E T Consultant

E T Consultant

Job #

req37373

Organization

World Bank

Sector

Education

Grade

EC2

Term Duration: 0 years 10 months

Recruitment Type

International Recruitment

Location

Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s)

English

Preferred Language(s)

Closing Date

7/9/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Build a career with impact. Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) provides a unique opportunity to help countries solve their greatest development challenges. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, the WBG is a unique partnership of five global institutions dedicated to ending poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, the WBG works 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.

Guinea is a resource-rich but economically underdeveloped country in West Africa. The economy has experienced real GDP growth averaging 5.3% between 2019 and 2024, largely driven by favorable global prices for gold and bauxite. However, this growth has not translated into broad-based job creation or poverty reduction, as the poverty rate remains high at 43.7%, with 62% of the population and 80% of the poor living in rural areas. The economy is anchored in capital-intensive mining, low-productivity agriculture (which employs 52% of the workforce), and an overwhelmingly informal private sector where 92% of businesses operate as micro-enterprises. Wage employment accounts for only 8.5% of the workforce. The ongoing Simandou 2040 Vision, anchored in the world's largest untapped iron ore deposit, aims to leverage mining revenues to diversify the economy into 14 priority sectors, including agribusiness, energy, construction, manufacturing, tourism, and healthcare.

Guinea's rapid population growth and deeply underperforming education system pose a fundamental challenge to economic transformation. Guinea's Human Capital Index score of 104, below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 126, reflects that a child born today will be only one-third as productive as they could be with full education and health. The learning crisis is acute: 83% of 10-year-olds face learning poverty, and more than half of primary school graduates lack basic reading skills. A 2023 lower-secondary assessment found that only 29.3% of students reached minimum proficiency in mathematics and French. On average, individuals complete just seven years of schooling by age 18. Access drops sharply at the secondary level, with 42% of lower secondary and 62% of upper secondary school-age children out of school in 2018, alongside significant gender disparities (55.5% of girls versus 35.9% of boys out of secondary school). TVET enrollment remains low at 10.9% of secondary learners, and nearly one in three youth aged 15 to 24 are not in education, employment, or training, a rate that rises to one in two among rural young women. Employers consistently report difficulty finding candidates with the necessary technical and transversal competencies, while labor intermediation services remain small-scale and fragmented. These compounding challenges, including a growing youth population, poor education quality, weak skills systems, and limited job opportunities, pose a major obstacle to Guinea's human capital development and sustained economic growth.

The World Bank has a long-standing engagement in the education sector in Guinea, with a series of closed operations, including the Stepping Up Skills Project (P146474), the Basic Education Pooled Fund (P148127), and the Project for Results in Early Childhood and Basic Education (P167478), that have built a foundation of institutional relationships and sector knowledge. Building on these lessons, the Guinea Skills for Innovation, Resilience, and Aspirations (SIRA) Phase 1 (P511651) is currently under preparation as part of the broader SIRA Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach (MPA), and will support the development of skills acquisition ecosystems aligned with Guinea's priority value chains and the Simandou 2040 Vision. The World Bank also coordinates closely with operations in agriculture (P514713), energy (P511453), health (P506072), digital transformation (P176932), and private sector development (P164283) to maximize complementarity and sectoral impact.

The World Bank education and skills team in Guinea is a key technical partner on the education landscape, providing technical assistance to the government, policy dialogue on reform priorities, and coordination among technical and financial partners. The team manages trust funds and partnerships spanning basic education, foundational learning, and skills development, and works closely with the relevant line ministries, the Ministry of National Education, Pre-University Education and Literacy (MENA-ETFP) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS), to support coordinated governance and the development of a coherent National Qualifications Framework.

The World Bank is seeking a qualified Extended Term Consultant to support the task team in: engaging in high-quality policy dialogue with government counterparts and stakeholders on key issues in education and skills development; providing timely and quality implementation support to the government on lending operations; supporting the preparation of new lending programs, including the SIRA Phase 1 operation for Guinea; and supporting analytical work and technical assistance. The consultant may also provide cross-support to other country units and contribute to the preparation of future operations under the SIRA MPA, which may include Phase 2 and 3 countries such as Cameroon, Togo, Mali, and others as the program expands across West and Central Africa.

Scope of Work Main responsibilities include

• Operations and Portfolio Support: As a member of the team, provide high-quality and timely implementation support for the Guinea SIRA operation and the broader education and skills portfolio, including identifying bottlenecks and proposing solutions, participating in supervision missions, and drafting project documents such as ISRs, aide-mémoires, and implementation support briefs. Provide timely advice and support to clients in implementing projects, drawing on the Bank's full range of lending instruments, and help build the capacity of education ministries, institutions, and government officials.
• Policy Dialogue: Identify and nurture opportunities to participate in the broader policy dialogue in Guinea, particularly on TVET and skills development reform, workforce development, and education-to-employment transitions. Prepare briefing notes and stakeholder engagement materials, and support the government in using findings from policy research and analytical work to develop new policies and strategic directions for the education sector.
• Analytical Work and Non-Lending Services: Lead and contribute to the design, preparation, and dissemination of analytical products, including sector assessments, skills gap analyses, labor market assessments, policy notes, impact evaluations, public expenditure reviews, and case studies. Provide input on a range of issues, such as education finance, management and governance, teacher policies, and skills development, to respond to critical policy questions that impact policy and operational design.
• Fundraising and New Business Development: Work closely with the team to identify, develop, and support new areas of engagement, including piloting innovative solutions to the learning crisis and skills scarcity in Guinea.
• Client Capacity Building: Build client capacity to use findings from policy research and analytical work for developing new policies. Provide technical advice on key issues and strategic directions for Guinea's education sector, bringing relevant international experience and research to assist in developing local solutions.
• Partnerships and Trust Fund Management: Work closely with funding partners, including trust fund partners, and lead coordination and collaboration among partners. Support the delivery of Trust Funds in Guinea and maintain and strengthen relationships with key government counterparts and development partners to support implementation and reform uptake.
• Cross-Sectoral Coordination: Contribute to cross-sectoral coordination on labor force and skills development within the World Bank and with IFC, in alignment with Country Partnership Frameworks and World Bank Group-wide solutions such as AgriConnect and M300, ensuring that skills interventions contribute to national priorities.
• SIRA MPA Pipeline and Phase 2 Preparation: Contribute to the preparation of future phases of the SIRA MPA across the AFW region, including country pipeline development, technical inputs to concept notes and program documents, cross-country learning and knowledge synthesis, and engagement with regional stakeholders and governments on skills for jobs agendas. The consultant may also contribute to the implementation of the INSPIRE grant in alignment with broader portfolio objectives, and support the integration of skills and refugee education considerations into pipeline operations where relevant. Deliverables
• Portfolio Implementation Support and Capacity Building: Provide hands-on support for the implementation of education and multi-sectoral projects, ensuring timely advice to clients and building the capacity of ministries and institutions to manage Bank-financed operations effectively.
• Analytical Work and Policy Advisory: Lead or contribute to the design, preparation, and dissemination of analytical products (such as sector assessments, policy notes, and impact evaluations) and use these findings to advise clients on strategic directions and policy development for the education sector. Partnership Development and Coordination: Facilitate collaboration and coordination among funding partners, including trust fund contributors and other donors, to align objectives, leverage resources, and maximize impact in the education sector.
• Fundraising and Business Development: Identify and support new business opportunities, including piloting innovative solutions to address learning crises and skills gaps, and contribute to resource mobilization efforts through proposals and engagement with trust funds and external partners.

Selection Criteria

The World Bank is seeking a candidate with the following qualifications:

• Master's degree or equivalent in economics, public policy, education, international development, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in the education sector, human capital development, or a closely related field.
• Experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected, or low-income country contexts.
• Demonstrated experience supporting the preparation or implementation of education or skills development operations.
• Ability to draft key project documents, including concept notes, aide-mémoires, ISRs, and program appraisal documents.
• Prior experience working with or within the World Bank or a comparable multilateral development institution.
• Familiarity with trust fund management and results monitoring.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills, including sector diagnostics, skills gap analyses, labor market assessments, and public expenditure reviews.
• Proficiency in statistical software such as R, Stata, or equivalent tools.
• Experience with education in fragile and conflict-affected settings, refugee education, or EdTech is desirable.
• Demonstrated knowledge of TVET reform, foundational learning, workforce development, and education-to-employment transitions.
• Knowledge of regional dynamics in West and Central Africa, and of country-specific education challenges in Guinea, is an advantage.
• Full professional fluency in French and English, spoken and written, is required. Proficiency in Portuguese or Spanish is an asset.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to produce technical reports, policy notes, and briefing materials.
• Proven ability to engage effectively with senior government officials, development partners, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural, fast-paced team environment and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

WBG Culture Attributes

• Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders. 2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact. 3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

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