Senior Procurement Specialist

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank consists of two entities – the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). It is a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries. As the largest development bank in the world, the World Bank provides loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, and coordinates responses to regional and global challenges. Visit http://www.worldbank.org/

Regional and Country Context

Countries of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region confront a vast array of development challenges, from an uncertain and uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to the implications of decelerating global economy, deepening geopolitical divisions, protracted regional conflicts, and climate change. These overlapping crises are amplified by longstanding structural relating to economic governance that contribute to an outsized presence of the state in the economy, high unemployment rates among women and youth, and limited intraregional trade and investment.

Overcoming these challenges will allow MENAAP countries to realize their vast development potential, endowed as the region is with a rapidly growing and highly educated population, geo-strategic location, and abundance of renewable energy potential. To unlock this potential, the World Bank is advancing inclusive, sustainable, and resilient development through a two-pronged strategy that seeks to respond to sudden and severe crises while supporting reforms that spur structural transformation and job creation, advance gender equity, strengthen regional cooperation, and accelerate green transitions. This strategy is operationalized through a differentiated approach that reflects the distinct circumstances of the World Bank’s clients in the region, comprising 22 countries that range from active IBRD borrowers and IDA recipients to recipients of reimbursable advisory services and non-active countries with whom the Bank maintains a policy dialogue. For more on the World Bank in MENAAP, visit www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena.

The World Bank’s MENAAP region consists primarily of the Front Office of the Regional Vice President, the Chief Economist, 7 Country Management Units, 4 Regional Directorships, and close linkages with Human resources (HR), Resource Management, and Corporate Security. 

The current Pakistan portfolio includes 53 active projects with the total financing commitment from IDA and IBRD of about US$ 16.4 billion. The projects are implemented at both the federal and provincial levels.

In Sindh, currently there are 13 active projects with the total commitment of US$ 3.81 billion (including the two emergency projects in response to the 2022 floods which were approved in the second quarter of FY23. Two projects are also in the pipeline for this fiscal year. This represents the largest portfolio in terms of total commitment among the four provinces.

Procurement

The Prosperity Vice Presidency is one of the World Bank Group’s five verticals, with a mandate that emphasizes “Growth, Finance, and Institutions for all.” Our approach leverages data-driven analysis and combines expertise from both the public and private sectors, together with International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Prosperity Vice Presidency supports clients in advancing evidence-based structural reforms to establish the foundations for inclusive and sustainable growth in the thematic areas of macro-fiscal policy; financial sector resilience, access, and deepening; private sector development, trade, and competitiveness; and governance and public sector reform, including statistical capacity. Prosperity is comprised of five Global Departments. EMAPR is under the authority of a Procurement Manager for MENAAP who directly reports to the MENAAP Prosperity Regional Practice Director.

Most MENAAP Procurement staff members are decentralized through the establishment of procurement teams in Country Offices (COs) including in: Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Afghanistan and the West Bank and Gaza. All procurement staff members are managed by a Practice Manager (PM), who is based at the World Bank Cairo, Egypt office.

The Procurement Team in Islamabad (PT) is supporting the procurement preparation and implementation of the projects in Pakistan, including preparation of new projects, procurement implementation, capacity building, national procurement system strengthening and capacity building in the project agencies. There is a country procurement team leader based in Islamabad.

Roles and Responsibilities

• The Senior Procurement Specialist will work as ADM APS for most projects in Sindh and some other projects as needed (e.g. projects in the infrastructure sector and PFM). This work covers the whole spectrum of project cycle including project preparation, implementation, completion, etc. 
• S/He should have strong knowledge of the context of Sindh Province and overall situation of Pakistan relating to project preparation and implementation. 
• S/He should have diplomatic skills to effectively support the project implementation agencies (usually lack capacity for procurement implementation) and advise the Bank’s task teams on complex procurement issues under these projects, as ADM APS of task teams. 
• The work will also involve support to project implementation agencies for performance improvements in procurement with due consideration of integrity of procurement processes, such as improvements to procurement processing procedures, improvements in contract management, capacity strengthening, etc.
• He/she will be involved in Bank’s on-going public procurement engagements with the Pakistani Governments (e.g. strengthening the national/provincial public procurement systems, capacity building, professionalization etc.). 
• Together with the colleagues of the country procurement team, s/he will contribute to fiduciary and country procurement assessments, procurement reform, use of country systems, governance and anti-corruption activities. 
• S/He will coordinate with or develop partnerships, relationships, and working arrangements with international organizations (e.g. ADB, IsDB, AIIB), and/or the related government institutions to foster greater collaboration and impact of the Bank’s efforts.

The position will be based in Karachi, Sindh Province. It is expected that the assignment will start from November/December 2025.

The selected candidate will undertake the following tasks:

1. Works independently under general direction of the APM and the team leader to deliver procurement services and ensure appropriate fiduciary and quality controls, and consistent application and interpretation of policy in making procurement decisions, provides advice to clients and the Bank task teams in handling complex procurement tasks and issues.
2. Supports the country dialogue in regard to reform and modernization of public procurement systems in Sindh and related provinces of Pakistan, to strengthen legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks and build procurement capacity, including e-procurement and data analytics, procurement certification/professionalization, system assessment, institutional capacity strengthening, etc.
3. Develops and promotes innovations under the Bank procurement policies to improve Bank project and sector work through the Bank financed projects.
4. Prepares and reviews procurement aspects of documents for the Bank’s operations, including Project Appraisal Documents, Legal Agreements, PPSD that requires procurement input or advice, and prepares a range of procurement-related documents and reports for projects.
5. Handles procurement cases up to the authorization of APS and reviews/prepares the cases subject to APM and Operations Policy Review Committee (OPRC) clearance. All the review and submission/response should be within the Bank’s required timeline and with high quality so as to avoid delays in procurement process.
6. Conducts annual or ad hoc procurement post review in line with the corporate requirement.
7. Ensures the use of electronic tools, e.g., Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement (STEP) to track exchanges in procurement with the project agencies and proactively check procurement performance and contract implementation for high-value procurement activities.
8. Provides guidance, advice and mentoring to junior colleagues in the country procurement team when needed.
9. Designs and delivers capacity building workshops for Bank staff and borrowers.
10. Other tasks instructed by APM