of the art in the field of biodiversity and ecosystem services business worldwide, focusing on its application in South East Asia 
	Take the lead in developing new, or transforming existing, business models or products, that are based on nature protection, for Indonesia, and South East Asia more generally. 
	Identify, design, develop and manage new projects involving any combination of instruments (equity, debt, guarantees, grants), that utilize funding from the IFC and a variety of donors including the Global Environment Facility (GEF).  Each project typically involves funding in the range of a few hundred thousands to several tens of million dollars. 
	Supervise part of the existing portfolio of the Biodiversity program, especially in Indonesia and South East Asia. This portfolio includes a wide range of innovative projects, including the privatization of park management in Indonesia, the global Bio-Trade Program, and a number of research and feasibility activities. 
	Manage large and small project budgets (up to $20 million or more), hire and oversee consultants and consulting firms as necessary, report to IFC and to donors. 
	Actively contribute to knowledge management: regularly produce and disseminate, in appropriate internal or external discussion forums, lessons learned from the projects under his/her responsibility, hereby completing the research and development cycle – the ultimate objective being to achieve up-take, replication or mainstreaming, of the new products or models developed. 
	Present IFC s biodiversity activities at external events in order to exchange lessons learned and build/ maintain professional contacts. 
	Contribute to IFC s biodiversity markets strategy, yearly program planning and monitoring tasks, and overall growth and reputation. 
	Travel to project sites on a regular basis. 
	The Senior Operations Officer will gradually take the lead in developing an IFC-wide Advisory Services product, and “community of practice”, in the field of nature-based products and services, solidly anchored to a concrete program in Indonesia that would become a flagship.

Selection Criteria:

The successful candidate is a determined and perseverant “go-getter”, able to work independently and take initiative, yet a strong team worker. He/she handles a variety of activities concurrently in a high-pressure environment and delivers consistently. He/she is an innovator: open-minded, he/she is used to exploring links between fields, disciplines and people which would not usually be related, seizes opportunities and puts them to work in practice. He/she has the ability to question and challenge supervisor and colleagues in a constructive manner.   He/she will need the following:  
	Masters level in business, management, finance, engineering, or economics.  Financial analysis and accounting skills are mandatory 
	Additional academic background in a natural science or relevant environmental discipline 
	Six (for the Operations Officer), or ten (for the Senior Operations Officer) or more years of relevant operational experience and proven performance in project design, appraisal and management in developing countries, involving the private sector.  Experience in IFC operations or in investment operations of a similar kind would be a plus. 
	Four (Officer) or six (Senior Officer) years experience or more in sectors requiring sustainable land use or natural resources management or forestry, directly or indirectly (the latter, for example in a financial institution) 
	Perfect understanding of project management tools based on tracking output and impact indicators 
	Excellent communication skills, in both written and spoken English (selection process will involve a written exercise, after short listing) 
	Strong client and results orientation as proven by a track record of concrete achievements 
	Basic knowledge and understanding of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity and related matters would be a plus 
	Knowledge of the GEF would be useful.   Other:  This appointment is for an initial 2-year period. After a period of approximately one year in headquarters, the position will relocate to Indonesia.  World Bank Group staff on regular or open-ended appointments will also be considered, and if selected, will transfer at their current appointment status.  Candidates should submit their application (letter and resume) in English.  No phone calls, paper mail or faxes please.  All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.  Only applicants invited for interviews will be contacted.