Job: Senior Economist,

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
Deadline: Wednesday, 07 August 2013  

Description

Background / General description:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A COUNTRY OFFICE POSITION IN AZERBAIJAN SUBJECT TO LOCAL RECRUITMENT UNDER THE AZERBAIJAN COMPENSATION PLAN. THE POSITION IS FOR AN ECONOMIST - A TWO-YEAR TERM POSITION THAT CAN BE RENEWED IF PERFORMANCE IS SATISFACTORY.

Background / General description:

Regional Context

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region comprises of 30 diverse clients, with a population of nearly 500 million people. Four of our clients are IDA only and another five are IDA blend countries. The remaining 21 are IBRD credit-worthy although not all have active lending programs. Most countries continue to remain active recipients of knowledge and/or lending services. Country Assistance Strategies reflect this strong diversity with substantial variation in lending prospects, but strong demand for Bank technical services is present across the board.

Over the last twenty years of transition, the countries of Europe and Central Asia have integrated into the global economy across many dimensions such as trade, finance, and labor flows. GDP in the Region grew by two-thirds from 2000 to 2008 - an enviable growth of an average of 6.5 percent a year. But ECA was hit the hardest by the global economic crisis compared to the other regions in the Bank. After growing at about 7 percent in 2007, regional GDP fell 6 percent in 2009.

The financial and economic crisis led to a substantial increase in Bank lending and knowledge activities in all countries, including in several EU members states. The crisis served as a powerful reminder of the relevance of the Bank both as an attractive source of funding and a reliable provider of timely and quality advice.

ECA's recovery from the crisis has been slow. Based on this changing context, the new ECA strategy is focused on developing a new growth model for the region through:

1. Increasing competitiveness to achieve faster growth.

2. Pursuing social sector reforms and fiscal adjustment to achieve more inclusive growth.

3. Supporting climate action to achieve more sustainable growth.

Even while declining from the heights of the crisis, we expect demand for our lending and advisory services post-crisis to remain strong. But we are constrained in our capacity to respond given budget constraints and a limited IDA and IBRD resource environment. This requires an increased results focus to help direct our resources to where they will have the greatest impact, continued emphasis on leveraging partnerships, and expanding our fee for services activities in middle income countries, building on the successful experience in Russia.

Unit Context

ECSPE is divided into four clusters each led by a Sector Manager reporting to the Sector Director. Three clusters (ECSP1, ECSP2, ECSP3) deal mainly with economic policy, each covering a different sub-set of ECA countries; the fourth cluster (ECSP4) deals with the Public Sector for the whole ECA region. The ECSPE sector leaders, mostly based in the country offices, work with the CDs, SDs and SMs, and are responsible for coordination within ECSPE as well as with other sectors, for mentoring field staff, for marketing PREM products and for task-managing at least one PREM product. Poverty and Gender work is led by ECSP3 in collaboration with ECSHD. The department is highly decentralized with about half of the professional staff placed in the field.

Country Context

ECSP1 covers the countries of the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), Central Asia (Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and Turkey.

Azerbaijan is a middle-income resource rich country with a per capita GDP of $7,228 in 2012. The sector program includes growth work, macroeconomic monitoring, and non-lending technical assistance to the government.

ECSP1 is looking for an Economist to join its team in Baku, Azerbaijan. The selected candidate will have operational and analytical responsibilities and will contribute and provide support to a variety of economic tasks on Azerbaijan. The selected candidate will work within the Azerbaijan economic team, led by a Country Sector Coordinator based in Georgia and a Senior Country Economist based in Washington, DC.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current 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 2 year term appointment.

  Duties and Accountabilities:

The economist will perform operational and research responsibilities and provide support for a variety of economic tasks under the direct supervision of the Senior Country Economist. Specific tasks include:

• Collect and analyze economic data on Azerbaijan, including but not limited to data on national accounts, prices, external trade and debt, fiscal accounts, monetary and exchange rate issues, and performance by private companies and state-owned enterprises. The data collection will include frequent communications with relevant ministries, AzStat, the central bank, and others.
• Maintain an up-to-date statistical database covering the above areas using standard World Bank economic databases, produce regular projections, and write ad-hoc reports on data releases and projections as needed.
• Lead or co-lead the biannual Azerbaijan Economic Update.
• Independently research and analyze a variety of specific economic, financial, country, or sector topics and issues for lending, research, and/or policy related tasks. Work closely with colleagues from the poverty cluster to explore fully the potential macro-micro synergies between the two clusters, including on the impact of macroeconomic and other policies on the poor and bottom 40 percent.
• Prepare sections of country economic, sector, strategy or research reports involving the analysis, evaluation and, preparation of data.
• Write routine reports independently and participate in drafting technical working papers for wider circulation.
• Participate in missions to collect and analyze data as well as exchange information with government and private sector officials.
• Facilitate missions by colleagues from ECA PREM and engage with sector colleagues and country-based staff on economic issues.
• Carry out work on other countries in the cluster as needed, including data collection, preparation of databases, analysis, preparation of short notes, and mission facilitation.
• Support the Country Management Unit (CMU) in the implementation of the World Bank's Azerbaijan program.
• Work seamlessly with colleagues in the PREM team and across the World Bank and IFC.

  Selection Criteria:

COMPETENCIES

• 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 - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
• Technical and Quantitative Skills as an Applied Development Microeconomist - Able to lead/participate in projects related to poverty and inequality reduction, poverty and welfare measurement, national development strategies, monitoring, information and evaluation systems, impact evaluation, and related areas.
• Written and Verbal Communication - Demonstrates the ability to influence and persuade others to accept ideas and suggestions (such as counterparts in government, international partner organizations, academia, and Bank colleagues, senior staff and managers)
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
• Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term. 
  OTHER SELECTION CRITERIA:
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in economics, finance or other related social field with a strong quantitative orientation is required; a Master's degree is preferred. Strong analytical and quantitative skills;
• Ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments, and adjust to and prioritize a variety of complex evolving tasks;
• Ability to effectively provide professional support to senior staff;
• Ability to work effectively in a team-oriented, multi-cultural environment;
• Ability to write and speak fluently in English (essential), Azeri (essential); and Russian (desirable) including the ability to present complicated analyses to non-specialist audiences;
• Familiarity with econometric packages (e.g., EViews, STATA) and spreadsheet models; experience in working with macroeconomic data and writing macroeconomic research reports would be an added advantage. 
  The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence

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