WBG Young Professional

The World Bank Group’s Young Professionals Program (YPP) offers exceptional professionals the opportunity to apply their technical expertise and contribute to development challenges. This role focuses on urban development analytics, diagnostics, land, housing, spatial planning, geospatial data, and digital technology applications to support urban development in developing countries.

Responsibilities

• Support the teams in the preparation and delivery of urban diagnostics, analytical notes, and evidence products that underpin lending operations and technical assistance.
• Help teams analyze country and city contexts, synthesize findings, and develop actionable recommendations for client governments.
• Contribute to the team's portfolio of work on land administration, housing, and urban planning, including project preparation and implementation, reviewing technical approaches, and developing knowledge products and operational guidance.
• Engage with operational teams across regions, providing analytical support tailored to specific country contexts and client needs.
• Contribute to the development and application of geospatial tools and workflows that support urban diagnostics, project design, and monitoring.
• Integrate multiple spatial data sources into analytical pipelines and produce maps and dashboards for operational use.
• Support the scale-up of SPARC (Smart Parcel Atlas for Resilient Cities) initiative, including data processing, methodology documentation, and country-level implementation.
• Work with urban specialists and economists to identify and apply digital technologies including AI, machine learning, and data analytics to urban development challenges.
• Support teams in interpreting and using outputs from digital technologies and help prototype scalable solutions suitable for low-resource environments.
• Contribute to the department's knowledge agenda and support capacity building efforts for unit staff and client counterparts.
• Prepare knowledge products such as technical notes, good practice summaries, and operational guidance.
• Contribute to learning events and communities of practice and help teams build familiarity with relevant digital tools and data-driven approaches.

Requirements

• A minimum of a master's degree in urban planning, urban economics, geography, development studies, public policy, or a related field. Candidates with degrees in computer science, data science, or engineering who have substantial applied experience in urban development contexts will also be considered.
• 2-6 years of relevant professional experience in urban development, land administration, housing, spatial planning, or a closely related area.
• Demonstrated experience applying digital technologies — such as geospatial tools, data analytics, or AI — to urban or development challenges is required.
• Experience working in developing country contexts or with multilateral institutions or government clients is an advantage.
• Solid grounding in urban development, with knowledge of one or more of the following: land tenure and administration, housing policy, urban planning and spatial development, municipal finance, or urban resilience.
• Familiarity with the development finance context and the types of analytical and operational challenges faced by multilateral institutions working in urban settings.
• Understanding of urban data ecosystems in developing countries, including the limitations and opportunities associated with administrative data, household surveys, and remotely sensed information.
• Demonstrated ability to apply geospatial tools and methods to urban development challenges (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine, or Python-based geospatial libraries).
• Experience with data analysis and visualization, including familiarity with tools such as Python, R, or equivalent.
• Exposure to AI or machine learning applications in urban or development contexts — such as satellite imagery analysis, predictive modelling, or natural language processing — is highly desirable.
• Experience with data collection platforms, dashboard development, or digital tool design is an asset.
• Fluency in English, with the ability to translate technical findings for non-technical audiences and to present analytical results clearly in operational and policy contexts.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams in a fast-paced, matrix environment.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams independently.
• Intellectually curious, with a genuine interest in applying emerging technologies to urban development challenges in a practical, context-sensitive way.

Skills

• Urban Planning
• Urban Economics
• Geospatial tools development
• Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Land Administration
• Housing Policy
• Spatial Planning
• Municipal Finance
• Urban Climate Resilience
• Development Finance
• Urban Data Ecosystems
• QGIS
• ArcGIS
• Google Earth Engine
• Python
• Machine Learning
• Satellite Imagery
• Predictive Modelling
• Natural Language Processing
• Data Collection Platforms
• Dashboard Development
• Digital Tool Development

Languages

English