World Bank Ghana: Regional Relocation Analyst

Sub-Sahara Africa, with a population of around 782 million people in 47 countries is home to 36 of the world’s poorest countries. Making headway against poverty in sub-Sahara African continues to present the world with its most formidable development challenge. The Africa Region is committed to working with Africans and other development partners to make faster progress toward the MDGs, particularly cutting poverty levels in half by 2015.

The Region is comprised of approximately 1750 staff members of whom over 60% are based in the Region’s 37 field offices. The strategic thrust of the Environment and Natural Resources group includes sustainable land, water, forest coastal and marine management, climate change adaptation and mitigation and related disaster risk management; environmental governance; and ensuring sound environmental design and implementation of all projects and programs in the Africa region, including addressing environmental issues in key natural resource extraction and large infrastructure projects, and protections regional and global public goods. With a population of 24 million people, and centrally located in West Africa, Ghana is one of the economically dynamic countries in the region. The International Development Agency (IDA) is the Bank’s interest-free lending arm for the poorest countries. The Ghana portfolio currently supports about twenty-five IDA projects and 2 Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants, Bank commitments are about $1.3 billion in FY10. The Bank is the largest development partner in Ghana. The strong focus on the current portfolio is the project implementation for results and on enhancing the disbursement of the portfolio. The country portfolio cuts across a range of sectors including: Infrastructure (water supply, energy/energy and transport); Human Development (health, HIV/AIDS, education and social projects), Commercial Agriculture, Public Sector Governance, and Financial and Private Sector.

Recently, with the discovery of petroleum in Ghana, the Bank is also engaging in technical assistance as well as large scale infrastructure as well as environmental management in support this new sector. The World Bank is strongly engaged in the natural resources sector in Ghana. Along with four donors, the Bank supports the Government’s multi-year development policy effort through the Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (NREG) Program, which focuses on forestry sector, mineral sector, and environmental protection. This program is tackling key issues related to REDD+ and support for environmental management of the new petroleum sector in the country. The World Bank’s environmental and social safeguard policies are a cornerstone of its support to sustainable poverty reduction. The objective of these policies is to prevent and mitigate undue harm to people and their environment in the development process. These policies provide guidelines for Bank and borrower staff in the identification, preparation, and implementation of programs and projects.

The effectiveness and development impact of projects and programs supported by the Bank has substantially increased as a result of attention to these policies. A new disclosure policy in the World Bank also provides new opportunities to work much closer with the government, partners and civil society on environmental and social assessment. The core values guiding our work are passion for our mission of sustainable development and poverty reduction, putting needs of the client at the center of all our activities, trust and respect as a common currency, intellectual rigor and curiosity, honesty and integrity, teamwork, openness to learning and the courage to admit we do not always have the answer.

Job Description

The World Bank Office in Accra seeks applications for the position of Regional Relocation Analyst. This is a locally recruited consultant position and based in Accra, Ghana.

Supervisor: Global Mobility Specialist (HRSGM)
Manager: Manager, Global Staff Mobility and Country Director
Unit: HRSGM
Location: Accra, Ghana
Level/Grade: GE
Appointment Type: Term
Duration: Two years

The Role:
The Regional Relocation Analyst is the focal point for relocating IRS and their families. He/she will provide advice, Information and resources to help support International staff and their families during assignment. Particular emphasis is placed on providing support during the pre-assignment, the Initial stages of transition to a country office and preparation for departure to another assignment. In addition he/she will play a regional role of mentoring and supporting relocation focal points in the Regional country Offices, monitoring and evaluating services delivered by destination service providers. Selected candidate will report to and be supervised by the Manager, Global Staff Mobility and country Director. The incumbent will be mentored, coached, trained and work in close partnership with the headquarters’ Regional Global Mobility Specialists. The incumbent will work closely with the resource management/administrative and HR teams.

Duties and Accountabilities:
Regional Relocation Support:

• Help set up relocation support in other COs in the Region
• Main point of contact with the Global Staff Mobility office (HRSGM) in Washington; works closely with the Global Mobility Specialist and the Relocation Focal Points
• Act as mentor to other Relocation Assistants and maintain regular contact with them to share what’s working/not working, seek ways to Improve the process and make recommendations to the right stakeholders (HR team, local administrative team, DC mobility support team)

Pre-assignment:

• Answer location specific queries from prospective Incoming staff and families
• Provide pre-arrival information and resources to ensure successful orientation to new environment
• Plan and schedule pre-assignment appointments as per request of IRS

Housing:

• Organise neighborhood orientation tour
• Identify and monitor reliable housing realtors to work with incoming families in tandem with Relocation Assistants or Destination Service Provider
• Overview the IRS home search process
• Accompany IRS and family on home neighborhood familiarisation
• Develop and maintain an Inventory of good houses/landlords
• Keep pulse on local housing rental market i.e. Inform HRSGM and AFR RM team of any significant changes In rental and availability of housing

Education:

• Establish and maintain liaison with schools used by international families
• Visit pre-schools, child/care facilities and schools for referral service on educational options available to employees and family members at post
• Provide information to relocating staff and HRSGM on local schooling options
• Schedule school visits for staff and their families and accompany them as necessary
• Facilitate, track and inform IRS on registration process and status of school application
• Provide regular feedback on staff satisfaction with schools

Settling In support:

• Provide guidance on opening of Bank Accounts
• Provide Information on car purchase – both diplomatic and local
• Provide information the setting up of utility accounts

Relocation Support:

• Develop and manage a listserv or yahoo group that will be a relocation resource for sharing and disseminating information to staff and families
• Develop and nurture a buddy system amongst WBG families and connect incoming families
• Organise welcome coffee to Introduce especially incoming spouses to the WBG community
• Develop and update useful relocation resources e.g. list of electricians, plumbers, maid referrals and useful addresses etc
• Provide departing families with information about the closing of utilities, bank accounts and preparation for moving on to another duty station
• Introduce newcomers to administrative team and other relevant management and/or country office staff
• Ensure newcomers complete security and health briefings

Spouse/Partner Employment Liaison:

• Provide information/resources for job-search and employment integration for spouses/partners at post
• Provide information about how employment might affect spouse visas
• Build network of volunteer opportunities for spouses
• Develop and maintain a listing of job vacancies

Publications:

• Assist HRSGM In building an up-to-date depository of country specific information to help in predeparture training
• Develop and deliver a briefing on housing options, hiring and managing domestic staff, healthcare system, expatriate associations, and useful resources
• Serve as liaison with other partners
• Work with WBFN-Members Abroad
• Liaise with counterparts from other International organisations and UN agencies, Embassy community Liaison Officer and other WBG relocation counterparts
• Inform IRS and spouses of local associations they can join

Emergency & Safety Liaison:

• Represent the Interests and concerns of community members when security or crisis situations arise
• Work with the Bank Security Officer to organize security briefings, meetings, and contingency planning seminars to ensure emergency preparedness and disseminate Information

 

Required Skills or Experience

Selection Criteria:

• Masters Degree in human resources, administration, counseling, psychology intercultural studies, education or a related field
• At least 5 years of relocation Industry experience
• Strong client focus, responsive, proactive, solution-oriented
• Ability to listen to, assess and appropriately respond to needs conveyed by client
• Enjoys helping others, adaptable
• Empathy and the ability to provide practical and emotional support during transition and times of crisis
• Experience of living and/or working In at least one location apart from this current country office
• Cultural sensitivity and the ability to work in a multicultural environment
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills
• Strong English language communication skills (oral and written) and one other language would be desired
• Proven ability to work both independently and in a team of environment, in a flexible and self-motivated manner
• Ability to balance clients, client orientation, drive for results, learning and knowledge sharing
• Knowledge of expatriate life. First-hand knowledge and appreciation of the issues relating to spouses, partners, dependants and single staff in the context of a mobile lifestyle
• Local knowledge – both practical and cultural aspects of a country
• Ability to produce constructive ideas on ways In which matters of concern to management, spouses and dependents may be addressed
• Demonstrated ability to learn key HR policies as relate to relocation
• Good data gathering, research skills, and familiarly with computer and software applications, and databases, including word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of the resources available within the world Bank and the local community
• An ability to work with limited supervision, to set priorities and to allocate resources so as to achieve results effectively and efficiently

How To Apply

Interested candidates are requested to submit their applications online at www.worldbank.org/career. Once on the site look for job number111683 and follow the steps to apply.

PAPER APPLICATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED

Offer valid till: 20 Sep, 2011