Health Specialist/Health Economist at World Bank Group

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Health Specialist/Economist will have the following key responsibilities, inter alia:

Provide implementation support, as needed, to the Bank’s HNP portfolio in Somalia, which includes: (i) Improving Healthcare Services in Somalia (“Damal Caafimaad” Project; (ii) COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency project; (iii) health components under (a) Somalia Crisis Recovery Project (SCRP) and (b) Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing (RCRF) Project; and (iv) support for several health Advisory Services and Analytics (ASAs).

• Contribute to the technical discussions and monitoring of the Bank portfolio in close collaboration with the relevant government agencies and development partners.
• Assist the task team with policy dialogue, communications, and interactions with government counterparts, country stakeholders as well as development partners.
• Contribute to sector-specific inputs for various operational products/outputs (e.g., sector/country briefings, background reports, portfolio performance reviews, etc.).
• Contribute to and participate in missions of the health team in Somalia as directed.
• Respond to ad hoc information requests from internal and external parties.

The work will be substantive in nature, requiring frequent missions in the field and interactions with various external and internal counterparts in Somalia.

The Health Specialist/ Economist will report to the HNP Practice Manager for HAEH2. As a field-based staff member, the selected Health Specialist or Health Economist will work closely with the respective Task Team Leaders from HNP GP and other GPs as well as with staff of the the Country Management Unit (CMU). The Health Specialist/Economist will be subject to all World Bank regulations and guidelines applicable to staff.
Selection Criteria

• At least a Master’s degree in health economics, public health, or a related field. A PhD would be considered an added advantage.
• A minimum of 5 years of full-time relevant professional experience is required.
• Consistent record of working on health, nutrition, and population issues.
• Strong knowledge of and experience with the health sector in developing countries, including institutional set up, health policies and programs, challenges, and priorities.
• Demonstrated expertise in policy dialogue and the ability to interact effectively with Government officials and a range of partners at various levels.
• Prior experience working with/on health systems in Somalia and/or other FCS environments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Prior experience in an international development institution (public, NGO or private) or academia is preferred.
• Ability to analyze cross-sectional household and facility-level survey data as well as macro-level time-series budgetary and other relevant data.
• Familiarity with statistical analyses, econometric methods, and related software, preferably STATA.
• Demonstrated track record of synthesizing complex analytics and results into user-friendly outputs, including PowerPoint presentations, Policy Briefs and Working Papers.
• Shown analytical skills linking strategic and quantitative analysis, and the ability to inform high-level policy dialogue through strong communications (including writing) skills, including data visualization skills.
• Respectful and client-engagement skills, and demonstrated success working with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision and handle multiple tasks, meet changing priorities, and deliver high-quality analysis and work on-time.
• Willingness to travel extensively in country and possible to other countries as necessary, including to remote rural areas.
• Fluency in English (excellent oral and written communication skills) is required, with ability to prepare documents on complex subjects, speak and write persuasively, and present ideas clearly and concisely.
• Fluency in Somali is required.