World Bank Group

Position: Economist

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Posted date: 33 minutes ago

Application Deadline: Feb, 16/2022 (14 days left)

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? 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 and promoting shared prosperity. 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. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

Eastern and Southern Africa (E AFR) Region

We need the best and brightest talent focused on our region in order to harness the potential and innovation happening across the continent. Home to about 700 million of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally, and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South.

The sub-region harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continue to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade! But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

Are you ready to make an impact? We are looking for dedicated professionals to join our innovative and diverse team to improve people’s lives and help countries build back better after COVID!

Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Practice Group

Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) Practice Group (PG) supports economic policies and legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms to enable equitable and sustainable growth and to reduce poverty.

Poverty & Equity Global Practice

The Poverty and Equity Global Practice (P&E GP), part of the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions (EFI) vice-presidency, plays a key role in supporting the World Bank Group’s goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. It generates knowledge and dialogue and supports operational solutions, focusing on poverty monitoring and statistical capacity building, markets and institutions, fiscal and social policy, and resilience to shocks and sustainability. The practice is organized into seven regionally-oriented units—EAP, ECA, LAC, MNA, SAR and two in AFR (one of them is AFE as outlined above)—each managed by a Practice Manager. The development and flow of global knowledge within the practice is facilitated through four cross-cutting thematic lines, each of which is led by a thematic Lead Economist. These are (1) data for policy analysis; (2) markets and institutions for poverty reduction and shared prosperity; (3) fiscal and social policy for poverty reduction and shared prosperity; and (4) welfare implications of climate change, fragility and conflict risks. Every member of the P&E GP is affiliated with, participates in, and contributes to the work of at least one of the thematic lines. In addition, the practice takes the lead in two corporate priority areas: (a) Data for Goals and (b) Systematic Country Diagnostics.

The East Africa Poverty unit (EAEPV) covers a large number of countries in East and Southern Africa, including Ethiopia, with a broad range of challenges and opportunities. They are at different stages of economic development, but all share the common goal of eliminating extreme poverty and reducing inequality. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty

Country Management Unit Context

We are looking for a locally recruited Economist, to be based in our office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as part of the team leading the Poverty and Equity work program in the country. The current work program is structured around four pillars namely social inclusion, distributional analysis for structural reforms and economic recovery, strengthening the data and welfare monitoring system, and support to operations.

This includes

1. Managing and conducting analysis for several surveys, including on refugees, mobile populations, tracking impacts of economic reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic,
2. Producing policy notes on the welfare impact of the market liberalization reforms, the effectiveness of social safety nets programs, post-COVID-19 poverty reduction strategies, and enhancing the pro-poor focus of the fiscal system,
3. Reviewing and providing technical assistance on poverty measurement methodology using the latest survey data,
4. Producing flagship reports on migration, rural income diagnostics, and a poverty assessment,
5. Preparing and providing implementation support for the East Africa Regional Statistics Project, and
6. Supporting the design of World Bank operations in Ethiopia to enhance their poverty and equity impacts.

Duties and Accountabilities

• Providing technical assistance to the government in the design and implementation of household surveys and best-practice methodologies for estimating and monitoring poverty and household welfare more broadly.
• Analyzing the distributional impact of structural reforms, fiscal, social and other sector policies and investments, and assessing their role in promoting equity.
• Designing and implementing high-quality analytical work on important poverty and equity topics, including diagnostics of constraints and opportunities for rural income growth, fostering social inclusion of mobile populations, refugees, and internally displaced people, and examining migration, labor markets, and jobs outcomes.
• Preparing written inputs for core poverty analytical products and flagship reports, including poverty assessments.
• Contributing to advise country and sectoral teams on how to address poverty, equity, gender issues and promote evidence-based decision making.
• Interacting and liaising with government counterparts in Ethiopia as part of the operational and policy dialogue to design and deliver innovative analytical work, capacity-building services, financial products, and technical assistance.
• Supporting the development of statistical tools for data sharing and promoting the use of data for policy design. Like all members of the practice, participating in one of the thematic lines and adding value to the global knowledge base.

Selection Criteria

We are looking for an imaginative and innovative micro-economist with a demonstrated track record of sound analytical work, excellent judgment, and experience in working closely with government clients in Ethiopia to tailor analytical and/or statistical advisory services. Candidates with strong client engagement skills, demonstrated effectiveness in working collaboratively with teams from multiple units, and with prior experience of successful engagement in weak capacity contexts will be given special preferences. Prior exposure to and experience working with statistical agencies on the development and implementation of statistical strengthening plans is highly desired.

• Master’s degree (Ph.D. preferred) in economics, public policy, statistics, or other related fields, with a strong quantitative background and at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience.
• Program management skills and experience – someone with hands-on delivery skills
• Strong analytical skills as an applied microeconomist and strong skills in econometrics methods and data visualization; experience in designing and modeling economic behavior and outcomes using multiple and integrated sources of data (household and firm surveys, administrative data, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to analyze microdata and household surveys using Stata.
• Strong experience of policy influencing/engagement and demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with government clients and development partners. Strong track record of substantially contributing to reports in fields related to poverty, inequality, labor markets, and economic mobility.
• Demonstrated communication skills in the written and verbal form in English are required, with candidates also fluent in Amharic preferable. Superb interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams and be respectful and sensitive to cultural, political, and gender issues.

How to Apply

CLICK HERE

 If the selected candidate is a current World Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 years 0 months term appointment.