ET Consultant - Agriculture Insurance

ET Consultant - Agriculture Insurance

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/who-we-are/ibrd

Prosperity Vice Presidency

The WBG Prosperity Vice Presidency is responsible for getting the right public and private sector solutions to our operational teams and to our clients, and to produce scalable impact. It leads the WBG’s key global engagements in support of: Growth and jobs (including supporting teams across the WBG on the jobs agenda); debt sustainability and debt management; improved domestic resource mobilization and expenditure efficiency; a resilient and inclusive financial sector; business-enabling policies and regulations; trade policy and facilitation; and transparent, effective, and accountable government institutions world-wide. Its mandate is to deliver knowledge for impact to enable and support the WBG to achieve its goals in support of our mission.

Financial Services Sector (FSS) I Department

The FSS Global Department is comprised of two directorates: FSS I covers financial resilience and integrity, financial inclusion, capital market development and disaster risk finance, while FSS II covers SME finance, Banking, Housing, Leasing and Insurance, as well as Sustainable Finance.

Disaster Risk Finance Unit

The Disaster Risk Finance (DRF) team in FSS1 helps client governments strengthen financial resilience to disaster shocks. Through the Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP), the team delivers technical assistance, analytical work, and advisory support, drawing on the World Bank’s crisis preparedness and response toolkit and other financial instruments. It works closely with regional and country teams, government counterparts, private sector, development partners to design and implement solutions tailored to each country’s risk profile and institutional context.

The DRF team also brings agriculture insurance solutions to unlock productivity in agriculture. Agriculture underpins food security, rural livelihoods, and economic stability — yet it is the world's most systematically uninsured sector. Agricultural insurance is a core financial mechanism integrated into AgriConnect, a World Bank Group initiative designed to help 300 million smallholder and family farmers transition from subsistence farming to surplus production by 2030.

Against this background, the DRF team seeks an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) to provide senior-level technical advice and engagement support for the Unit’s work program on agriculture insurance. The position is based in Washington DC (and /or London, United Kingdom), and requires frequent travel.

Duties and Responsibilities

The ETC will be responsible for the following:

• Lead the delivery of agriculture insurance solutions in countries, such as parametric and crop yield insurance.
• Provide ad hoc actuarial and quantitative analysis to support client engagement, policy dialogue, and internal decision-making, including identifying options to strengthen financial protection for farmers and agriculture businesses.
• Review and quality-assure technical outputs prepared by others, including diagnostic reports, strategy documents, financial models, and presentations.
• Curate and share knowledge on agriculture insurance and broader insurance market development, including key bottlenecks, global trends, insurance technology, the integration of insurance into climate risk management, relevant case studies, and financial innovations for client countries. This may include co-authoring policy and research notes, preparing internal guidance, developing policy and industry toolkits, and organizing seminars and workshops.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders such as Farming and Agribusiness Global Department, IFC, MIGA, and external stakeholders, including the Insurance Development Forum (IDF).
• Represent the CDRFI team in stakeholder consultations, interagency coordination forums, workshops, and donor dialogues, as needed.
• Perform other duties and tasks assigned by the Unit Manager.

The initial appointment will be for one year, with possible renewal for up to two additional years, subject to business needs, funding availability, and satisfactory performance. Under World Bank Group policy, Extended Term appointments are limited to a lifetime maximum of three years.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree or higher in actuarial science, economics, finance, public policy, or a closely related quantitative or development field.
• At least 12 years of relevant professional experience in agriculture insurance or closely related fields, including direct experience supporting governments in developing countries on agriculture insurance schemes, or offering the solutions from the private sector.
• Strong knowledge of agriculture insurance. Quantitative and analytical skills, including modeling or actuarial analysis, are an advantage.
• Strong knowledge of disaster risk finance including sovereign risk transfer products, risk pooling arrangements, contingent financing facilities, disaster reserve funds, and public financial management reforms related to disaster risk, is an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to engage senior government counterparts and lead substantive policy dialogue in a development context. Experience working in complex institutional environments, including multilateral development banks or comparable organizations, is valued.
• Strong analytical skills and a proven record of producing high-quality technical reports, policy documents, and advisory outputs. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex issues clearly and produce high-quality reports and studies.
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks effectively, set priorities independently, and deliver agreed results. Self-starter with a high level of initiative.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work in teams, lead small teams, and foster collaboration across organizational boundaries.
• Commitment to the highest ethical standards.
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Spanish or French language skills would be an advantage.

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

As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

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.