Senior Communications and External Relations Officer

Senior Communications and External Relations Officer

Description

The World Bank Group (WBG) is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It is 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 for the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

Communications and External Relations Vice-Presidency (CER)
The mission of the Communications and External Relations (CER) 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. CER 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. CER also manages strategic communications for the WBG’s Regions and technical units and leads the management of reputation risk.

Regional Stakeholder Engagement in CER
The Regional Stakeholder Engagement team manages strategic communications across the seven regions of the World Bank Group, driving engagement across regions and country offices to align local efforts with our global strategy.

The work aims to build support and understanding for World Bank Group (WBG) priorities across a range of stakeholders; enhance and protect the reputation of the WBG as a leading development organization; support operational effectiveness and social accountability by sharing development progress, knowledge, and results.

Recognizing that economic and social contexts evolve rapidly, and that communications technologies have revolutionized the ways that information travels, we are building a team of dynamic and innovative professionals prepared to use innovative engagement strategies, traditional and digital tools, including social media and artificial intelligence to shape the debate on development priorities and tradeoffs.

Senior Communication and External Relations Officer
The WBG is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Senior Communications and External Affairs Officer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The position supports the Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay country programs and combines strategic advisory responsibilities with hands-on delivery. The successful candidate will serve as a core member of the Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay communications team and work in close partnership with the communications leads based in Asunción, Paraguay, and Montevideo, Uruguay.

The position contributes across CER’s four business lines: Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Business Marketing, Advocacy & Campaigns, and Risk & Issue Management. The role requires sound judgment, political awareness, excellent communications and stakeholder engagement skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships, identify opportunities and risks, and translate complex development issues into compelling narratives that demonstrate impact and advance country priorities.

Working closely with country and regional management, operational teams, and colleagues across IBRD, IFC, and MIGA, the Senior Communications and External Affairs Officer will lead the development and delivery of integrated communications, stakeholder engagement, and risk management strategies for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, while contributing to a coordinated One World Bank Group approach across the three country programs. Success in the role requires a highly collaborative working style and the ability to operate effectively in a matrixed environment, partnering across institutions and disciplines to support the World Bank Group’s development and private sector objectives.

Responsibilities

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 authoritative advice to the Division and Regional Directors 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 reform solutions.
• 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 Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay 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 marketing suite of 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 (IFC and MIGA) 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 Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
• Coordinate participation in regional and global advocacy efforts by localizing messages and providing examples from Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. 
• 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 in relevant languages.
• 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 Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. 
• Provide timely, senior-level advice to the Division and Regional Directors, CER management, and regional leadership on risk exposure, positioning, and response options.
• Maintain and contribute to reputational risk reports, ensure heatmap entries are up to date. Develop issue notes, 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 CER teams. 
• Serve as the primary point of contact with CER’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.
• Guide media engagement and manage high-stakes inquiries with discretion and sound judgment.
• Review key corporate documents 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 team under supervision, if any.
• Work closely with other communications staff supporting the county team to jointly manage priorities, coordinate messaging, share workload, and ensure consistent delivery across countries and business lines.
• 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 CER 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 CER 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

• 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 LAC trends and political/economic issues related to development. 
• Knowledge of and/or experience working in Argentina 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 in LAC, which play a key role in WBG’s mobilization, private sector engagement, and cross-border investment agenda; 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. Demonstrated experience working with senior executives and ability to think strategically and rapidly analyze diverse information from varied sources.
• Excellent English and Spanish 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.
• 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.
• Ability to quickly activate/build networks within government and private sector companies. Connections within civil society are also a plus. 
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in matrixed, multi-country teams, building trust, sharing ownership, and delivering results through collaboration rather than authority alone. Strong teamwork orientation with excellent diplomatic and interpersonal skills. 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.