World Bank Group Young Professionals Program

Minimum Requirements

The following are the minimum requirements to be eligible for the Young Professionals Program.

• Citizenship of a member country of the World Bank
• 32 years of age or younger (i.e. born on or after October 1, 1984)
• A PhD or Master’s degree and relevant work experience[?]
• Fluency in English
• Full proficiency in one or more of the WBG’s working languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish is desired but not required.
• Specialization in a field relevant to the WBG Technical/Operations such as economics, finance, education, public health, social sciences, engineering, urban planning, agriculture, natural resources, and others.
• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience related to development or continued academic study at the doctoral level.

Additional Qualifications

To be competitive for the limited number of positions, a combination of the following credentials is highly desirable:

• Display a commitment and passion for international development
• Possess outstanding academic credentials
• Exhibit excellent client engagement and team leadership skills
• Have international development country experience
• Be motivated to relocate and undertake country assignments (operational stream)

Program Features:

• Every year, around 40 applicants are accepted into the Young Professionals Program.
• Young Professionals are offered a 5-year term contract, spend 24 months in a structured development program, and enjoy a variety of benefits and opportunities.

Professional Experience

Placed directly with their respective hiring teams, Young Professionals are expected to make significant contributions towards the unit’s work program while they gain a broad overview of the WBG’s policies and work

Field Work

During the Program, Young Professionals assigned to the Operations stream are likely to join colleagues on field business trips, also called ˜missions in developing countries.

Training

A comprehensive development curriculum has been designed to ensure that WBG YPs develop a WBG mindset, gain quickly the foundational learning needed to understand and contribute to the WBG, and build the competencies required at an officer’s level: collaboration, leadership, integrative thinking, and innovation skills, while strengthening a culture of continuous learning.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary:

As an entry-level professional in the WBG, Young Professionals are offered an internationally competitive salary, based on their education and professional experience.

Health, Life, Accident and Other Insurance Programs:

Young Professionals and their families (including declared domestic partners) may choose from three comprehensive medical/dental benefit plans. The WBG also provides basic life and accident insurance to all staff at no cost, and staff can elect optional life and accident insurance plans. The WBG also provides disability and Workers’ Compensation coverage to staff at no cost.

Pension Plan:

The WBG sponsors a comprehensive pension plan for eligible staff. Upon separation from the WBG, either a lump sum or a pension will become payable to the staff based on eligibility.

Relocation Benefits on Appointment:

These benefits are only applicable to staff who are not residents of the Greater Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area at the time of appointment.

• Relocation Travel: The World Bank will bear the cost of one-way transportation of staff and immediate dependent family from the staff member’s residence.
• Relocation Shipment: You may choose to have the World Bank handle your shipping arrangements, or you may elect the Optional Shipment Grant.
• Relocation Grant: A one-time grant is included in the first paycheck to cover the cost of relocation.

Mobility Premium: A financial benefit is provided for a fixed period of time to cover expenses associated with being an expatriate staff member, based on family size and nationality. This benefit is not available for U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents who are based in Washington D.C.

Tax Allowance: U.S. staff receive an additional quarterly payment to cover the U.S., state and local income tax liabilities on their World Bank income. Expatriates and U.S. permanent residents do not incur U.S. income tax liability and are thus not eligible for this benefit.

Timeline:

• June 13-July 27, 2016 – Application Period
• July-September 2016 – Review of all applications to ensure that candidates meet the eligibility criteria – Update of status to all candidates (candidates moving to the second round and those who are not moving forward)
• October 2016 – Technical Review of second round candidates. This review by the potential hiring teams, takes a closer look into the application package of the candidates and determines those candidates who will be selected for interviews.
• Mid-November-December 2016 – Update of status to all candidates (candidates invited to interviews and those who are not moving forward in the process)
  – Setup of the YPP interviews (WBG Headquarters in Washington, D.C.-USA and WBG Office in Paris-France)
• December 2016-January 2017 – YPP interviews
• February 2017- Decision and offers communicated
• September 2017- New YP cohort starts

Apply Now for the 2017 World Bank Group Young Professionals Program

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the World Bank Group Young Professionals Program (YPP) 2017