Operations Officer – Gender and Climate Innovation
Washington DC, United States
JOB DETAIL
Description
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities. Our mission is to leverage the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
IFC is deeply committed to advancing gender equality and economic inclusion as laid out in IFC’s 2030 Roadmap for Gender and Inclusion to deliver game-changing private sector partnerships and programs to accelerate gender equality and inclusion in emerging markets. Aligned with the new World Bank Group (WBG) Gender Strategy (2024-30) [https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/brief/gender-strategy-update-2024-30-accelerating-equality-and-empowerment-for-all]: Accelerate Gender Equality to End Poverty on a Livable Planet, IFC’s Roadmap is built on six priorities offering high potential for impact in and through the private sector. These areas aim to (1) Allocate Capital that Drives Inclusion, (2) Make Supply Chains Inclusive, and (3) Remove Barriers to Entrepreneurship, Employment, and Leadership (including addressing gender-based violence). Equally important are three cross-cutting themes that are foundational to achieving sustainable results across the priority areas and require action: (4) Bridging the Digital Divide; (5) Accelerating Inclusive and Gender-Smart Climate Action; and (6) Ending Gender-based Violence and Harassment.
As part of its mandate, IFC’s Cross-Cutting Vice Presidency includes a dedicated team, the Gender and Economic Inclusion (GEI) Department (GEID), that works with IFC’s investment and advisory teams to support private and public sector clients in providing all genders and underserved communities with equal economic opportunities as leaders, employees, entrepreneurs, consumers, and community members. GEID leads strategy development and implementation for the organization, provides tailored operational solutions and client advice, innovates, and incubates novel approaches, serves a thought leader and disseminator of knowledge on GEI issues, supports mobilization through impact investing and sustainable financing; and forges public and private sector partnerships with the aim of creating economic opportunities and development for all.
GEID is establishing a new operating model built around Global Operations in four Regional Gender Hubs, and two new units focused on Thought Leadership and Innovation. The Innovation unit will drive initiatives to identify/generate, design, pilot, and expand new advisory and investment mechanisms to mobilize capital that incentivizes private sector action on gender and inclusion. The Innovation Center will be designed to enhance closer collaboration with industry and regional operations and investments officers, and external partners, to deliver new models/processes that enable cross-department co-creation of solutions that meet a range of client business needs and are adapted to country contexts. The Innovation Center will focus on solutions that accelerate gender equality and economic inclusion while deepening and scaling impact in alignment with the priorities of IFC’s 2030 Roadmap on Gender and Economic Inclusion.
IFC GEID is seeking an Operations Officer with experience advancing the gender and climate agenda. This role is focused on identifying and developing projects and programs that integrate gender considerations into climate-focused initiatives, contributing to the creation of innovative and scalable solutions. The Gender and Climate Operations Officer will be focused on generating new opportunities and identifying investment linkages between gender and climate solutions, considering the full spectrum of debt and equity instruments. The position involves working closely with IFC’s industry and regional business departments, upstream team, private sector clients, and other key stakeholders to foster market opportunities and deliver sustainable development outcomes.
The position will report to the Cross-Cutting Lead Innovation Officer, who will report to the Head/Principal of the Innovation Unit. They will be key contributors, driving the sourcing, incubation, and piloting of select gender and climate solutions in deep collaboration with cross-departmental teams across IFC, including industry, regional, GEID, and other relevant department staff, including the World Bank colleagues.
Roles and Responsibilities
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Project and Program Development:
• Address knowledge gaps in the market to increase engagement in inclusive climate business in the private sector. Work closely with industries and cross-cutting departments, such as the Climate Business Department, to identify these gaps.
• Research and analyze emerging trends, policies, and technologies in the gender-climate nexus to inform strategy and programming across IFC.
• Scope and identify innovative solutions and approaches at the intersection of gender and climate, working in deep collaboration with industries and IFC’s Climate Business Department. Assess the feasibility of these solutions.
• Design new scalable solutions and platforms like “Scaling Solar” that can be replicated across markets, increasing the impact of IFC investments and advisory services toward the WBG Gender and Inclusion Strategy KPIs, Climate KPIs, and WBG Corporate Scorecard.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to refine and scale investment advisory structures that address climate adaptation and mitigation needs in a gender-inclusive manner.
• Enable cross-industry partnerships to test and launch innovative financing models that support inclusive climate finance. Leverage blended finance tools and performance-based incentives in select sectors.
Crowdsourcing and Co-Creation:
• Coordinate select crowdsourcing and co-creation processes to identify and enable gender-inclusive climate approaches that support both gender equality and climate action in and through the private sector.
• Spot game-changing trends, technologies, and business models that can help bring inclusive climate solutions to emerging markets.
• Conduct sector-specific analysis of various operating models to help generate ideas for new projects, new products, and platform businesses in collaboration with the Thought Leadership Unit, Corporate Strategy, and industry departments.
• Enable climate investment transactions to intentionally address social inequalities (including gender gaps) across debt and equity in emerging markets.
Innovation Process and Solution Lifecycle Management:
• Support the development of innovation processes and enable an agile environment that encourages entrepreneurial thinking and creative programming.
• Track and analyze IFC’s project experience (e.g., through portfolio reviews) to identify success stories, opportunities for replication and scale, and areas for innovation.
• Lead the lifecycle of inclusive-climate projects from ideation to scaling, ensuring rigorous evaluation and refinement.
• Deliver comprehensive project management, including procurement, budgeting, reporting, risk and due diligence assessments, and administration tasks, as needed.
• Lead the incubation of high-impact projects and initiatives that require upstream development before investment, working closely with upstream teams to identify and refine client opportunities/pipeline for investments related to inclusive climate action.
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration:
• Foster a culture of collaboration with internal and external partners, ensuring diverse participation in inclusive climate initiatives.
• Contribute to standard-setting activities, including inclusive climate criteria and disclosure approaches, to ensure alignment with market best practices and new investment mechanisms.
• Collaborate with cross-industry and regional teams to support gender-inclusive climate pilot implementation/execution and internal capacity building initiatives, and incorporate their insights/lessons learned back into global approach.
• Actively participate and maintain relationships through relevant internal networks (e.g., Inclusive Transition Working Group, Climate Business Network) and directly with relevant IFC teams (e.g., Climate Business Department) to raise internal awareness and build knowledge on inclusive climate business.
• Contribute to building and maintaining high-impact partnerships with multinational corporations, development organizations, NGOs, and government entities to advance gender and climate initiatives.
• Cultivate strategic relationships with stakeholders to promote investment opportunities that align with gender and climate priorities.
• Represent GEID and contribute to relevant external working groups (e.g., Climate Investment Funds Gender Focal Points Network, Donor Committee for Enterprise Development working group).
• Engage with strategic partner organizations, such as other MDBs, DFIs, and private sector investors in climate and gender/inclusion (e.g., 2X Global, UN Women, ILO), to identify opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the development of joint solutions.
Knowledge Sharing and Upskilling:
• Stay up to date on market trends on inclusive climate business (incl. through internal climate newsletters and knowledge products).
• Facilitate knowledge flow across GEID, IFC and the World Bank Group, and promote the adoption of new approaches and best practices as related to inclusive climate action.
• Help develop and lead the generation of knowledge products that strengthen IFC’s position as a thought leader on inclusive climate business.
• Contribute to the ideation, production, and review of knowledge pieces, working with GEID’s thought leadership unit, Climate Business Department, industries, and other cross-cutting departments at IFC/WBG, as well as strategic external partners, as relevant.
• Mentor and support team members, including consultants, working on Innovation activities and providing guidance and expertise on inclusive climate action.
• Contribute to IFC’s strategic documents, corporate targets and scorecard, and other relevant areas to increase corporate prioritization of inclusion and gender in climate investments and advisory engagements.
• Facilitate the development of internal case studies, toolkits, and other knowledge products to build the case and assist operational and investment teams with inclusive climate business.
• Collaborate with communications teams to promote the success of IFC’s inclusive climate initiatives, amplifying their impact through digital platforms and media.
• Support teams and IFC leadership with talking points and issue briefs in preparation for events and external engagements.
• Design and deliver capacity-building and knowledge events to raise awareness and build knowledge on inclusive climate solutions, including through the Gender x Climate Community of Practice.
• Provide technical expertise on gender/inclusion mainstreaming activities in climate investments when relevant.
• Share knowledge products and best practices from global programs (or other regions/units) with regional teams to enhance knowledge on inclusive climate business.
Resource Mobilization:
• Contribute to fundraising efforts to secure financial support for innovation projects and the innovation center operations, including concessional seed funding to stimulate market-moving solutions.
• Allocate resources effectively, prioritizing initiatives with the highest potential impact on inclusive climate action.
Monitoring and evaluating performance:
• Contribute to the development of Innovation Center performance metrics, value proposition, and strategic communications to establish the unit under the guidance of Principal Innovation Officer.
• Inform robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the impact of inclusive climate innovation initiatives.
• Use data and evidence to inform decision-making and improve program outcomes.
Selection Criteria
Education:
• Master’s degree in economics, finance, business, or other relevant discipline required.
Professional Experience:
• 5-10 years of experience in project/program development, with a focus on gender inclusion, climate change, or private sector development in emerging markets.
• Strong commitment to development, with an understanding of the World Bank Group’s mission and IFC’s gender and climate priorities.
• Experience in project management, including developing feasibility studies and overseeing the implementation of projects with defined milestones and business development goals.
• Capacity for innovation and experience in business development, creating programs from inception, and generating new ideas in gender and climate-related sectors.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with private sector clients to foster pioneering business models and market solutions.
• Proven experience in monitoring and reporting on project or program performance, including managing portfolios of projects or initiatives.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with the ability to translate data into actionable insights for gender and climate programs.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and verbal.
Skills and Abilities:
• Innovative strategic thinker with a proven track record in developing and successfully implementing, and scaling high-impact initiatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with sound business judgment to identify issues and present creative and practical solutions.
• Ability to self-manage, multitask, and work under time constraints.
• Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills in English, including the ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently, articulate issues, and recommend solutions.
• Strong communication, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement skills, with experience influencing senior decision-makers and managing complex partnerships.
• Proven collaborator with the ability to build trusted relationships across a complex organization.
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, and set and achieve strategic objectives.
• Professional agility to easily adjust to the rapidly changing dynamics within and outside the organization.
• Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to business planning.
• Excellent business acumen and analysis skills; strong pattern recognition; horizontal thinker and synthesizer.
• Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.
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