Senior External Affairs Officer

Job #: req36100
Organization: World Bank
Sector: Communications
Grade: GG
Term Duration:  2 years 0 months
Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment
Location: Maputo,Mozambique
Required Language(s): English and Portuguese
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date: 4/10/2026 (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 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 developing countries; 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. Please visit www.worldbank.org.
External and Corporate Relations Vice-Presidency (ECR)
The mission of External and Corporate Relations (ECR) is to help deliver financial and political support for the WBG, strengthen the WBG’s role as a global thought leader in development by enhancing and safeguarding its reputation, and supporting operational teams to achieve country outcomes. ECR manages corporate communications and global engagement with key stakeholders, including media, civil society, foundations, private sector, donor countries, and international organizations, as well as employee engagement. ECR also manages strategic communications for the WBG’s Regions and technical units and leads the management of reputation risk.
External and Corporate Relations Eastern and Southern Africa, ECRAE
The East Africa External and Corporate Relations Department (ECRAE) manages strategic communications in support of the Bank's work in Eastern and Southern Africa. In particular, the communications program is directed at building understanding and support for the work of the World Bank Group and ensuring the full spectrum of views and information is brought into the Group's decision-making. The mission of ECRAE is to connect and engage with diverse stakeholders to communicate about the World Bank’s mission to end poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet, promote an informed and evidence-based debate about development in the region, and enhance the Bank’s reputation as an effective development partner for the countries in the region. ECRAE’s key audiences include government officials, think tanks, business leaders, civil society organizations, development partners, journalists, and internal decision makers within the World Bank
ECRAE is seeking an experienced, strategic, and highly motivated Senior External Affairs Officer for a country management unit (CMU) which covers 5 countries: Mozambique, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. The appointed staff will be based in Maputo, Mozambique. 
More information on Mozambique: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mozambique
More information on Comoros: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/comoros
More information on Madagascar: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/madagascar
More information on Mauritius: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mauritius
More information on Seychelles: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/seychelles
The Senior Officer will serve as the lead strategist and senior advisor on external affairs, shaping and executing a comprehensive communications and stakeholder engagement program that positions the WBG as a partner of choice and strengthens results on the ground.
The Senior Officer will lead the design and implementation of a communications strategy for Mozambique, integrating the four ECR business lines—Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Business Marketing, Advocacy & Campaigns, and Risk & Issue Management—to ensure strong alignment with operational priorities and WBG’s country strategy. The role requires seasoned judgment, political awareness, diplomacy and the ability to influence, anticipate risks, and craft compelling narratives and stories that demonstrate impact, support reforms and mobilize partners, including the private sector. 
The Senior External Affairs Officer will report to the ECRAE External Affairs Manager and serve as a core member of the WBG regional communications team. 
The Senior External Officer will collaborate closely with colleagues across IBRD/IDA, IFC, and MIGA to ensure an integrated “One World Bank Group” approach.
1. Stakeholder Engagement 
• Lead the design and execution of a strategic stakeholder engagement plan that deepens relationships across government, private sector, development partners, civil society, academia, media, and youth.
• Build high-level partnerships that expand WBG influence and support reform momentum.
• Provide advice to the Division Director, Country Managers and operational teams on engagement strategies, political dynamics, and stakeholder risks.
• Serve as the senior liaison with national and subnational organizations, strengthening trust and enhancing the visibility of WBG programs.
• Convene dialogues and public forums that support policy discussions and amplify support for critical reforms.
• Lead proactive two-way communications, capturing insights and feeding them back into country strategy, operations, and narratives.
• Proactively identify, assess, and elevate stakeholder-driven issues with the potential to cause reputational risk for the World Bank Group. 
2. Strategic Business Marketing 
• Position the WBG as a strategic partner in Mozambique and the other four countries in the unit, articulating how the integrated public-private WBG helps to accelerate reforms and maximize development impact.
• Develop high-impact communications strategies that shape country and regional narratives around jobs, private-sector-led growth, resilience, energy security, and institutional reform.
• Develop and manage a suite of marketing products including strong client testimonials to inform outreach to prospects (governments, companies) and partners; success stories; reform overviews showing progress; strategic business narratives; case studies; thought-leadership products.
• Identify and elevate flagship projects, reform milestones, and success stories that demonstrate results and generate demand for WBG engagement.
• Lead engagement with communications counterparts in WBG private sector arms to highlight private capital mobilization and private-sector solutions messages in the country program.
3. Advocacy and Campaigns 
• Lead the design and rollout of high-visibility advocacy campaigns that mobilize stakeholders around reform priorities and WBG-supported initiatives in Mozambique.
• Coordinate participation in regional and global advocacy efforts by localizing messages and providing examples from the countries in the unit.
• Proactively profile the impact of the World Bank Group’s support in Mozambique, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles showcasing development results across media, stakeholder engagement, and WBG platforms.
• Ensure consistent, selective, and strategically targeted messaging across all channels.
• Oversee production of speeches, op-eds, press releases, talking points, and multimedia content with high standards of clarity and quality.
• Translate complex policy and technical concepts into compelling, accessible narratives for diverse audiences.
• Strengthen the country office’s capacity to deliver impactful campaigns and digital storytelling.
4. Risk and Issue Management
• Anticipate, identify, and assess emerging political or reputational risks and proactively manage issues that may affect WBG engagement in Mozambique. 
• Provide timely, senior-level advice to the Division Director and Country Managers, ECR management, and regional leadership on risk exposure, positioning, and response options.
• Maintain and contribute to weekly reputational risk report, ensure heatmap entries are up to date. Develop issue notes, one-minute briefs, scenario plans and other materials as needed.
• Lead mitigation strategies for sensitive operations and high-profile issues and inspection panel cases, ensuring coordinated institutional responses.
• Lead mitigation and response strategies for sensitive operations, high profile issues, and Inspection Panel cases, ensuring coordinated, institutionally aligned actions across WBG and ECR teams. 
• Serve as the primary point of contact with ECR’s regional and corporate risk teams to ensure alignment, speed, and consistency of responses.
• Provide analysis on political developments that may have implications for WBG engagement. 
• Facilitate political economy briefings from external experts for the Country Office, on issues including elections, governance and sectoral developments related to the Bank’s program.
• Guide media engagement and manage high-stakes inquiries with discretion and sound judgment.
• Review key corporate documents (for Operational Committee, OVP, IPN, etc.) for messaging, stakeholder issues, and reputational risk and provide written comments if needed. 
5. Corporate Coordination and Innovation
• Lead efforts towards a unified WBG narrative and leverage cross-institutional opportunities, by ensuring that both public and private perspectives/impact are reflected
• Maintain equal and solid understanding of IBRD, IDA, IFC and MIGA operations in the team under supervision, if any.
• Drive innovation in communications through creative approaches—such as content partnerships, influencer engagement, dissemination via key partner and client channels, third-party expert voices, digital storytelling, and data-driven communications—to amplify strategic campaigns.
• Represent the region in global ECR initiatives, contributing to professional development, best practices, and WBG-wide priorities.
• Mentor—and sometimes supervise —junior staff and contribute to strengthening capacity across the regional communications network.
• Support ECR management efforts to drive integration of communications function across WBG through active team collaboration, delivery against joint objectives, implementation of joint systems and processes.

Selection Criteria

• We require a relevant mix of education and experience: Master’s degree with 8 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience in a relevant discipline (communication, journalism, public affairs, international affairs, or other related fields). 
• Experience working in an international environment and in-depth knowledge of international trends and political/economic issues related to development. 
• Knowledge of and experience working in Mozambique, in government and/or public institutions, or other entities - private sector, business associations, CSOs, think tanks and other key local actors.
• An understanding of WBG operations; up-to-date knowledge of current development topics and issues, and ability to identify communications and reputation-related risks and opportunities in an international environment.
• Demonstrated political awareness and ability to diplomatically handle sensitive situations with target audiences and to otherwise cultivate effective, productive client relationships and partnerships. 
• Experience working with senior executives including experience of managing reputational risks and issues, messaging, stakeholder engagement, and media engagement; and ability to think strategically and rapidly analyze diverse information from varied sources.
• Excellent English and Portuguese language skills and proficiency to write and edit complex communications products for purposeful structure, clarity of ideas, and logical, persuasive presentation, in an accessible way to different audiences.
• Knowledge of French and a local language of the region is advantageous.
• Demonstrated ability and the necessary personal organization skills to multitask, take initiative, personal ownership, and accountability to meet deadlines, work under pressure, and achieve agreed-upon results.
• Established network of media, government and broader stakeholder relationships in the region, or demonstrated ability to quickly build and maintain trusted relationships across government, private sector, and civil society to support strategic communications and advocacy.
• Demonstrated experience managing communications vendors and service providers—including designers, photographers, videographers, and digital content producers—ensuring quality, timeliness, and alignment with institutional standards and branding guidelines.
• Knowledge of digital content platforms and tools. Intermediate digital skills, including the ability to take high-quality photographs, draft social media posts, and produce or oversee production of basic visual and multimedia content.
• Teamwork orientation with strong diplomatic and interpersonal skills, and sensitivity to working in a multicultural environment.
• WBG culture attributes: Sense of urgency; Thoughtful risk-taking; Empowerment and accountability.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. 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.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.