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Job #122268
Job TitleEconomist
Job FamilyEconomic Policy
Job Type
GradeEC2
LocationKyiv, Ukraine
Recruitment TypeLocal Hire
Language RequirementEnglish [Essential]; Ukrainian [Essential]; Russian [Desired]
Closing Date14-Oct-2012

Background / General description:
The Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit (ECSPE) of the Europe and Central Asia region (ECA) is planning a locally recruited Economist based in Kyiv who will be part of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management sector unit team (ECSP3). S/he will report to the Sector Manager (ECSP3), and work closely with the Lead Economist/Country Sector Co-ordinator for Ukraine/Belarus/Moldova, based in Kyiv. Regional Context The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region comprises of 30 extremely diverse clients, with a population of nearly 500 million people. Four of our clients are IDA only and another 5 are IDA blend countries. The remaining 21 are IBRD credit-worthy though not all have active lending programs. Although 10 of our clients have joined the EU and 7 of these have graduated, most continue to remain active recipients of knowledge and/or lending services. CASs/CPSs 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 20 years of transition, ECA countries 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. Yet despite this progress, ECA was hit the hardest by the global economic crisis compared to the other regions in the Bank. Growth in the Region, which had peaked at about 7 percent in 2007, fell to a negative 6 percent in 2009. The financial and economic crisis led to a substantial increase in Bank lending and knowledge activities in all ECA countries, including in several EU members states (e.g., Latvia and Hungary). The crisis helped serve 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. It is projected that ECA is going to be the slowest region to recover from the crisis. Growth in 2010 reached about 4 percent, and prospects for 2011–13 are only slightly better. 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, along with continued emphasis on leveraging partnerships and expanding our fee for services activities in MICs, building on the successful experience in Russia. ECSPE 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. ECSP3 also covers Poverty and Gender work for the ECA region in collaboration with other sectors. The ECSPE Country Sector Coordinators (CSCs), 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. The department is highly decentralized with about half of the professional staff placed in the field. ECCU2 Context The ECCU2 Country Management Unit (CMU) is responsible for overseeing the World Bank's program covering both IBRD (Ukraine and Belarus) and IDA (Moldova, but expected to move towards IBRD in the next few years) countries. Analytical work and technical assistance are important to the program and are accompanied by active dissemination, consultation, and outreach. The Bank has a policy-based lending program in Moldova currently, and an active portfolio of public sector projects in ECCU2. The Bank's program in each country is results-based, with a commitment to deepening harmonization and collaboration with other donors, in particular the European Union, which is negotiating Association Agreements and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with Ukraine and Moldova. Management is decentralized, with the Country Director and the 4 Country Sector Coordinators located in Ukraine. Collaboration with IFC is strong. 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 3 year term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities:
Serve as country economist, task manager and/or key team member for analytical and advisory activities, including economic and sector work; Operate as a member of country economics teams, as required; Participate in efforts to build the economic policy dialogue, including engagement with senior government officials; Support the lead economist in the monitoring of macroeconomic and structural reform developments, economic outlook, and risk analysis as well as liaise closely with IMF and economists in other multilateral organizations, and donors like EU as required; Actively participate in cross-sectoral collaboration with other SMUs, engaging sectoral teams on AAA and lending operations; Take overall leadership of relevant “process” tasks for country work, including the live database and unified survey, the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) exercise, and the preparation of briefing notes for senior management; Work closely with relevant CSCs in all country work, and provide support to CSC in their role of marketing PREM products; Play an active role in regional knowledge management activities, including active participation in one or more ECSPE thematic groups, preparation of Working Papers and PREM notes where relevant, and sharing and learning of good-practice country experiences in specific areas.
Selection Criteria:
• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills • 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. • Macroeconomic Skills and Country Economics Experience - Has a demonstrated capacity for analysis of macroeconomic, debt, trade, fiscal policy and growth linkages • 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 • A Masters degree in Economics, with a PhD preferred. Five years of relevant experience, • Demonstrated conceptual and analytical rigor covering a range of areas in macroeconomics, coupled with the ability to draw pragmatic policy implications from sophisticated conceptual and empirical work, as evidenced in a strong track record of prior written work. • Creativity, resourcefulness, and strong interpersonal skills, including strong client orientation, ability to work productively and harmoniously in a team environment, and work under pressure of tight deadlines.

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