Back Water, Sanitation and Solid Waste Research Consultant

Post of duty: Washington, D.C. - USA

The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.

About this position

The Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) within the Bank is committed to expanding access to quality services for low-income and vulnerable populations, promoting comprehensive and sustainable solutions, improving sector governance and financial sustainability, and incorporating the concept of water security in the sector, particularly by increasing wastewater treatment coverage, protecting supply watersheds, and reducing flooding risk.

We are looking for a proactive, rigorous and experienced Water, Sanitation and Solid Waste Research Consultant. As research consultant, you will support the whole knowledge generation process.

You will work in the Knowledge Team part of INE/WSA department. This team is responsible for knowledge production, management and dissemination that serves to assess needs and priorities, inform practices, advise clients and contribute to an evidence-based approach to lending.

What you’ll do:

• Research analysis 70%
  • Conducts empirical research and policy analysis on Water and Sanitation and/or Solid Waste topics in LAC.
  • Manages database process, including data collection, coding, storage, and visualization.
  • Creates and manages large datasets including establishing cleaning and storage protocols and writes complex code to operationalize qualitative and quantitative analysis methodologies.
  • Conducts literature reviews of material from conferences and seminars, government documents, academic journals and policy publications, institutional databases, and reports.
  • Creates tables, graphs, and other data visualizations that clearly communicate research findings.
  • Performs advanced econometric analysis of large datasets.
  • Co-authors working papers, technical notes, discussion documents, fact sheets, policy briefs, and presentations on the team’s research for external publication.
  • Operational support 30%
    • Supports grant-writing activities, in coordination with Knowledge Team staff and scholars.
    • Assists with institutional information requests.
    • Coordinates knowledge products in collaboration with Knowledge Team staff and the Communication department.
    • Supports all areas of project administration and coordination, including liaising with partners and potential partners.
    • Other administrative duties as assigned.

      What you'll need

      • Education: master’s degree in economics, environmental economics, natural resources economics, applied economics, econometrics/statistics, public policy, or related field. Preferably PhD degree in economics, environmental economics, natural resources economics, applied economics, econometrics/statistics, public policy, or related field. Candidates should have a strong quantitative background (e.g., econometrics, programming).
      • Experience: At least five years of experience (or a PhD) and demonstrated knowledge and interest in at least one of the following areas:
        • Water and Sanitation economics and policy.
        • Economics of Solid Waste management.
        • Impact evaluations assessing changes in development outcomes caused by a particular project, program, or policy.
        • Languages: Proficiency in Spanish and English, spoken and written, is required. Additional knowledge of French and Portuguese is preferable.

          Key skills:

          • Strong background in statistics and quantitative methods applied to policy issues and/or big data.
          • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
          • Effective verbal and written communication skills with both expert and non-expert audiences (proof of experience in academic writing is required).
          • Expert programming and data manipulation skills using R, Stata and/or Python, version control (Github), and ArcGIS.
          • Familiarity with working with third-party APIs for data ingestion is desirable.

            Requirements:

            • Citizenship: You are a citizen of one of our 48-member countries.
            • Consanguinity: You have no family members (up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB, IDB Invest, or IDB Lab.

              Type of contract and duration:

              • Type of contract: International Consultant Full-Time.
              • Length of contract: 12 months.
              • Work Location: On site.

                What we offer

                📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

                ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

                The IDB group provides benefits that respond to the different needs and moments of an employee’s life. These benefits include:

                • A competitive compensation packages.
                • Leaves and vacations: 2 days per month of contract + gender- neutral parental leave.
                • Health Insurance: the IDB Group provides a monthly allowance for the purchase of health insurance.
                • Savings plan: ​​​​​​​The IDB Group cares about your future, depending on the length of the contract, you will receive a monthly savings plan allowance.
                • We offer assistance with relocation and visa applications for you and your family when it applies.
                • Hybrid and flexible work schedules.
                • Development support: We offer learning opportunities to boost your professional profile such as seminars, 1:1 professional counseling, and much more.
                • Health and wellbeing: Access to our Health Services Center which provides preventive care and health education for all employees.
                • Other perks: Lactation Room, Daycare Center, Gym, Bike Racks, Parking, and others.

                  Our culture

                  At the IDB Group we work so everyone brings their best and authentic selves to work, willing to try new approaches without fear, and where they are accountable and rewarded for their actions.

                  Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are at the center of our organization. We celebrate all dimensions of diversity and encourage women, LGBTQ+ people, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply.

                  We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job interview process. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at diversity@iadb.org to request reasonable accommodation to complete this application.

                  Our Human Resources Team reviews carefully every application.

                  About the IDB Group

                  The IDB Group, composed of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Invest, and the IDB Lab offers flexible financing solutions to its member countries to finance economic and social development through lending and grants to public and private entities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

                  About IDB

                  We work to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through financial and technical support for countries working to reduce poverty and inequality, we help improve health and education and advance infrastructure. Our aim is to achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. With a history dating back to 1959, today we are the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. We provide loans, grants, and technical assistance; and we conduct extensive research. We maintain a strong commitment to achieving measurable results and the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability.

                  Follow us:

                  https://www.linkedin.com/company/inter-american-development-bank/