Lead Procurement Specialist

Lead Procurement Specialist

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank 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, 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 to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

Why Join the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region?

The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region has made strong progress in reducing poverty and expanding opportunity, yet important challenges remain, including uneven access to basic services, infrastructure gaps, and vulnerability to climate and disaster risks. In the Philippines, these challenges are heightened by the country’s archipelagic geography, which raises the cost and complexity of delivering services and infrastructure at scale. To learn more about the EAP region visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eap.

Country Management Unit (CMU) Context

The position will be based in Manila and will primarily support the World Bank's program in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei (PMB) Country Management Unit (CMU), while also providing secondary support to operations and knowledge activities in China, Mongolia, and Korea (CMK) CMU and other countries in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region as required.

The World Bank Group maintains a large and longstanding engagement in the Philippines, mobilizing financing, knowledge, and partnerships to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity. Guided by the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), the program focuses on strengthening human capital, creating more and better jobs, enhancing climate and disaster resilience, and improving public sector effectiveness, with digital transformation serving as a key cross-cutting theme. The Philippines portfolio comprises a substantial and diverse pipeline of investment financing, development policy operations, and advisory engagements, creating significant demand for procurement support throughout the project lifecycle.

Within the same CMU, the World Bank Group's engagement in Malaysia and Brunei is more selective and primarily knowledge- and advisory-oriented. These programs focus on supporting inclusive growth, public sector modernization, sustainable finance, institutional strengthening, and the sharing of development experience across the region. Procurement support in these countries requires close collaboration with government counterparts and multidisciplinary teams to ensure quality implementation and knowledge exchange.

As a secondary area of responsibility, the position will provide leadership support to the team in the China, Mongolia, and Korea CMU. In China, the World Bank's engagement increasingly emphasizes knowledge services, institutional reform, climate action, productivity growth, and the generation and dissemination of development knowledge. Mongolia maintains a more operations-intensive portfolio, with support focused on economic resilience, infrastructure development, service delivery, climate adaptation, and institutional capacity building. In the Republic of Korea, the World Bank partners on knowledge, innovation, digital transformation, and South-South learning initiatives that contribute to regional and global development outcomes.

Prosperity Global Practice | East Asia and Pacific Region

The position is part of the Prosperity Global Practice (GP), one of the World Bank's core operational units dedicated to advancing inclusive and sustainable economic development through stronger institutions and improved public sector performance. The Prosperity GP brings together expertise in procurement, governance, public sector management, anti-corruption, and financial management to help client countries strengthen institutional capacity, improve service delivery, and achieve development results.

East Asia and Pacific Procurement Team

The position forms part of the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Procurement Team, a regional team of approximately 38 procurement professionals located across seven country offices. Operating through a decentralized model, the team provides procurement oversight, advisory services, implementation support, and capacity building across a portfolio of approximately 225 active World Bank-financed operations with total commitments exceeding US$32 billion.

The Manila-based position will play an important role in supporting the delivery of high-quality procurement services across the PMB CMU portfolio while contributing, as needed, to broader regional priorities and cross-country initiatives within the EAP Region.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Reporting to the EAP Procurement Manager, the Lead Procurement Specialist is expected to serve not only as a technical procurement authority, but also as a strategic problem-solver, change leader, and trusted advisor who helps clients, task teams, and management address complex operational challenges, remove implementation bottlenecks, and improve project delivery and development outcomes.

Additionally, the incumbent Lead Procurement will support operations, knowledge programs and country policy engagement across the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea under the PMB and CMK Country Management Units (CMUs).

The role requires the ability to diagnose procurement and implementation constraints, identify root causes, evaluate risks and alternatives, and develop practical, fit-for-purpose solutions that balance fiduciary requirements with timely delivery. Support CMU and Regional Management in implementing the D-Ready agenda, Procurement Change Program, and related corporate transformation initiatives, ensuring that procurement contributes to improved project readiness, implementation performance, operational efficiency, portfolio quality, and client outcomes. Lead the adoption of new business processes, operating models, digital tools, and performance-management approaches across PMB and CMK portfolios. The successful candidate will actively promote innovation, modernization, and digital transformation by identifying opportunities to improve processes, strengthen decision-making, enhance portfolio management, and generate measurable operational efficiencies.

The position demands strong leadership and collaboration across sectors, CMUs, government counterparts, and development partners. The incumbent will be expected to foster an inclusive and high-performing team environment, encourage constructive challenge and continuous learning, promote knowledge sharing, and support adoption of new technologies and ways of working that improve quality, efficiency, transparency, and development impact.

The position forms part of the EAP Procurement Management Team and contributes to strategic leadership, operational performance, and modernization of procurement across the East Asia and Pacific Region.

Selection Criteria

• Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Engineering, Law, Procurement, Finance, Business, Commerce) or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

• At least twelve (12) years of progressively responsible experience in World Bank operational procurement, including leadership in applying the 2016 World Bank Procurement Framework in complex operations.

• Experience across multiple regions and/or a combination of regional and corporate assignments.

• Advanced knowledge of World Bank procurement policies, instruments, and operational processes throughout the project cycle, including the ability to address complex procurement issues.

• Demonstrated experience overseeing large and complex operational portfolios, including identifying systemic risks, prioritizing interventions, allocating resources effectively, and improving portfolio performance across multiple countries or sectors.

• Proven ability to provide strategic advice to senior management on operational priorities, fiduciary risk management, implementation effectiveness, organizational