Health Specialist, Headquarters

Health Specialist, Headquarters Job #: req34445 Organization: World Bank Sector: Health & Safety Grade: GF Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Additional language preferred Closing Date: 10/10/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

The World Bank Group’s Health and Safety Directorate (HSD) seeks to protect and promote the health and safety of the World Bank Group (WBG) staff and their immediate families wherever they may be, taking account of their individual health, working environment, and job demands. HSD provides advice on health and safety related matters to WBG offices worldwide.

HSD consists of four functional units:

• Personal Health and Wellness:
o Facilitates and enables the delivery of health services and preventive health programs to WBG staff and families living in HQ and over 120 Country Offices (COs) outside of the United States, to include moving people temporarily or permanently to regions when needed services are not available locally.
• Occupational Health and Safety
o Informed by a comprehensive risk register and through collaboration with sister units, provides an ongoing assessment of personal, occupational, and psychological health and safety risks for staff across the entire Bank, and recommends implementation of controls to mitigate such risks.
• Prevention and Health Promotion
o Leads institution-wide, evidence-based prevention and wellness initiative, including health education, campaigns, screenings, and behavior-change programs that mitigate chronic diseases and modifiable risks, foster sustainable health habits, and strengthen staff well-being. Works closely with HSD regional hubs to adapt and implement initiative to country contexts, ensuring maximum reach, cultural relevance, and impact.
• Mental Health and Wellbeing
o Provides direct short-term counseling and facilitates long-term counseling through external providers as needed by staff and provides a variety of mental health resiliency training through seminars, educational series, and large group activities.

General Accountability:

The Headquarters Health Specialist (HHS) is organizationally located within the Personal Health and Wellness Unit (PHW) and reports directly to the Senior Health Specialist (SHS) for Headquarters as technical supervisor. As such, the incumbent is responsible for work as assigned by the SHS for all nurse specific duties and responsibilities. The incumbent engages in collaborative multi-disciplinary health and safety efforts across HSD and as such may be assigned duties by the HSD Manager of Operations. 

Dimensions:

The incumbent possesses the technical expertise to deliver services and support to staff who work in HQ and CO locations with a high level of independence and professional autonomy. As such, the incumbent requires minimal oversight while functioning in HSD programs, projects, and outreach efforts.

Functions and Duties:

The incumbent delivers expert nursing services and support to HSD management and stakeholders external to HSD when appropriate, and when requested and/or required. Expertise includes a wide range of occupational, general, travel health, and emergency medicine issues that affect all levels and categories of employees including executive management. The incumbent must recognize multicultural staff living in or coming from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and ensure the exercise of continual sensitivity to these issues as they deal with sometimes very personal issues. Within these parameters, the incumbent has a high level of independence and autonomy to act to ensure that the clinical mission of the unit is accomplished.

Serves as a member of one or more of the nurse managed programs:

o Travel Medicine Program:
• Promulgates the importance of pre-travel consultation with HSD to all staff members throughout HQ and with regional staff when requested, stressing importance of pretravel preparation.  
• Delivers travel medicine services in HQ and support for regional guidance as requested.
• Provides guidance and expertise, when needed, regarding specific health and safety risks that must be addressed in preparing staff for relocation to specific regions
• Provides occupational health nurse programmatic risk assessment and medical surveillance when appropriate  

o Relocation Medical Evaluation Review Program (RMER):
• Actively engage with strategic partners, internal and external to HSD for the assessment of health and safety risks in association with relocation for staff and their dependents.
• Provide guidance and support to staff in completing the required forms and documents for HSD in association with the RMER process.
• Promulgates the importance of pre-relocation preparation with HSD for vaccines, and when necessary, malaria prophylaxis in association with proposed relocation destination
• Independently provide health briefings with staff (and staff partner) prior to relocation, addressing associated health risks in relocation destination using available resources and when necessary, relying on input from regional health specialists 

o Prevention and Health Promotion Collaboration:
• Nurses on team work collaboratively with principals from Prevention and Health Promotion unit to support on efforts establishing and sustaining a culture of health and safety in the WBG and in country offices. 
•  Promote Country Office staff engagement and in myriad health, safety, and wellness outreach efforts such as vaccination campaigns, and education about chronic disease management
• Motivate staff engagement in various HSD outreach offerings such as CPR/AED training, the Employee Health and Wellness Program, and MHW Unit educational lectures and webinars.

Occupational Health and Safety:

• Collaborates with colleagues from OHS during joint integrated health and safety events and program outreach efforts. 

Mental Health and Wellbeing:

• Collaborate with colleagues from MHW during joint health and wellness program and mental health and wellbeing program outreach efforts 

HSD Strategy and Operations:

• Under the direction of HSD’s Manager of Operations, collaborates with colleagues from other HSD Domain areas on multi-disciplinary joint mission planning, and participates in missions as needed.

• As directed, engages standardized and rational approach to PHW mission travel:

o Follows managerial guidance regarding planning and coordination of periodic multi-disciplinary team missions to various Country Office (CO) locations within the regions covered by the various Hub teams
o During mission visits, PHW staff will be present, where and when appropriate, to support assessment of local medical resources, the CO medical emergency response plan, environmental health and safety assessments, psychosocial health risk assessments, preventive health education and screening, promotion of the Bank’s Employee Health and Wellness Program, and psychoeducational programming and presentations to include domestic abuse prevention.

Selection Criteria

• Valid and current US Registered Nurse licensure, DC licensure required for selected applicants.
• Master's degree with 5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong theoretical base in subject area, combining a broad grasp of relevant theory and principles and of involved practices and precedents.
• Ability to translate theory into practical applications in context of Bank work.
• Ability to participate in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Proficiency in written, spoken, and clinical English.
• Ability to travel internationally as required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5 or more years of experience working as an in-house nurse for a large employer.  
• Demonstrated excellence in clinical judgement and decision-making.
• Experience working with international organizations / multicultural populations.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team environment.
• Proficiency in two or more languages.

Competencies:

Knowledge

• Incumbent executes all HQ and CO oriented nursing services for the WBG and IMF. This includes a wide range of health services not only for employees, but in some instances retirees and dependents as well. The programs directly and significantly affect disease prevention through health screening, education, and counseling, as well as protection from significant injury or illness resulting from hazardous exposures.  

Supervisory Control

• The Health Specialist may be called upon to follow or to serve as team leader on various programs, services delivery, and other HSD/PHW outreach efforts. 

Guidelines

• Guidelines are set forth in The WBG Staff Rules and Directives, local licensing authorities, and host government public health requirements. The incumbent conforms to such guidelines as directed by HSD management at its various levels.  

Complexity

• The incumbent executes both short- and long-term goals, suggests direction for the program, and provides insights to inform decisions by higher management regarding program execution.  

Scope and Effect

• The incumbent is responsible for carrying out the work necessary to achieve HSD goals and objectives which provides means for implementing health and safety risk mitigation strategies that can prevent staff from becoming injured or ill due to hazardous exposure in the workplace or in the course of their duties.  

HSD Contacts

• The incumbent has periodic ongoing contact primarily with the Senior Health Specialist for Headquarters (SHS), and with the Manager of PHW, the HSD Manager of Operations. the Senior Health Specialist for Country Offices (SHS), the HSD Knowledge Management Officer, and the HSD Senior Communications Officer.

External Contacts

• The purpose of the incumbent’s contacts with parties beyond HSD, both internal and external to WBG and IMF, is to respond to queries, provide proactive health and safety outreach support, and effectively deal with situations that are often highly sensitive and controversial health and safety matters, provide cutting edge information and suggestions on complex health and safety issues, present and defend findings and recommendations. As such, the incumbent may encounter resistance, competing interests, lack of understanding, uncooperative attitudes, skepticism, and other challenges that must be overcome with positive and constructive dialogue. When directed, the incumbent may represent WBG on panels, advisory committees, conferences, and meetings.

Physical Demands

• The work may require some international travel, extended periods of walking, standing, bending, stooping, and reaching. Mission travel will require inspection of work sites and may require the physical ability to reach awkwardly located areas.

Office Environment

• Performs work in an adequately lighted, heated and ventilated environment.  However, site visits and inspections where indoor air hazards or noise hazards are present may require incumbent to use appropriate respiratory protections and wearing of personal protective equipment.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. 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.