Practice Manager, Procurement, AFE

Practice Manager, Procurement, AFE

Job #

req37498

Organization

World Bank

Sector

Procurement

Grade

GH

Term Duration: 5 years 0 months

Recruitment Type

International Recruitment

Location

Nairobi,Kenya

Required Language(s)

English

Preferred Language(s)

Closing Date

7/31/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions driven by a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, we help solve the world’s greatest development challenges. When you join the World Bank Group, you become part of a dynamic, diverse organization with 189 member countries and 182 offices worldwide. We work with public and private sector partners, invest in groundbreaking projects, and use data, research, and technology to bring tangible and transformative change around the globe. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) Region

Home to about 700 million people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/eastern-and-southern-africa

The Region has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on key priorities with the end goal of promoting quality jobs for its growing working age population. Towards that end, the Region has prioritized macroeconomic stability, expanding access to power, digital development, agriculture, water and sanitation, and human capital.

The Region is looking for dedicated professionals to join our dynamic and diverse team. We need the best and brightest talent to bring innovative ideas, global solutions, and strong partnerships to harness the potential of the people in our client countries.

EAEDR-Departmental context

The Prosperity Africa East department (EAE) consists of 260+ staff of which over two-thirds are decentralized in country offices. Prosperity AFE is led by the Regional Practice Director (RPD) who is supported by the management team including 9 Practice Managers from all Prosperity GPs (FCI, Governance, Procurement, Economic Policy, and Poverty and Equity) covering the 6 Country Management Units (CMUs) in the AFE region. The department has a strong and growing lending pipeline. EAE teams also work on delivering a rich program of strategic ASAs. A hallmark of the staff’s work is their collaboration across PGs, GPs, and organizational units to provide integrated solutions for our clients.

The major focus of the department’s work is on inclusive growth and resilience through addressing economic policy distortions, promoting private sector development, strengthening governance, and ensuring equity. In addition, the fiduciary teams within EAEDR provide critical support across the large volume of AFE operations.

Within the Africa East Vice Presidency, Prosperity is seeking to recruit an outstanding Procurement Practice Manager based in Nairobi, Kenya. The unit covers countries under Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania CMUs in the Africa East Region

The remaining three CMUs (South Africa, Mozambique, and DRC) are managed by another Procurement Practice Manager based in Pretoria, South Africa. The two Procurement PMs collaborate closely to ensure knowledge exchange, effectiveness, and consistency of operations across the region.

The Unit will play a major role within the countries of the three CMUs in supporting governments and non-governmental actors in institutional strengthening and capacity building, improvement and modernization of procurement systems and ensuring efficiency of transactions for improved governance and enhanced development outcomes.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Practice Manager will collaborate across technical, geographic, and institutional boundaries to help design and deliver development solutions to a diverse range of clients, while supporting global knowledge flows that share knowledge and practical development experience with other countries, assuring that lessons from outside the region are reflecting in the Bank-supported programs. The PM is a member of the Prosperity Eastern and Southern Africa Leadership Team and coordinates closely with the other Procurement PM, other Practice Managers of the Prosperity Department, and the Regional Management Team. The PM is also a member of the Procurement Global Practice Leadership Team which sets the strategic global direction of the GP, which includes membership in the Procurement Talent Board to oversee the strategic staffing, career development and deployment of GP staff across the Bank.

The PM is responsible for the following areas

• Advising Regional management and teams on a broad range of procurement issues, related operational issues across sectors/sub-sectors and public procurement reform interventions.
• Ensuring consistent application of the procurement policy in decisions, handle difficult reform dialogue, and play a key role in developing innovative and practical approaches to the preparation of operations, including those with significant public procurement components.
• Overseeing successful implementation of the new Procurement Policy Framework.
• Leading the development and implementation of strategies for national procurement reforms.
• Creating space for innovation in public procurement and join global conversations to develop cutting-edge knowledge generation and sharing; and
• Participating in Prosperity Regional and Global Management meetings.
• Support client countries in achieving value for money in public procurement to enhance service delivery and development outcomes with integrity.
• Create space for procurement/governance innovation.
• Establish proactive processes to identify and deploy knowledge to solve specific problems, and improve development outcomes in client countries; and
• Facilitate and join global platforms to share knowledge and practices across the world.
• Advise Senior Management, Bank staff on strategy and a broad range of procurement issues, related operational issues across sectors/sub-sectors and public procurement reform interventions.
• Ensure consistent application of the procurement policy in decisions, handle difficult reform dialogues, participate in groundbreaking initiatives, and play a key role in developing innovative and practical approaches to the preparation of operations, including those with significant public procurement components.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s or PhD degree in relevant field (e.g. Accounting, Engineering, Law, Procurement, Finance, Business, Public Administration), with a minimum of 12 years of relevant experience in positions of increasing complexity and responsibility.
• Excellent leadership and supervisory skills with established track record managing multi-location and virtual teams.
• Strong operational and development experience and track record, including experience in more than one Global Practice/VPU (including IBRD, MIGA, and IFC), and in more than one world region of those relevant to these positions.
• Technical knowledge and experience in one or more of the areas described above is desirable, though solid managerial and influencing skills are at a premium for these positions.
• Demonstrated in-depth experience and track record of results and successfully working across practices, disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
• Strong sense of strategy, including ability to prioritize and exit some activities, track record in streamlining and rationalizing product offerings.
• Good partnership experience, including involving multiple stakeholders – both public and private – in building collaborative alliances for results.
• Experience in applying practice know-how and effective policy dialogue to achieve development results.
• Strong written and oral communication skills with proven experience in dealing with the media, external constituencies, and expert groups.
• Proficiency in English is required.

WBG Leadership Values and Managerial Behaviors

• Leadership of Self: Role model the change and values for WBG; Demonstrate courage of convictions, ownership and self-mastery within the organization in accordance with our values.
• People Leadership: Lead and inspire staff to perform and deliver for better results; Help others achieve their fullest potential through coaching and mentorship.
• Collaborative Leadership: Be mutually accountable for entire WBG’s corporate targets and success; Work across WBG and with clients and partners to achieve better results.
• Client Solutions Leadership: Be the leading provider of development solutions for country clients; Provide leadership in both knowledge generation and knowledge sharing.
• Decisive Leadership: Take informed risks and make decisions in a transparent manner resulting in transformative impact for clients; Commit to decisions once they have been made.

Note: This internal requisition is open to WBG and IMF staff only (including short-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries). External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate applies, their application will not be considered.

WBG Managerial Competencies

WBG Culture Attributes

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

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.