Senior Economist at World Bank Group

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

The Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice

The Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment (MTI) Global Practice leads the World Bank Group’s dialogue and engagement with clients in macroeconomics, fiscal policy, trade, competition and investment.  MTI links the macroeconomic dialogue with programs focused on expanding the role of the private sector in economic development. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/unit/mti-gp

Duties and Accountabilities

The Senior Economist will:

• Lead or significantly contribute to the MTI team’s support to Kenya’s devolution program.
• Contribute to MTI lending operations in Kenya, including Development Policy Financing.
• Lead or significantly contribute to the preparation of major analytical reports.
• Collaborate with the MTI team on the preparation of just-in-time technical notes on a wide range of macroeconomic (including fiscal and debt) and structural reform issues.
• Facilitate the Bank's policy dialogue with the authorities.
• Work closely with other global practices to provide integrated diagnostics and development solutions.
• Disseminate new ideas, creative approaches, and successful international experience; disseminate successful experiences from Kenya to the rest of the world.
• Work closely and provide regular support and advice to the Country Director based in Nairobi and engage with the broader country team to enhance the rigor of advice on cross-cutting and sectoral issues in support of the growth and shared prosperity agenda.
• Actively promote dialogue and close working relationships with the main development partners working on Kenya as well as with the private sector, academia, think tanks and civil society.
• Liaise with the IMF on the macroeconomic framework and in the preparation of joint World Bank-IMF debt sustainability analysis, when needed.
• Carry out the work program in a way that contributes to client capacity building, knowledge sharing and innovation at national and county levels.
• Ensure high standards of quality of tasks managed by self and help enhance quality of other tasks.
• Participate actively in MTI Global Practice-wide activities including by providing support to programs in other countries in the same Country Management Unit (Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda), and others as may be appropriate through cross-support.

Selection Criteria

• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills – Possesses cross-country knowledge in economic specialty and demonstrates ability to link the macro, institutional, and micro-level behaviors; able to support findings/policy recommendations with credible analysis and tools.
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Understands policy-making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies and assesses policy issues and takes a leading role in the dialogue with the government and other stakeholders.
• Macroeconomic Skills and Country Economics Experience - Has a strong understanding of macroeconomic relationships, and the use of national accounts, balance of payments, fiscal and debt data systems from a data-consumer point of view.
• Integrative Skills – complements strong applied macroeconomics, fiscal and debt analytical skills with an ability to situate sectoral issues within a broader development framework.
• Written and Verbal Communication - Strong oral and written communication skills to present sophisticated analyses to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Lead and Innovate- Develops innovative solutions.
• Strong Client-Orientation and Diplomatic Skills - Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs, combined with integrity and courage of opinion.
• Impact - High energy and demonstrated interest in achieving impact through analytical work and technical assistance for demanding and sophisticated clients.
• Flexibility - Ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments and adjust to a variety of sophisticated evolving tasks to meet deadlines.

OTHER SELECTION CRITERIA

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in economics, with eight years of relevant experience.
• Strong technical skills on macro-fiscal, debt and growth issues and a proven track record in delivering high quality and technically sophisticated analytical work.
• First-hand knowledge of the Kenyan economy and strong understanding of key economic policy issues in Kenya is a plus
• Proven sense of initiative, results orientation, and leadership qualities, as well as effective teamwork skills.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to speak persuasively and to present ideas clearly and concisely with senior policy officials.
• Strong integrative capacities: i.e., ability to situate IDA activities within a coherent strategic framework.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills -- both verbal and written.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly on complex topics to a wide variety of audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiations skills and ability to work flexibly, creatively and to multitask as the need arises.
• A high degree of self-motivation, positive attitude, and drive.
• Strong commitment towards teamwork and knowledge sharing, especially across the World Bank Group.
• Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.