Description

EO Applications Specialist in the Sustainable Initiatives Office of the Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes; seconded from ESA to the World Bank Group (Sustainable Development Practice Group).

ESA has been partnering with the World Bank since 2008. Your activities will fall under the Cooperation Arrangement between ESA and the World Bank which aims to support the application and mainstream integration of Earth observation (EO) technologies in the operational processes involved in development assistance and development finance, ultimately fostering sustainable adoption and impact in developing countries.

The ESA-World Bank partnership is mainly implemented through the ESA Earth Watch Global Development Assistance (GDA) programme element. The GDA is ESA’s contribution to the Space for International Development Assistance (Space for IDA) cooperation framework, which is implemented in partnership with key international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, IFAD and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The related activities support EO service providers in bridging the gap between new applications and proven EO-based information services for mainstream integration in World Bank operations and sustainable transfer to client countries. The ESA-World Bank partnership supports cross-cutting initiatives such as the Space for Green Future Accelerator and capitalises on innovative developments in science and technology resulting from ESA and European national EO missions.

Duties

You will support the implementation and strategic advancement of the Space for IDA cooperation framework and act as institutional liaison between ESA and WB for a broad range of ESA-WB partnership aspects. This will involve cooperating closely with both WB staff and end-users in client states (developing countries) to provide support to technical/analytical projects deployed through specialist European EO service providers; as well as providing support for programmatic developments related to complementary capacity-building activities implemented through dedicated and aligned WB efforts. The objective of the partnership and joint initiative is to deliver improvements in efficiencies and impact to WB operations, leading to adoption and long-term sustainability of EO-based products and services in global development.

Your main tasks are to:

• liaise with WB task and country teams and their client counterparts to facilitate smooth and timely interaction with the ESA teams managing the setup of agile EO service developments connected to WB projects/programmes in selected sustainable development domains;
• liaise with WB management (sectoral, regional, corporate) to ensure integration of EO technical/analytical services in WB programmatic and strategic planning and financing (global/thematic programmes, trust funds, loan operations, IDA financing), i.e. provide support and stimulate as well as monitor the design/implementation of complementary capacity-building, skills transfer as well as operational scale-up activities and institutional support;
• raise awareness of EO capabilities across a broad network of WB staff and capture and report on their operational requirements for geospatial information with a view to establishing adoption and sustainable integration of such services in WB operations;
• facilitate and collect evidence of EO-based information and services being sustainably adopted and improving the effectiveness of WB activities, programmes and operations in support of global development challenges including climate action and the green transition;
• be involved in communicating on achievements via relevant communication and education channels required.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

A master's in remote sensing/geospatial sciences/Earth sciences is required for this post.

Additional requirements

For this position, you must have:

•   a minimum of five years of experience or an equivalent combination of postgraduate education and experience in the area of EO applications and global development;
•   experience in dialoguing with institutional users (especially in developing countries), identifying longer-term opportunities for EO information services and understanding the associated information requirements;
•   excellent organisational and communication skills (written and oral);
•   a background in geospatial information science and integrated EO analytics along with related project management and implementation experience.

This post also requires:

•   demonstrated experience of working at or in collaboration with international financial institutions such as the World Bank or regional development banks, especially regarding the financing of new initiatives.