Job Details

Fraud Analytics Specialist

 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.  Visit www.worldbank.org.

As part of the World Bank Group (WB), the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) shares in the WB’s overall mission in alleviating poverty and achieving a shared and sustainable prosperity in client countries. INT’s fundamental role within the WB is to help detect, prevent, and deter fraud and corruption in the use of the WB’s financial resources, so that those resources are used effectively to benefit the poor people that they are intended to reach. In contributing to the WB’s overall mission, INT works closely with other stakeholders across the WB to:

Help detect, prevent, and deter fraud and corruption in WB-supported projects and activities by: 

• professionally investigating allegations of fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion, or obstruction (the WB-sanctionable practices) in WB activities. 
• seeking WB sanctions against firms and individuals that have engaged in any sanctionable practice.
• using information available to INT to help operational staff design and implement projects in ways that minimize fraud and corruption risks.
• working with the operational complex and other oversight and control units to help prevent fraud and corruption in operations by distilling lessons learned from investigative findings, developing effective risk identification and management tools, preparing remedial recommendations at the project and broader level, as appropriate, to address risks and issues identified through investigations, and ensuring timely disclosure to the Board of risks identified through ongoing or recently completed investigations that are of relevance to new operations presented to the Board for approval.
• conducting detailed fiduciary reviews of WB-supported projects with operations using forensic methodology in order to detect indicators of fraud or corruption and help address them as early as possible for better project outcomes; and
• working with sanctioned entities through the Integrity Compliance Office in supporting and monitoring their efforts to put in place appropriate integrity compliance programs in order to raise their integrity standards and reduce risks associated with their operations following their release from sanction.

Help client countries to fight fraud and corruption by:

• referring investigative findings to the investigative and enforcement authorities in those countries and working with authorities, as requested, to follow-up and take action.
• supporting client country counterparts with their preventive and integrity risk mitigation efforts at the project and policy levels.
• helping build client country capacity in preventive and forensic techniques and
• collaborating in multilateral efforts to mitigate the risks of fraud and corruption in development activities.
• promoting integrity principles and the implementation of integrity compliance programs among entities sanctioned by the WB, and more broadly.

Enforce the highest standards of professional integrity and ethical behavior among WB staff and corporate vendors by: 

• investigating allegations of staff misconduct involving significant fraud and corruption. 
• investigating corporate vendors alleged to have engaged in sanctionable practices; and 
• mining the lessons learned from those investigations to undertake training and outreach programs and strengthen the WB’s internal controls environment.

INT’s work contributes directly to achieving the shared prosperity/poverty reduction and sustainable planet-related mission and work of the WB. Reducing fraud and corruption in WB projects helps to ensure that WB funds are used for their intended purposes: to alleviate poverty and to increase prosperity and stability in our borrowing countries. Working with others in international development institutions, INT’s principal goal is to measurably minimize development assistance funds lost to fraud, corruption and abuse and increase the quality and results of development efforts. Results are reported in an annual report that contains aggregated data, outcomes, and generic descriptions of significant cases. To ensure its independence, INT’s Vice President (VP) reports directly to the World Bank President. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The Forensic Services Unit (FSU) in INT provides special assistance to external investigation teams in planning, executing, and reporting on the exercise of the WB’s audit and inspection rights and to internal investigation teams related to financial matters. The unit also executes forensic audits of World Bank-funded projects to identify suspected fraudulent expenditures and other fiduciary issues, collaborates across INT and Operations teams as required, and helps identify potentially ineligible expenditures, ineffective controls in Project Implementing Agencies (PIUs), and recommends improvements.

The Fraud Analytics Specialist (FAS) will play a critical role in advancing the WB’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) mission by enhancing data-driven applications for integrity risk management. This role will focus on spearheading fraud and forensic analytics initiatives that significantly boost INT’s operational effectiveness and collaborate with INT Data Lab team lead to build and monitor data pipelines using Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) techniques. The FAS will be responsible for developing statistical models and tools that can help identify patterns of misconduct, assess risk factors, and provide actionable insights to prevent fraud and corruption in World Bank-financed operations. This work will require the FAS to collaborate closely with the Prevention, Risk and Knowledge Management unit (PRKM) and other relevant INT and Bank units to ensure that the analytics tools are effectively integrated into INT's broader risk management framework. The FAS will report to the FSU Team Lead.

The FAS will support data mining and intelligence curation efforts across INT. This responsibility includes extracting and analyzing business intelligence that can be used by various INT units, such as Complaint Development, External and Internal Investigations, Prevention, Knowledge Management, and Compliance. The FAS will ensure the intelligence/data gathered is relevant, timely, and actionable, fostering an environment where data-driven decision-making is paramount. By curating and disseminating intelligence efficiently, the FAS will facilitate a more cohesive and informed approach to identifying, leveraging, and managing integrity risks.

In close collaboration with INT teams, the FAS will be instrumental in contributing to the development of methodologies for proactive case work, essential for preemptive investigation strategies. In collaboration with the INT Data Lab, the FAS will contribute to the methodological enhancement of tools used to manage integrity risks (INT’s Risk Matrix and Bid Analysis tools) along with other open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools that support data-driven assessments of high-risk/high impact complaints. The FAS will help enhance decision-making processes by applying a standardized, data-driven approach. These contributions will support all INT and Bank units by contributing to a framework for pursuing proactive investigations, ultimately leading to a more robust understanding and management of integrity risks. 

Under the supervision of INT’s Data Lab team lead, the FAS will liaise with ITS to communicate, follow up, and resolve INT cloud related issues and, additionally, use the INT cloud infrastructure to build pattern detection systems under development in INT. The FAS will also work on integrating Artificial Intelligence technologies developed by the INT Data Lab in Forensic and Risk Management tools.

Knowledge Management

The FAS will contribute to the development of learning materials and knowledge and technical notes related to fraud analytics as part of INT’s knowledge management efforts, including:

• Working with other INT staff to contribute subject matter expertise to INTs’ broader Risk Analytics Work Program.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of training workshops related to fraud analytics.
• Supporting selected risk analytic activities, working closely with INT colleagues with expertise in prevention, data science, forensic audit, and investigations. 
• Providing inputs to team discussions on INT strategy updates, data systems modernization efforts, business process changes, and development/enhancement of current and future case management system (CMS) applications as these relate to FSU.

Selection Criteria

• Advanced university degree, or equivalent, in computer forensics, computer science, data science, information technology (such as software engineering, data engineering, cloud engineering, cybercrime, etc.) or economics, mathematics, statistics, accounting, finance or law with suitable certifications in data science.
• At least 5 years of experience in data analytics, fraud analytics, especially analytics involving governance, risk management, integrity issues, etc. 
• Relevant academic background and/or demonstrated professional experience in fraud anomaly detection, prevention, and deep dive data analytics.
• Relevant technical experience (i.e., in Python, SQL, Machine Learning) are highly desired. 
• Familiarity developing data-driven decision-making methodologies, solutions architect, cloud infrastructure.  Proficient in the latest risk management concepts, forensic, response, and reverse engineering skills and astute in the latest exploit methodologies.
• Experience with researching and fielding new and innovative technology.
• Strong communications and technical writing skills 
• Strong team player and collaborator, with the ability to conduct daily duties autonomously.

Core Competencies

Lead and Innovate: Contributes new insights to understand situations and develops solutions to resolve complex problems. Adapts as circumstances require and manages impact of own behavior on others in context of WBG's values and mission. Identifies and pursues innovative approaches to resolve issues.

Client Orientation:  Identifies WBG solutions to meet client's needs and goals. Considers the changing environment and sometimes competing client demands in the forefront of all work activities. Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and proposes sustainable solutions based on good diagnosis; applies best knowledge and evidence-based advice. Seeks resources and skills to meet challenging and unexpected client needs. Formulates effective development solutions that are sensitive to cultural values and beliefs of varied client groups and is able to resolve differences, negotiate and bring client to closure in a culturally sensitive manner. Delivers new insight and recommends actions or viable solutions for multiple client groups and future needs related to goals and Department-wide results.

Drive for Results:  Creates conditions to achieve challenging results. Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and communicates the importance to business outcomes. Finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables. Actively employs risk analysis and mitigates risk, making high-quality decisions on resource allocation and setting priorities for highest impact. Collaborates with others to make needed adjustments to work methods or systems to improve performance.

Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion:  Seeks to improve team collaboration and inclusion. Reaches out to contribute to the work of others in the department. Addresses challenges to effective teamwork contributing to the team staying organized and focused on work, even under stress. Shows leadership in ensuring the team actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches. Directs and identifies the collaboration needed across boundaries, internally and externally in order to have lasting impact. Keeps teams fully informed to ensure integration and work consistency. Facilitates an open exchange of ideas among team members and across teams to select beneficial solutions among alternatives.

Knowledge, Learning and Communication:  Transfers knowledge and communicates effectively across boundaries. Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners. Leads in designing thematic activities and knowledge-sharing forums and encourages others to participate. Articulates ideas, verbally and in writing, using appropriate language that is understandable and easily appreciated by a target audience that spans several client groups or departments. Provides a forum to mentor, guide and influence colleagues and/or client groups to share knowledge across boundaries. Applies expertise and experience to proactively innovate and challenge the status quo. Demonstrates the ability to influence and persuade others to accept ideas and suggestions Department-wide.

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.