WBG Pioneer - Governance Intern

Job #: req37562
Organization: World Bank
Grade: T4
Location: Washington, DC,United States
Hiring Manager: Chiara Bronchi
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date: 8/12/2026 (11:59pm UTC)

Description

WBG Pioneers, the World Bank Group’s Internship Program, offers undergraduate and postgraduate students a high impact learning experience at the heart of global development. Participants gain hands on experience in a diverse and dynamic environment, contribute fresh perspectives and innovative ideas, and connect with international professionals working to end poverty on a livable planet.

WBG Pioneers, the World Bank Group’s Internship Program, offers undergraduate and postgraduate students a high impact learning experience at the heart of global development. Participants gain hands on experience in a diverse and dynamic environment, contribute fresh perspectives and innovative ideas, and connect with international professionals working to end poverty on a livable planet.
The Governance Global Department helps countries build capable, effective, accountable, transparent, and inclusive institutions that deliver citizen-centric services, facilitate private-sector growth, and build trust in Government; and provides fiduciary support to all Bank operations.
The department brings together professionals in public financial management, taxation, public management, regulatory policy, transparency, digital governance, law and development, anticorruption, performance management, monitoring and evaluation, and social accountability to develop innovative, integrated solutions to pernicious institutional problems. The practice utilizes a problem-driven, diagnostic approach, combining global comparative knowledge of reform successes and failures with keen understanding of the institutional challenges and opportunities of developing countries.
Governance and Institutions are fundamental for inclusive and sustainable development.  Recognizing the need for more ambition, the work on this important agenda is being scaled up and reorganized around the following three global units: institutional capacity and effectiveness, public administration and services, and fiduciary systems. These units will jointly push the frontiers of global knowledge and support country and sectoral teams to enable them to help client governments in thinking through and addressing critical governance challenges, so they can meet the growing demands and expectations of their citizens.
The Institutional Capacity and Effectiveness unit (WKPGI) focuses on transversal and integrative functions and innovations. WKPGI is responsible for strengthening the data and analytics agenda in Governance. This includes developing an institutional capacity assessment framework and development of policy indicators and tools that can facilitate the understanding of how public institutions functions and their capacity to implement their specific mandates. 
Duties and Responsibilities
WKPGI plans to recruit up to six interns to support the development of two new sets of global policy indicators. The first focuses on institutional capacity, using country-level data to assess how public institutions operate and to generate actionable recommendations for improvement. The second set will measure climate governance, capturing how institutions contribute to the implementation of climate goals. Interns will support data validation efforts related to public financial management, public HR management, and the climate governance indicators.
Tasks include, among others: 
  • Contributing to the data collection and validations of the public HR management and Public Financial Management indicators and/or Climate Governance Indicators;
  • Participating in the expert groups’ brainstorming and consultation sessions;
  • Working with TTLs to contribute to select outputs, such as policy notes, reports and power point presentations;
  • Contributing to the compilation of a case study with the summary of the results for the countries analyzed.

Selection Criteria

  • Candidates must be currently enrolled in postgraduate (master’s/PhD) program in Economics, Political Science, Public Administration or equivalent
  • Candidates must have 1 year of relevant professional experience 
  • Demonstrated interest in development work and the World Bank Group’s mission
  • Strong analytical, research, and problem-solving skills, including experience in data collection
  • Effective written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to work effectively in diverse, team-based environments
  • Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities within tight deadlines
  • Proficiency in English; additional languages may be required depending on the role

Note: Please limit your applications to a maximum of three positions. Applications exceeding this limit will not be considered.

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.

The World Bank Group values diversity and encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of World Bank Group member countries to apply, regardless of gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.  Sub-Saharan African nationals, Caribbean nationals, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
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.