Job Description

Head, Singapore Water Center Job #: req34337
Organization: World Bank
Sector: Water/Sanitation
Grade: GH
Term Duration: 4 years 0 months
Recruitment Type: International Recruitment
Location: Singapore
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s): French/Spanish
Closing Date: 10/3/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Description
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 and promoting shared prosperity. 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. For more information, visit .
Water Global Practice
Water touches every aspect of development and it links with nearly every Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). It drives economic growth, supports healthy ecosystems, and is essential and fundamental for life itself. Water availability and management impacts whether poor girls are educated, whether cities are healthy places to live, and whether growing industries or poor villages can withstand the impacts of floods or droughts! The World Bank's Water Global Practice (GP) works closely with its partners and client countries to achieve 'A Water-Secure World for All', by sustaining water resources, delivering services, and building resilience. Additional information on the World Bank's Water GP can be obtained from this link: .
Singapore Water Center (SWC)
The World Bank has partnered with Singapore in its journey of development through 14 loans, and Singapore is host to one of the largest operational World Bank Group hubs in Asia with over 250 staff, including over 25 directors/managers. Today, Singapore is partnering with the World Bank in sharing its development knowledge and offer its expertise to support innovation in Asean and beyond. The World Bank recognizes the importance of knowledge transfer between countries and the application of lessons learned in different geographical contexts. The World Bank supports clients worldwide through a combination of lending, technical assistance, and capacity building. Depending on the specific circumstances of a country, the World Bank may provide support in one, some, or all these areas. The experience of Singapore offers valuable lessons that can be applied in other contexts where the World Bank operates, not only within the Asia region but globally. As the World Bank Group is stepping up its efforts on Water Security and Climate Resilience through a new Water Strategy, lessons from Singapore will be even more salient.
Launched in 2024, the Singapore Water Centre (SWC) is designed in the backdrop of a serious global challenge around water. The aim of the Singapore Water Center is to foster innovation, knowledge exchange, and capacity development of policy makers, utility managers and other key stakeholders in the Water sector and draw on the Singapore ecosystem of expertise in water. The Center is part of the World Bank's Water Global Practice in collaboration with the IFC and MIGA. This will allow exchange of relevant experiences and knowledge between Singapore and other regions of the world where the World Bank, IFC and MIGA operate.
The SWC aims to amplify impact by translating Singapore's experience, knowledge, and capabilities to catalyze innovations in policy, technology and finance of World Bank client countries. The breadth of the center will cover a whole-of-water approach, demonstrating Singapore's innovation and practices across all the water sub-sectors and the cross-cutting and integrative aspects of water. This includes water sub-sectors such as urban and rural water and sanitation, water resources management and resilience, storage and irrigation amongst others.
The SWC is led by a seasoned water and development expert, who will lead a team of specialists with expert knowledge, analytics expert, communication expert and administrative support. The center will be supported by practice managers and knowledge experts based in Singapore as well as global experts as needed.
Duties and accountabilities
The SWC will lead across the key areas on which the SWC is providing global expertise to facilitate structured and targeted results organized in in the following four pillars:
Pillar 1 focuses on strengthening water security policies and leadership through targeted activities such as executive roundtables, collaborative training with local institutions, development of case studies, and dissemination of best practices.
Pillar 2 emphasizes the promotion of technological advancements and innovative practices in water infrastructure and service management. This includes supporting utility turnarounds, conducting technical deep dives and workshops, piloting new solutions, and fostering peer-to-peer exchanges through twinning programs.
Pillar 3 is dedicated to developing and implementing innovative financial products for the water sector. The Center collaborates with financial institutions, regulators, and development partners to design mechanisms such as carbon credit monetization, impact bonds, and blended finance solutions.
Pillar 4 contributes to global and regional water monitoring by conducting benchmarking exercises, developing comprehensive policy databases, and performing economic analyses on water metrics. [list four pillars]
The SWC Head will be based in Singapore and will report to the Global Director located in Washington, D.C.. He/she will lead the team in Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Activities, delivery of key Analytics , and the monitoring and evaluation of the Center's delivery across the Key Four Pillars and more, as required.
In the initial years of SWC operations, SWC will be focused on supporting clients of the EAP and SAR regions. The SWC Head will:

• Work with EAP Region's WBG leadership, the Government of Singapore, and PUB (Singapore's Public Utility), together with the Water leadership team of the Bank, to -drive the governance of the Singapore Water Center, set the strategic agenda for the Singapore Water Center, and help facilitate support to global clients through the SWC.
• Work with the EAP and SAR operation teams and experts to lead the transfer of Singapore's knowledge and expertise to inform the water portfolio and increase the impact of the growing water pipeline in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, South Asia.
• Cultivate and strengthen partnership with institutions and stakeholders in the Singapore water ecosystem and the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management (AWGWRM) to broaden the knowledge base and reach of the SWC to beneficiaries of various tiers (policy, managerial, technical) in the region.
• Drive the sharing of generated knowledge products and broaden the knowledge base and reach of the SWC to beneficiaries of various tiers (policy, managerial, technical) at regional and international platforms such as the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management (AWGWRM) meeting and the Singapore International Water Week.

After the initial years of SWC operation, it is expected that the SWC will pivot to supporting clients more globally, and the above activities for SWC and the SWC Head will be expanded accordingly.
Throughout the operation of the SWC, the SWC Head will:

• Drive day-to-day coordination of the SWC activities, oversee the delivery of the SWC activities, manage its budget, provide mentoring and guidance to the team working on SWC and coordinate the preparation of annual action plans and reports, briefs and communication materials on SWC.
• Ensure secretariat support to the SWC's advisory board and other high level working groups meetings including agenda, minutes and scheduling.

More detailed responsibilities and priorities will be refined at the outset of employment and annually.
Selection Criteria

• In addition to meeting all Bank-wide Grade GH level position criteria (i.e., work in at least two world regions or a combination of regional and corporate assignments is required; field experience is preferred).
• Master's degree in engineering or public policy/administration, Infrastructure, Water Resources Management, Economics, Urban Development/ Planning, Business strategy, and/or Administration.
• At least 12 years of international experience in the WSS sector, including deep understanding of sector institutions governance, water sector regulation, and policy formulation. Experience with public private partnerships, private sector participation, and sector finance.
• Clear understanding of the technical, financial and policy drivers of water sector reforms and the financing, economics, and the political economy of these reforms.
• Internal and external recognition as an expert on WSS related issues.
• Established networks among key individuals and organizations associated with WSS and water resources management, climate, and environment agendas, ideally across public, private, and civil society sector activities.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across different sectors (i.e. GPs and PGs).
• Proven ability to work with Director-level staff in the World Bank Group or equivalent in other international organizations, senior-most government officials (at the Minister or Principal Secretary level), non-governmental organizations, private sector, as well as with representatives from civil society and academia.
• Sound leadership skills, with proven capacity to manage and motivate team members in complex, highly decentralized, and matrixed organizational settings and manage budgets and work programs.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills in English; proficiency in Spanish and/or French is strongly preferred.

If the selected candidate is a current World Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 4-year term appointment.
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.
WBG Culture Attributes:
1. Sense of Urgency - Anticipating and quickly reacting to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful Risk Taking - Taking informed and thoughtful risks and making courageous decisions to push boundaries for greater impact.
3. Empowerment and Accountability - Engaging with others in an empowered and accountable manner for impactful results.
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 and , including our values and inspiring stories.

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