IFC: E T Consultant – Dar Es Salaam

Build a career with impact. Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) provides a unique opportunity to help countries solve their greatest development challenges. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, the WBG is a unique partnership of five global institutions dedicated to ending poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, the WBG works 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.

Tanzania has made important progress on poverty reduction, but vulnerability remains widespread and is increasingly shaped by climate shocks. Basic-needs poverty declined from 28.2 percent in 2011/12 to 26.4 percent in 2017/18, but extreme (food) poverty has stagnated at around 8 percent, and roughly one in four Tanzanians still live below the national poverty line. Rural households, women, and children continue to bear the brunt of poverty, and repeated droughts and floods driven by climate variability threaten to reverse the gains achieved to date. Building an adaptive, well-targeted, and productive social protection system is therefore central to the Government of Tanzania’s development agenda.

The Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) is Tanzania’s flagship social assistance program, implemented by the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF). The program has been active since 2012 with substantive financial and technical support from the World Bank. PSSN 1 (2012–2019) delivered cash transfers and labor-intensive public works to extreme poor households, targeting approximately 15 percent of the population. Under PSSN 2, coverage was expanded to all districts and villages, extending the program’s national footprint but also raising questions about fiscal sustainability.

The third phase of PSSN (PSSN 3) was approved by the World Bank Board in March 2026. PSSN 3 continues to deliver an inter-related set of social safety net interventions—cash transfers, labor-intensive public works, and a livelihoods program that includes basic and enhanced livelihoods training (productive inclusion)—but with a substantive reduction in coverage relative to PSSN 2. Sharpening the targeting methodology, strengthening implementation systems, integrating digital innovations, and generating rigorous evidence on program impacts and jobs outcomes are therefore central priorities for the third phase.

In parallel, the Government of Tanzania and the World Bank are deepening the analytical agenda on jobs and productive inclusion. This work seeks to understand how social protection instruments can be leveraged to promote human capital formation, labor market participation, and productive employment—particularly for women, youth, and vulnerable households in rural and peri-urban areas. Analytical outputs are expected to feed into the forthcoming Country Growth and Jobs Report and into ongoing policy dialogue with the President’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Second Vice President’s Office in Zanzibar, and TASAF.

Given the scale, complexity, and strategic importance of PSSN 3 and the associated jobs agenda, the task team requires the sustained support of a Social Protection Economist as an Extended Term Consultant (ETC). The ETC will work as a core member of the Tanzania Social Protection and Jobs task team, providing continuous operational, technical, and analytical support across the PSSN 3 lifecycle, with a particular focus on targeting, implementation quality, digital innovations, and the jobs research agenda.

Objective and Scope of Work

The Extended Term Consultant will work as a core member of the Tanzania Social Protection and Jobs task team within the World Bank and will (i) co-lead and coordinate technical support for the targeting and implementation of PSSN 3; (ii) co-lead the social protection and jobs research and analytical agenda in Tanzania; and (iii) support ongoing work on digital innovations in the PSSN and related delivery systems.
Specific tasks will include:

Technical Support to PSSN 3 Targeting and Implementation
• Coordinate and oversee technical support during PSSN 3 implementation on program targeting, including methodology, roll-out, calibration, and quality assurance across regions and districts.
• Provide continuous technical support to the main implementing agencies of PSSN—including TASAF, the President’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Second Vice President’s Office in Zanzibar, and service providers—on the design and application of the targeting framework.
• Advise on the design of exclusion/inclusion error monitoring, grievance redress mechanisms, and recertification protocols under a leaner PSSN 3 coverage envelope.
• Support TASAF in the operationalization of the TASAF Registry (UCBR) and its interoperability with sectoral information systems.
• Flag any implementation issues and bottlenecks to the Task Team Leader (TTL) and recommend concrete solutions and remedial actions.
• Review documents provided by TASAF and other implementing agencies (operational manuals, targeting notes, workplans) and consolidate task team comments, including inputs to World Bank No Objection requests.

Digital Innovations in the PSSN
• Support ongoing work on digital innovations in the PSSN, including digital payments, biometric identification, mobile-based case management, and data analytics for targeting and monitoring.
• Advise the TTL and TASAF on the adoption of new tools and best practices—such as satellite/geospatial data, machine learning approaches to targeting, and digital feedback mechanisms—to improve the accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and accountability of program delivery.
• Coordinate with World Bank IT and GovTech colleagues to ensure that monitoring and targeting needs are appropriately reflected in the PSSN Management Information System (MIS).

Social Protection and Jobs Research and Analytical Work
• Lead the SP research agenda in Tanzania, including analytical work to inform PSSN 3 and other policy dialogue at country level.
• Co-lead the preparation of the social protection and jobs contributions to the Country Growth and Jobs Report, ensuring rigorous evidence-based inputs.
• Lead preparation of analytical pieces related to social protection—including targeting notes, productive inclusion notes, value-for-money analyses, and policy briefs—for publication and dissemination.
• Undertake analyses on the adequacy of PSSN cash transfer values relative to the poverty line and prevailing inflation, drawing on the latest Household Budget Survey and administrative data.
• Provide technical support to ongoing and future impact evaluations of PSSN components (cash transfers, public works, and productive inclusion), including inputs to instruments, analysis plans, and dissemination products.
• Liaise with World Bank research teams (DIME, DEC) and academic partners to ensure timely and high-quality delivery of research outputs.

Mission and Implementation Support
• Participate in bi-annual Joint Implementation Support (JIS) missions for the PSSN and contribute to drafting of Aide-Mémoires, Implementation Status and Results Reports (ISRs), and other implementation review documents.
• Participate in field missions as needed to assess the quality of implementation on the ground, identify systemic issues, and recommend remedial actions.
• Support the TTL in preparing agendas and background materials for technical missions and implementation support meetings.

Overall Project Management, Coordination, and Partnerships
• Support project preparation and drafting of relevant operational documents (Concept Notes, Aide-Mémoires, Decision Review Notes, PAD write-ups, presentations) as needed.
• Support coordination and collaboration with development partners and UN agencies engaged in the PSSN and jobs agenda.
• Chair and facilitate technical working group meetings on targeting, digital innovations, and jobs, preparing agendas and summarizing next steps for follow-up.
• Draft grant proposals for trust funds to mobilize additional analytical and operational resources for the Tanzania program.
• Support other countries’ social protection and jobs portfolios in the Eastern and Southern Africa unit, as appropriate.
• Undertake any other activities relevant to the successful execution of this assignment, as appropriate.

Duration and Reporting Arrangements
The assignment is expected to be for one year, from August 1, 2026 to July 31, 2027, with possible extension based on performance and portfolio needs. The consultant will report to Claudia Zambra Taibo (Senior Social Protection Specialist and Task Team Leader), in close collaboration with other members of the Tanzania Social Protection and Jobs task team, TASAF, and other Government of Tanzania counterparts. The duty station is Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. All communications with the task team are expected to be in English.