Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist

Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist

Job #: req33214

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Infrastructure

Grade: GG

Term Duration: 4 years 0 months

Recruitment Type: International Recruitment

Location: Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): French

Closing Date: 6/2/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs); a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work 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. For more information, visit

Infrastructure Vertical

Globally, one billion people live more than 2 kilometers from all-weather roads, 685 million people lack electricity, and nearly 4 billion people lack internet access. Access to basic infrastructure services is critical for creating economic opportunities for the poor. The Infrastructure (INF) Vertical within the World Bank is charged with developing sustainable solutions to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies. It currently consists of four global departments: Energy & Extractives (EEX); Transport (TRA); Urban, Resilience and Land (URL), and the Infrastructure Finance Department (IFD). It oversees the Bank's work across energy and transport sectors, urban development, as well as efforts to promote energy transition, low-carbon transportation, livable cities, disaster risk resilience, land management, and quality infrastructure services through public-private partnerships. Infrastructure represents around $110 billion of the Bank’s portfolio. For more information:

Infrastructure Finance Department

The Infrastructure Finance Department (IFD) supports the Bank’s efforts to increase private sector engagement in sustainable, inclusive, and quality infrastructure across EMDEs. Private participation in infrastructure (PPI) encompasses a range of operational and financial models, from established PPP structures, such as shared public and private ownership financed through availability and concession payments, to full private ownership of infrastructure projects supported by public sector financing to enable commercial viability as well as affordability of service provision. IFD engages with governments and private clients across this spectrum, designing tools that optimize public resources and WB financing to enable greater private investment.

IFD works across the infrastructure finance life cycle from (i) upstream advice on strategic prioritization and planning for infrastructure investment programs, support for policy and regulatory strengthening, and institutional capacity building; (ii) midstream funding for project preparation, including analysis of the most appropriate financing models; and (iii) downstream advice on structuring alternative options to public finance that incentivize sustainable private sector participation. In doing so, IFD helps Bank teams and client countries to design programs that encourage private investment and ultimately expand private capital mobilization (PCM) and private capital enabling (PCE) results.

PPP Group Overview

Within IFD, the PPP Group is a global center of expertise for raising private capital for priority infrastructure. In supporting Bank task teams, it works closely with the Unified Guarantees Platform, MIGA and the different parts of IFC.

Specifically, the PPP Group works in the following areas:

• Financial innovation and leadership on the private capital mobilization agenda. PPP Group experts work with Bank task teams to structure public sector financing (helping develop Bank engagements and structuring the Bank financing) to maximize sustainable private sector participation in infrastructure projects. While structuring the Bank operation, the PPP Group is at the center of work to scale up WBG impact - structuring the underlying project to advance with minimal public support and a clear pathway to effective distribution to the private sector (using operational flexibilities such as step-up lending/O2D) and making effective use of Unified Guarantee Platform instruments to reduce risks and improve the bankability of projects.

• Capacity Building and Regulatory Reform. The PPP Group provides expertise/advisory services to internal and external clients in the areas of policy reforms, institutional reforms, structuring of PPPs, PPP ecosystem development as well as pipeline development for private participation models. The Group also supports the development of PPP institutions, legal frameworks, and builds country capacity.

• Infrastructure Analytics. The PPP Group is the Bank’s global hub for analysis and reporting on infrastructure finance. The PPP Group houses several PPP flagship knowledge platforms, including the PPI Database, the Benchmarking Infrastructure Development report, the PPP Fiscal Risk Assessment Model (PFRAM) for valuing and managing contingent liabilities and fiscal exposure from PPPs, alongside a range of other tools. The PPP Group supports task teams and clients to assess infrastructure priorities and identify binding constraints on delivery, through analytical tools including the Infrastructure Sector Assessment Program (InfraSAP).

Duties and accountabilities:

The PPP Group now requires the services of a Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist to advise Bank teams to appropriately develop Bank sector engagements and structure Bank operations to attract private sector capital into priority investments. This includes, with full understanding of client sector priorities, Bank task team engagement to date and relevant sector context, the development of appropriate and workable financing approaches. This requires building relationships with and managing internal clients (task teams and CMUs) and external clients (banks, institutional investors, credit analysts), and working closely with Bank task teams to support the full preparation and implementation of the Bank operations. Throughout, the Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist will provide close coordination with, as needed, the Unified Guarantees Platform, MIGA and/or IFC teams in relation to the Bank engagement. Specific tasks may include:

• Designing the Bank operation with a minimal role for public funds in the context of a private sector project or of developing opportunities for distribution of a public project to the private sector.

• Providing strategic advisory services to Bank teams and clients as needed, support in procurement of project finance transaction advisory teams and oversee delivery of such services in support of Bank teams and clients.

• Upstream engagement with investors and financiers/market sounding work.

• Financial analysis of sustainable development operations in infrastructure, from both the private sector and public sector perspective (this may require supervision of less experienced team members working on the financial models).

• Risk assessment and risk allocation for such operations.

• Transaction design and transaction implementation for PPP infrastructure projects.

• Assessment of readiness of infrastructure projects to be taken to financial markets for long term funding.

• Effective use of public budget support in the development of PPPs (i.e. design of supplemental subsidies, government guarantees etc.) in order to maximize private capital mobilization strategies.

• Design and development of institutional mechanisms to encourage PPP and focus skills and resources on project development, risk management policies for effective administration of public contingent liabilities when supporting infrastructure PPPs and legal/regulatory regimes to manage and encourage PPP.

• Financial structuring of subsidy mechanisms such as results-based approaches to mobilize private financing into provision of basic infrastructure services to low-income households.

• Development of long-term local currency debt instruments to support sustainable infrastructure development.

• Engagement with the Unified Guarantees Platform, MIGA and IFC teams to source appropriate and effective WBG guarantee products.

• Input to project documents and Bank documents.

• Actively participate in Infrastructure finance knowledge management for the Bank Group, focusing on disseminating best practice and lessons learned across the Bank, internal training and external outreach.

Selection Criteria

• Candidates should have at least a Master’s degree in a relevant subject (such as economics, finance, public policy, law, business administration, engineering, or related fields).

• At least 8 years of relevant experience including work for a bank, consultancy, project sponsor or similar firm with considerable exposure to infrastructure sector financing work. Experience should be in one or more of the following sectors: energy, transport and water. It is expected that the candidate would have an understanding of sector policy, regulatory and contractual issues.

• Demonstrated experience in key areas of Project Finance, including but not limited to: award of concession/rights to project development; concession & contractual framework analysis; project risk identification and analysis; public-private sector risk allocation; financial markets, instruments & institutions; types and sources of political risk insurance, including those provided by bi-lateral agencies.

• Familiarity with analytical tools in financial analysis, experience in corporate finance and restructuring, and ability to interpret and understand financial statements and accounts.

• Capability to assess policy issues and interrelationships of infrastructure sectors, macroeconomics and country strategies.

• Knowledgeable in project management and implementation particularly of infrastructure sectors.

• Ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments, and adjust to and prioritize a variety of complex and evolving tasks.

• Strong drafting, organizational, research, and oral presentation skills.

• Proven ability to work in a team and multi-cultural environment, with minimal supervision.

• Hands-on and action-oriented approach.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.

• Additional language skill desirable: French.

• Enthusiasm for and commitment to development work.

• Willing to travel to remote areas and on a regular basis.

• Experience in translating technical knowledge into practical application in developing country contexts.

• Prior experience of World Bank operations a considerable plus.

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.