WB IFC Pakistan-OPP Work Experience Program

Are you a graduate or post-graduate student at Oxford university or a Pakistani university aiming for a career in international development? Join the World Bank Group this November for the exciting new Pakistan Work Experience Program! We are launching this program as a pilot phase for now and will continue to expand our outreach.

The Pakistan Work Experience Program is designed to introduce a group of qualified post-graduate students to the World Bank and IFC (Pakistan office) by offering hands-on opportunities to contribute to development work in Pakistan. Selected candidates will be able to improve their own skills in a diverse environment dedicated to ending extreme poverty and boosting prosperity. They will benefit from:

• (i) opportunities for onboarding and training;
• (ii) networking, mentoring, and coaching from World Bank and IFC staff and the Oxford Pakistan Program.
• (iii) hands on experience in select projects including client meetings and site visits.

The Pakistan Work Experience Program is targeted at highly motivated and qualified individuals from Oxford University and Pakistani universities. The scheme will be run in partnership with the Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP), an Oxford University-based initiative that seeks to promote academic linkages between Oxford and Pakistan. Through a partnership with the OPP, the World Bank and IFC Pakistan offices will offer up to 9 short-term assignments for the first cohort starting this fall. For these assignments, students will be selected from local universities in Pakistan, while a selection of students will be engaged from the University of Oxford. The assignments will span a period of six to eight weeks (November – January 2022). The specific Terms of Reference for the first cohort of assignments will cover the fields of private sector development, agriculture, social development, climate change, and education.

Selected candidates will be offered paid short-term temporary consulting contracts with the World Bank and IFC Pakistan offices for the period specified by each hiring unit. They will be hosted by the Country Offices and Task Teams that have posted the task-based Terms of Reference. The call for applications was launched October 17, 2022, applications close on November 9, 2022, and selection will be finalized by November 23, 2022. Assignments begin on November 30, 2022.

Opportunities for Students:

• Assignment 01 – Agriculture Sector, WB
• Assignment 02 – Agriculture Sector, IFC
• Assignment 03 – Education PER, WB
• Assignment 04 – Energy Global Practice, WB
• Assignment 05 – Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI), IFC
• Assignment 06 – Trade, WB
• Assignment 07 – Transport (A), WB
• Assignment 08 – Transport (S), WB
• Assignment 09 – Water Sector

General requirements:

To be eligible for an assignment, candidates must have an undergraduate degree, either be enrolled in or recently completed a full-time graduate study program (pursuing a master's degree or PhD with plans to return to school full-time). There is no age limit.

Applicants should have a strong interest in and commitment to international development, and enthusiasm for working in multicultural teams and across borders.

Fluency in verbal and written English is required. Other skills such as computing skills are desirable. Knowledge of other languages, such as: Urdu, Arabic, and other local languages, are advantageous.

We value diversity in our workplace, and encourage all qualified individuals, particularly women, with diverse professional and academic backgrounds to apply. Our aim is to attract and recruit the best talent from Pakistan and Oxford.

Application and selection process:

The World Bank and IFC (Pakistan office) will accept applications through email from October 17 through November 9. Applications will be reviewed by the Human Resources team and recommended for longlisting. Individual hiring departments will review candidates and short-list them based on their respective business needs. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews. Final decisions by the hiring department(s) are expected to conclude by November 23, 2022.

All candidates will be required to submit the following information:

• “Work Experience 2022 – TOR # and applicant’s name” in the email subject line
• Your CV
• Proof of enrolment/completion of graduate program
• A cover letter, that specifies the assignment you are applying for and discusses why you are suited for this role, and a sample of your academic writing (of approx. 1000 words)

For students applying from the University of Oxford, please attach the above requested documents to:info@oxpakprogramme.org, cc’ing adeel.malik@qeh.ox.ac.uk and talha.pirzada@materials.ox.ac.uk, with the email subject title “Work Experience 2022 – TOR # and applicant’s name”.  Please use the TOR number that corresponds to the placement for which you are applying. The final date your application can be sent to will be November 9, 2022 noon BST. Please note that the pak_assignments@worldbank.org email is for students applying from Pakistani universities only.

For students applying from within Pakistan, please send your application documents to pak_assignments@worldbank.org with the email subject title “Work Experience 2022 – TOR # and applicant’s name”. Please use the TOR number that corresponds to the placement for which you are applying. Please note that pak_assignments@worldbank.org will become inactive on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 6.00pm, marking the close of applications for this period. Please be sure to submit your application in advance of this time.

Please note that applicants may only apply for one assignment listed above. The selection team will not be able to look at applicants who submit applications for more than one listed assignment.

Students from Pakistani universities will be required to be recommended by their university. Please refer to the FAQs for any additional questions on the program and application process.

Remuneration and duration:

The WB or IFC Pakistan offices will pay an hourly rate for all assignments. Participants are responsible for their own accommodation. Usually, work experience opportunities are for a minimum of four weeks and can extend up to six to eight weeks.

Q&A Webinar:

Please note that there will be a webinar held on Friday, October 28, 2022 for students with questions about the application process. If the FAQs document provided here does not answer your question, we strongly encourage you to attend this session, as we will not be able to answer questions via the pak_assignments@worldbank.org email address.

The World Bank and IFC in Pakistan

Pakistan has been a member of the World Bank since 1950. Since then, the World Bank has provided $40 billion in assistance. The World Bank Group’s program in Pakistan is governed by the Country Partnership Strategy for FY2015-2020 with four priority areas of engagement: energy, private sector development, inclusion, and service delivery. The current portfolio has 59 projects and a total commitment of $14 billion.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Pakistan has been operational since 1956. IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Over the decades, IFC has cumulatively invested $10 billion in Pakistan including short term financing and mobilization. IFC has a committed portfolio of $1.3 billion across 46 companies in the country.

About the Oxford Pakistan Programme 

The OPP is a development vehicle based at the University of Oxford which aims to enhance graduate access for Pakistanis and build productive academic links between Oxford University and Pakistan. The program includes a number of coordinated offerings, including graduate scholarships for Pakistani and British-Pakistani students, research grants, and a visiting scholars’ program. Further details about the OPP and its offerings are available at the following website: https://oxpakprogramme.org/