Senior Economist, Jobs Measurement Job #: req32902 Organization: World Bank Sector: Economics Grade: GG Term Duration: 4 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 5/7/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank 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. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
Office of the Senior Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships
The Senior Managing Director’s (SMD) key mandate includes overseeing the Bank’s knowledge and partnership programs and ensuring that the Bank’s analytical work continues to address the pressing development challenges facing client countries and global partners. The office is responsible for the Evolution Roadmap, G20 and G7 engagements, the implementation of the Knowledge Compact, as well as the replenishment of IDA, the Bank’s concessional lending arm for the poorest countries. It provides strategic guidance on the WB’s global knowledge and IDA corporate commitments; oversees key partnerships with shareholders, development agencies, other multilateral development banks (MDBs) and academia; helps shape and drive the Bank’s strategic directions; and through the Trust Fund portfolio in Global Practices, mobilizes support and financial resources across the international community to bring concessionally to our work.
Building on the progress of past efforts, the WBG Knowledge Compact for Action aims to empower clients, public and private, by systematically making the latest knowledge available to respond more effectively to increasingly complex development challenges. This includes knowledge embedded in policy advice, expertise and know-how, including from financing operations, as well as the latest research, data and tools to formulate robust development policies and programs. Compact will deliver this knowledge to clients under the four pillars of enhanced products, partnerships, learning and systems. To advance the knowledge agenda, the practice groups will be organized into five vertical vice presidencies aligned with the new mission (People, Prosperity, Planet, Infrastructure and Digital).
In addition, three new departments are being created to enhance coordination, integration and outcome orientation across the WBG.
• The Outcomes team generates metrics, aggregates results, and monitors in real-time how and where the Bank is driving development outcomes. It also identifies cross-cutting thematic areas that require additional efforts and resources.
• The Innovation team drives forward-thinking, innovative approaches and explores new frontiers to address the most complex development challenges.
• The Knowledge and Learning team foster systematic and consistent curation and use of knowledge and development expertise to build client and staff capacity, delivering tailored, world-class development solutions to clients.
The Department for Outcomes provides the strategic vision and direction for an effective outcome orientation across the WBG, including thought leadership on approaches to development impact measurement, proposing revisions and updates to outcome indicators and methodologies as needed, coordinating the development of outcome targets and their implications in our knowledge, operations, and financing. It also oversees the development and implementation of metrics and systems to evaluate outcomes on cross-cutting themes such as climate, jobs, private sector capital mobilization, women and youth and the monitoring of these areas in the Corporate Scorecard, in collaboration with MDO, IFC and MIGA. This department is responsible for generating metrics, aggregating results, and monitoring in real-time how and where we are driving development outcomes, and where we need to place greater focus and additional resources
In addition, the Department convenes both external and internal parties and other MDBs regarding outcome metrics, building external and internal capacity, and acting as the secretariat for external advisory groups like the Job Council.
The Department for Outcomes is seeking a Senior Economist to lead the development and application of advanced methodologies for assessing the impact of WBG-financed projects and country strategies on employment outcomes. In this role, the Senior Economist will play a leadership role in finalizing and refining the WBG's methodology for measuring job outcomes on the Scorecard and provide technical support to operational units in its implementation. Working closely with Verticals and other stakeholders, the Senior Economist will ensure the robust and accurate measurement of employment-related indicators across various initiatives. The Senior Economist will also lead the development of modeling and analytical platforms supporting the estimation and analysis of employment effects, in collaboration with other WBG units.
Duties and Accountabilities:The Senior Economist, Jobs Measurement, will be responsible for:
• Technical and Strategic Leadership:
a) Lead the development of methodologies for measuring job outcomes in development projects, country strategies, and analytical reports, across WBG institutions.
b) Provide intellectual and technical leadership on job outcomes measurement, internally and externally.
c) Build and maintain strong relationships with internal partners to foster effective collaboration across Verticals, Horizontals and Regions related to jobs measurement and related analytics.
d) Forge partnerships with external stakeholders to position the WBG as a technical and thought leader in Jobs Outcomes measurement
• Data Collection, Economic Modeling and Analytical Tools:
a) Partner with relevant teams across the WBG to develop and/or improve existing modeling tools to estimate job outcomes.
b) Lead innovative data and evidence collection efforts to improve the parameterization and robustness of economic models used to estimate job outcomes.
c) Provide technical advice to WBG project teams on integrating jobs indicators into project design and implementation across Verticals.
d) Lead the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to track progress on job outcomes at country level and in WBG operations.
e) Provide technical support to teams implementing ex-ante assessment as well as ex-post evaluations of project impacts related to jobs.
• Capacity Building:
a) Facilitate capacity-building initiatives aimed at improving internal stakeholders’ understanding of how to measure and evaluate job outcomes.
b) Lead the design and delivery of training sessions and workshops to WBG project teams, government officials, and partner organizations on job outcomes measurement and the inclusion of jobs in economic analysis.
• Knowledge Sharing and Learning:
a) Develop knowledge and analytical products, including reports, policy notes, and blogs, to disseminate lessons learned and best practices on measuring and improving job outcomes.
b) Collaborate with global partners, academic institutions, and NGOs to ensure that the WBG is applying the latest knowledge and innovations in measuring job impacts.
• Policy Dialogue:
a) Contribute to policy discussions across the WBG, including with the Jobs Council, and with partner institutions on strategies, policies and reform to improve job outcomes.
Selection Criteria
• Ph.D. in economics with at least 8 years of relevant professional experience.
• Outstanding economic modeling, quantitative and econometric skills, and proficiency in data visualization.
• Proven track record in applied research, economic modeling and/or econometric analysis to estimate employment and job outcomes. Relevant peer reviewed publications would be a plus.
• Experience in incorporating job outcomes in the design and development impact frameworks of interventions; monitoring job outcome metrics at the project and micro-levels; and solid understanding of macroeconomic and policy dimensions of jobs and employment.
• Familiarity with impact measurement techniques, including impact evaluations, and the self-evaluation systems of MDBs.
• Strong communication and writing skills, including ability to interact with internal stakeholders within the WBG and IFC’s client countries, and participate in programs/initiatives in collaboration with the WB/MIGA/external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills; proven ability to work effectively as a team leader and team member, build and maintain relationships with colleagues, manage junior staff and maintain collaborative relationships with stakeholders.
• Capacity to work in high pressure environments and being flexibly on a range of assignments, adjust to changes in schedule and priorities, and juggle concurrent tasks effectively and efficiently.
• Fluency in English is required.
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.
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