The World Bank Group

Serve as primary media relations focal point, execute communications strategies, manage media engagement and reputational risk. | Master's degree and 5+ years in communications or related fields, experience with multilateral organizations preferred, strong media management and strategic communication skills. | External Affairs Officer Job #: req35833 Organization: World Bank Sector: Communications Grade: GF Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s) Closing Date: 3/17/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. 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, 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. Please visit www.worldbank.org. External and Corporate Relations Vice-Presidency (ECR) The mission of External and Corporate Relations (ECR) is to help deliver financial and political support for the World Bank Group, strengthen the Bank Group’s role as a global thought leader in development by enhancing and safeguarding its reputation, and supporting operational teams to achieve country outcomes. ECR manages corporate communications and global engagement with key stakeholders, including media, civil society, foundations, private sector, donor countries, and international organizations, as well as employee engagement. ECR also manages strategic communications for the World Bank’s Regions and Global Practices and leads the management of reputation risk. ECR Communications and Marketing (ECRCM) Communications and Marketing at the World Bank Group is a unified, strategic organization representing all areas of the institution. Its mission is to deliver world-class communications and marketing leadership—driving clarity, creativity, innovation, and impact across every audience and channel. Through compelling storytelling, global brand stewardship, and data-driven engagement, the team advances the Bank Group’s vision of creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet. Together, we shape the institution’s voice, strengthen trust and reputation, and connect the World Bank Group’s work to people and partners around the world. External Affairs Officer The External Affairs Officer will join the team’s operation at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, D.C. S/he will have experience in media relations, an established media network, excellent news judgement, and an understanding of international development issues. S/he will serve as a primary media relations focal point for members of the press, executing communications strategies and monitoring for reputational risk as it relates to media. S/he will also support media engagement in regional markets, as well as manage relationships with counterparts at key development partner agencies in various countries. This position requires an understanding of the global media landscape, an established media network in the United States, strong communications and advocacy experience (both written and spoken), with experience in markets outside the United States a plus. Responsibilities The External Affairs Officer will be responsible for: • Serving as a primary WB media relations focal point for members of the media, including designing and implementing effective media relations and media monitoring strategies. This also includes providing guidance on media relations issues and providing support for media outreach in regional and sectoral units. • Contributing to the development of communications plans for all major publication launches, key initiatives, and WB Senior Management visits to maximize well-informed media coverage in the US and relevant donor media markets. • Preparing briefing materials for media and public engagements of Senior Management, including for visits. • Handling media requests, ensuring close collaboration with regional-based teams. • Actively contributing to the planning, coordination, scheduling and logistics, often across multiple teams, for press briefings, roundtables, major conferences and seminars, public or broadcast appearances, and other communications-related activities sponsored by the World Bank. • Contributing to regular assessments of media-related reputational risk. Monitoring media reporting and communications output from CSOs and other key stakeholders, in collaboration with the Bank’s Global Engagement team, to identify potential risk issues at the earliest opportunity. Flagging risk issues to relevant internal teams, as appropriate. Contribute to the discussion and development of risk mitigation and management strategies. Selection Criteria Master’s degree and at least five years of professional experience in Communications, Political Science, Economics, International Relations/Public Affairs, Journalism, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience with multilateral organizations, development, and/or international financial institutions preferred. • Proven track record of communications work, including strategic media management, combining traditional and digital strategies. • Contacts, experience and skill in managing high-level communications with the media. Relationships and experience in working with NGOs, government officials, international institutions, business groups, and other audiences critical to the Bank's work will also be highly valuable. • Proven ability to assess and identify reputational risk issues. • Proven planning and organizational skills, ability to think strategically and translate into actionable communications. • Proven ability to work both independently and in diverse teams in a multicultural setting with strong attention to detail and minimal supervision. • Strong interest in development issues, strategic communication, and multilateral cooperation/negotiation, with ability to disseminate information effectively and strategically, and strong capacity to think and act strategically. • Ability to interact with internal and external clients at all levels, and to exercise judgment, tact and discretion in dealing with sensitive and/or confidential matters. • Ability to take initiative, personal ownership, and accountability to meet deadlines, work under pressure, and achieve agreed-upon results. • Excellent oral, written communication and presentation skills in English, with other languages a plus. WBG Culture Attributes • Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders. • Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact. • Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results. World Bank Group Core Competencies 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 World Bank and IFC including our values and inspiring stories.

Leading communications strategy and media relations for government agencies. | Extensive experience in communications leadership, media relations, and crisis management, without demonstrated digital tourism, data analytics, or technical digital transformation expertise. | Senior Digital Tourism Specialist– Applications Job #: req35774 Organization: World Bank Sector: Digital Development Grade: GG Term Duration: 4 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s) Closing Date: 3/11/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions driven by a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, we help solve the world’s greatest development challenges. When you join the World Bank Group, you become part of a dynamic, diverse organization with 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide. We work with public and private sector partners, invest in groundbreaking projects, and use data, research, and technology to bring tangible and transformative changes around the globe. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org . VPU Context: This position supports the World Bank’s mission by accelerating digital transformation in the tourism sector to increase jobs, competitiveness, and resilience. The role will help client countries and tourism ecosystems adopt scalable digital approaches that improve destination management, visitor services, SME competitiveness, and investment promotion, while strengthening sustainability, cultural and natural heritage protection, and crisis preparedness. The Senior Digital Tourism Specialist will contribute to operations, advisory services, and knowledge work, ensuring tourism programs leverage digital foundations and modern tools (data platforms, interoperable registries, digital identity and payments where relevant, cybersecurity, and analytics/AI) to deliver measurable results. Unit Context: The Digital Applications Department, overseeing solutions and impact, is led by a Manager who collaborates closely with the Manager for Policy and Regulations and reports to the WBG Vice President, Digital and AI Vertical, who is accountable to IBRD/IDA, IFC, and MIGA Managing Directors. WBG recently published its Digital Strategy which includes four pillars: access, affordability, ecosystem and AI readiness. The strategy identifies the priorities that WBG will engage across the client segment over the next five years. The implementation plan is currently under preparation. The Senior Digital Tourism Specialist will be embedded with the Digital and AI Vice Presidency and will support regional teams within the World Bank Group (e.g., sector and country programs) and collaborate closely other World Bank units. The unit supports client countries to design and implement digital tourism strategies, architectures, and solutions that strengthen sector governance and improve destination and firm-level performance. Duties and Responsibilities: The work program of the Senior Digital Tourism Specialist will focus on: • Strategic Leadership and Innovation: • Provide technical assistance to client countries and destination stakeholders to design and implement digital tourism strategies, blueprints, and roadmaps to improve competitiveness, job creation, and resilience. • Advise on policy, institutional, and governance reforms enabling digital tourism transformation, including data-sharing frameworks, visitor data protection, platform governance approaches, standards adoption, and public-private partnership models. • Develop and disseminate practical guidance such as frameworks, standards, templates, and “how-to” toolkits—for planning, financing, and implementing digital tourism solutions at scale. • Identify emerging trends and proven practices (e.g., AI-enabled visitor services, frictionless travel experiences, responsible use of digital marketing) and design and support pilots that can be replicated and scaled. • Foster partnerships with governments, tourism boards, local communities, private sector platforms, SMEs, academia, and development partners to mobilize expertise and innovation opportunities. • Tourism Data Platforms, Market Intelligence, and Interoperability: • Advise on defining, designing, and implementing tourism data platforms that integrate public and private sources (e.g., accommodation and attraction registries, visitor flows, mobility data, payments where available, events, transport, geospatial, and social signals), with clear governance and safeguards. • Support establishment of data governance (metadata, quality, access controls, data-sharing agreements) and fit-for-purpose interoperability approaches (APIs, registries, standards) to enable consistent reporting and decision-making across tourism institutions. • Provide guidance on analytics and AI use cases such as demand forecasting, segmentation, dynamic capacity management, and sustainability indicators, ensuring transparency, privacy-by-design, and feasibility in low-capacity settings. • Translate regulatory requirements (e.g., consumer protection, privacy, taxation/tourism fees, licensing) into digital-ready requirements that improve compliance and reduce administrative burden for firms and government. • Digital Destination Management and Visitor Experience: • Support clients to design and implement digital destination management solutions, including: • visitor information and service portals (web/mobile) • digital maps and wayfinding, accessibility features, multilingual support • ticketing/reservations and visitor flow management where appropriate • feedback/grievance and service quality monitoring • crisis communications and incident response mechanisms • Promote omnichannel service design across web, mobile, on-site kiosks, call centers, and physical points of service to ensure inclusive access for diverse users. • Support “life-event” and journey-based service models for visitors and operators (e.g., arriving → moving → staying → experiencing → departing) and ensure solutions integrate with broader government digital systems where relevant. • Tourism Enterprise Digitization and Ecosystem Enablement: • Advise on interventions to accelerate digital adoption by tourism SMEs (hotels, guides, tour operators, artisans, restaurants), including digital skills, online presence, e-commerce readiness, CRM adoption, and participation in digital marketplaces. • Support design of shared digital services for SMEs (e.g., booking integrations, payments enablement, digital ID verification where appropriate, e-invoicing, basic cybersecurity hygiene toolkits), reducing costs and increasing uptake. • Provide guidance on enabling environment issues such as consumer trust, cyber risk management, online dispute resolution, and quality assurance mechanisms in platform-mediated tourism. • Sustainability, Heritage, and Resilience Enablement: • Support digital approaches to monitor and manage sustainability and heritage protection, including visitor carrying capacity, environmental indicators, protected area management, and community benefits tracking. • Advise on integrating climate and hazard information into tourism planning and operations (e.g., early warning, business continuity, asset risk screening) and develop practical playbooks for crisis readiness and recovery. • Where appropriate, support design and testing of destination digital twins or similar decision-support tools, with realistic assessment of data readiness and operational capacity. • Operational Support, Capacity Building, and Knowledge: • Provide hands-on support to World Bank operations: concept notes, project design inputs, TORs/technical specifications, implementation supervision, and results measurement frameworks. • Deliver training, workshops, and coaching for client counterparts on digital strategy, data governance, service design, and implementation practices. • Contribute to knowledge products (case studies, guidance notes, templates) and communities of practice to scale proven approaches across regions. Selection Criteria • Master’s degree in tourism management, economics, public policy, information systems, computer science, data analytics, or a related field combining tourism sector experience with digital transformation expertise. • Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in digital tourism, destination management, tourism analytics, digital transformation in services sectors, or comparable roles supporting public-private ecosystems. • Proven ability to translate tourism sector priorities (competitiveness, jobs, SME growth, resilience, sustainability) into feasible digital solutions, including target architectures, phased roadmaps, indicative budgets, and results frameworks. • Strong expertise in at least two of the following: (i)tourism data platforms, market intelligence, and analytics/AI for tourism (ii)destination management systems and visitor journey/service design (iii)SME digitization and digital marketplace enablement (iv)digital marketing, content ecosystems, and customer engagement systems (v)interoperability, registries, and digital public infrastructure linkages relevant to tourism • Practical experience with data governance, privacy-by-design, and secure sharing of public-private data; ability to design “minimum viable” approaches suitable for low-capacity environments. • Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP concepts), cybersecurity principles, and scalable architectures for public-sector and public-private solutions. • Excellent stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills, including ability to work with tourism boards, ministries, local governments, SMEs, community actors, and private platforms. • Ability to work in cross-cultural, multidisciplinary teams and adapt to resource-constrained environments. WBG Culture Attributes • Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders. • Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact. • Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results. World Bank Group Core Competencies 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 World Bank and IFC , including our values and inspiring stories.