MNA Fellow

The World Bank’s Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation team supports Saudi counterparts through Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) focused on economic diversification, private sector development and stronger regional institutions. The portfolio includes ongoing and proposed engagements in Diriyah, Al Jouf, Jazan, Al Aseer and Al Baha, with different delivery schedules and technical needs. The Fellow will provide analytical and operational support across this portfolio, helping teams assemble evidence, assess constraints affecting businesses and investors, and translate findings into practical recommendations. The assignment will provide experience in development diagnostics, advisory delivery and engagement with public and private stakeholders. The Fellow will work under the overall supervision of the Hiring Manager and the day-to-day guidance of a designated lead Task Team Leader (TTL), with technical guidance from the relevant engagement TTLs and specialists. A consolidated work plan will set priorities and allocate time across engagements, according to project readiness, delivery milestones and the Fellow’s skills. Duties and Responsibilities The Fellow will contribute to the following activities, subject to the agreed scope and stage of each engagement. • Diriyah: Support analysis for the economic positioning and economic contribution framework. Compile sector and comparator evidence, organize available data on firms, employment and economic activity, and help document indicators, assumptions and data gaps used to assess economic contributions. • Al Jouf: Support assessment of selected investment opportunities and the constraints affecting their development. Compile evidence on business support and incentives, contribute to opportunity briefs and action plans, and help prepare practical tools for investor facilitation, referrals, case tracking and aftercare. • Jazan: Support preliminary investment-readiness screening, investor-support analysis and institutional capacity work. Organize information provided by project sponsors and stakeholders, document investment barriers and unresolved responsibilities, and contribute to screening templates, investor tracking and learning materials. Record evidence gaps explicitly and support remote consultations where appropriate. • Al Aseer: Support analysis of firms’ financing needs, including seasonal working capital and longer-term investment needs. Map existing financing programs and available evidence on their uptake, summarize consultations with firms and financial institutions, and contribute to analysis of financing-readiness measures and options for delivery through existing institutions. •Al Baha: Support analysis of agrifood and tourism enterprises, including cooperatives, with attention to business capabilities, market access, seasonality and financing constraints. Compile comparator examples and consultation findings and contribute to recommendations for enterprise support and institutional capacity building. Across the five engagements, the Fellow will: Research and analysis: Review English- and Arabic-language sources; compile and check quantitative and qualitative data; prepare tables, charts and short analytical notes; and distinguish verified findings from stakeholder views and assumptions. Stakeholder engagement: Help prepare interview guides and briefing materials, support consultations with public agencies, businesses, cooperatives and financial institutions, and prepare clear records of findings and agreed follow-up actions. Advisory outputs: Draft assigned sections of reports, presentations, opportunity briefs and capacity-building materials; incorporate technical comments; and support consistency between Arabic and English materials. Delivery and knowledge management: Maintain agreed work-plan and deliverable trackers, organize source materials, support workshops and missions when required and authorized, and identify lessons and tools that can be adapted across engagements. Expected contributions include documented datasets and source registers, concise research notes, consultation summaries, draft sections of advisory outputs, and workshop or training materials. Specific outputs and deadlines will be agreed with the lead TTL and reviewed regularly. The fellow will support analytical and advisory work; responsibility for technical judgments, client commitments and final deliverables will remain with the TTLs and relevant specialists.