WBG Pioneer - Building Green Intern

Job #: req37626
Organization: World Bank
Grade: T4 (no-fee)
Location: Washington, DC,United States
Hiring Manager: Valeria Perotti
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s): Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish
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.

The Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC) seeks to increase understanding of development policies and programs by providing intellectual leadership and analytical services to the World Bank Group and the development community. DEC is the research and data arm of the World Bank Group. The Knowledge for Change Program: Building Green Project is a 2-year funded initiative that seeks to produce an updated and expanded global dataset on building energy codes and standards through quantitative and comparable measures on the adoption of building energy codes and standards, including their enforcement mechanisms and levels of compliance, in cities worldwide. as well The project will also produce analytical and knowledge products offering insights into the practical challenges and successes in implementing building energy codes across different contexts. For additional information on the project please visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/building-green
Highly motivated interns are invited to join DECIG to primarily work on undertaking desk research on building energy efficiency regulations and codes, requiring a combination of operational and research skills and good knowledge of law, environmental planning, or energy economics.
Duties and Responsibilities
  • Undertake extensive desk research on Building Energy Code standards, their stringency and coverage, and enforcement mechanisms and for a specified subset of countries. 
  • Analyze and assess the data on a country-by-country basis, converting and standardizing into comparable units of measurement as needed until a final, verified country profile is produced.
  • Undertake recruitment on new contributors, survey distribution for data collection, follow-up with contributors to obtain completed questionnaires for assigned economies. 
  • Analyze and assess the data on a country-by-country basis, converting and standardizing into comparable units of measurement as needed until a final, verified country profile is produced. 
  • Identify and engage with technical experts in order to develop a contributor database.
  • Ad hoc assignments, including background research on building energy certification schemes, drafting briefings, presentations, and regulatory analyses. 
  • Interface as needed with other industry and corporate departments across WBG.
  • Producing graphs, descriptive statistics and/or regression outputs to make collected data more understandable and contextualized.
  • Provide general support to the project, as required.

Selection Criteria

  • Applicant must be enrolled in an advanced degree in Public Policy, Energy Policy, Economics, Environmental Studies or relevant fields as considered by the recruiting team. 
  • Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills in English and preferred in one of the following languages: Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. 
  • Relevant professional/academic experience related to environmental sustainability, energy transition or urban planning preferred
  • Excellent command of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint. 
  • Experience with cleaning and formatting large data sets.
  • Well-developed interpersonal and team working skills.
  • High level of energy, initiative, persistence, positive attitude, and drive for results with agreed objectives and deadlines. Also, systematic, organized, patient and detail oriented. 
  • Proven ability to self-start work without close supervision, handle several different tasks simultaneously, and deal with rapidly shifting priorities under pressure.
  • Ability to operate in multicultural environments and build effective working relations, with local and international partners in the private sector as well as clients across the World Bank Group.
No-Fee Internship Eligibility
This position is offered under the WBG Pioneers No-Fee Internship Track. Students may be offered a no-fee STT appointment provided that they either: (a) are enrolled in a Master's, PhD, or similar graduate program during the entire internship (or are in the fifth year or higher of a degree program in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages) and provide an official letter from their university confirming that the internship fulfills academic requirements for at least one term of study; or (b) are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate studies and receive a stipend from their university at least equivalent to the minimum STT T1 fee level in effect at the start of the assignment, as confirmed by an official university letter.
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.