Director, Strategy and Operations

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The World Bank Group has commenced a global search for the newly-created position of Director, Strategy and Operations for the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. It is a multilateral financial mechanism created to provide grant and concessional funds to recipient countries for projects and programs that address biodiversity loss, climate change mitigation and adaptation, degradation of international waters, land and forests, ozone depletion, elimination or reduction of persistent organic pollutants, mercury, all within the framework of sustainable development. Over the last 30 years, the GEF has evolved into a family of funds whose grants, blended financing, and policy support help developing countries address their biggest environmental priorities and adhere to international environmental conventions.

An independently operating financial organization, the GEF is a financial mechanism for 5 major international environmental conventions: The Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also has the mandate as well to support actions in International Waters, including the oceans and seas. Through the decisions of recent international negotiations, the GEF’s mandate is expanding. In December 2022, the GEF was requested to establish a Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to be dedicated exclusively to supporting the implementation of the goals and targets of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Additionally, in March 2023, the recently finalized negotiations of the draft agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) identifies the GEF as part of its Financial Mechanism.

The GEF unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. The GEF has a unique governing structure organized around an Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, 18 Agencies, a Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) and the Evaluation Office.

In the years since its establishment, the GEF has provided more than $$22 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $$120 billion in co-financing for more than 5,000 projects in 170 countries. These investments have achieved major global environmental benefits under the Conventions and across the focal areas covered by the GEF’s work.

Resources for the GEF Trust Fund, which finances GEF’s programs and projects, are mobilized every four years. In December 2020, the discussions on the eighth replenishment (GEF-8) of resources of the GEF Trust Fund were initiated, and subsequently concluded in June 2022 with an historic replenishment of $5.33 billion and a set of agreed, ambitious programming and policy priorities aimed at further enhancing the GEF’s impact on the global environment. The 4-year GEF-8 cycle for the period 2022-2026 began on 1 July 2022 and is currently being rolled out to recipient countries. Additionally, the GEF continues to implement close to 1000 active projects and programs from previous cycles.

The GEF Secretariat is currently in the process of an overall GEF reform that is designed to make it the partner of choice of environmental multilateral agreements, be responsive to its expanding mandate, and facilitate GEF-8 implementation. As a part of this reform, the GEF Secretariat is being restructured, with the creation of several functional Divisions along the lines of General Management, Programming, Integration and Knowledge, Partnerships, Conventions and Funds, Policy and Operations, and Communications. This newly created position of Director, Strategy and Operations, is a foundational part of the restructuring exercise, and a key element of the overall GEF reform.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The GEF Secretariat, construed for administrative purposes as a Vice Presidential Unit (VPU) within the World Bank, has approximated 100 professional and administrative and client support (ACS) staff. The Director of Strategy and Operations will work directly with and report to the CEO and become a core part of the CEO’s Office.

The Director will play a critical role in achieving the CEO’s vision of (i) positioning the GEF Secretariat as the leader and partner of choice in the provision of catalytic, timely and effective support to countries and partners to meet their international environmental goals, and (ii) supervising, revising, and overseeing the internal operations of the GEF Secretariat towards increased efficiencies, effectiveness, and impact. The Director will be expected to fully support the CEO in his vision for the organization, to help the CEO lead the organization through its transition into the new structure (as explained above), and to provide thought leadership and an enabling environment for all staff to fulfill the GEF’s mission with passion, professionalism, and commitment.

Working closely with the CEO and the GEF’s Senior Leadership Team, the Director’s primary responsibilities are as follows:

Strategy

• Develops and implements the GEF-wide corporate programming strategies, policies, and priorities, with an increased focus on integration for impact and results
• Sets the strategic directions and work programs of all the GEF Divisions, promoting collaboration and synergies
• Conducts strategic outreach to and relationship management with existing and potential donors (including non-sovereign donors)
• Establishes formalized links and partnerships with the philanthropic community
• Strengthens the relationship and engagement with the private sector
• Builds and implements a strategy for enhanced engagement with multilateral development banks
• Strengthens the GEF’s institutional relationships and engagement with the GEF implementing agencies through increased portfolio monitoring and oversight
• Increases the efficiency of internal and external GEF operations through simplification of procedures, streamlining, and policy reform
• Oversees the GEF’s relationship with international conventions – (i) those for which it serves as financial mechanism, (ii) other nature-related conventions, and (iii) in ongoing international environmental negotiations
• Builds the GEF’s engagement with existing and forthcoming international alliances, initiatives, platforms, and partnerships that are that are geared towards the Nature Positive goal of 2030
• Promotes and facilitates the use of GEF data and analyses for enhanced, evidence-based decision-making both within the Secretariat and across the Partnership

Operational Management

• Maintains supervision and oversight, together with the CEO, of the divisions of the newly-restructured GEF Secretariat
• Manages the work programs of the GEF Divisions and the workflows among them
• Supports the CEO in his daily management of the internal operations of the GEF Secretariat
• Delivers the programming and policy agenda of GEF-8 as established by the GEF replenishment, in accordance with the rules, policies and procedures of the GEF Council
• Develops multi-year strategic work planning and budgeting
• Supports the CEO in his role as Chair of the GEF Council, the LDCF/SCCF Council, and any other Councils that may be established in the GEF’s Family of Funds, including through council preparations and through engagements with council members and constituencies
• Ensures that the GEF’s business needs are appropriately supported by effective, responsive, and cost-effective technological systems

Talent Management

• Supports the CEO in the redeployment and expansion of staff complements in critical business areas, to ensure that the Secretariat has the right numbers of staff with the right skills that are most effectively deployed to meet current objectives and to ensure a future pipeline of talent
• Develops, implements, and monitors appropriate strategies for staffing (including consultants and interns), recruitment, training, career development, and skills retraining/enhancement, in accordance with institutional HR practices
• Models and leads the GEF Leadership Team to create/nurture a culture of collaboration, teamwork, client focus, results orientation, and fairness so that the staff can realize their highest productivity and potential
• Supervises staff, including through yearly objective-setting and periodic performance reviews
• Delegates appropriately and holds his/her staff accountable for delivering agreed work programs based on agreed parameters
• Demonstrates leadership, with a culture of openness and accessibility to all staff
• Mentors and motivates staff