Data Scientist

World Bank Group • Washington, DC

17h

About The Position

Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. 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, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 130 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

ITS Vice Presidency Context:

The Information and Technology Solutions (ITS) Vice Presidential Unit (VPU) enables the World Bank Group to achieve its mission of ending extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet by delivering transformative information and technologies to its staff working in over 150+ locations. For more information on ITS, see this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=VTFGffa1Y7w
Department Context

The WBG Corporate Solutions Department (ITSCO) is focused on the digital transformation of essential corporate services to ensure WBG operations are seamless, resilient, and future‑ready. Uniting digitalization roadmaps, experience design, process optimization, application delivery, systems management, and technology modernization across some 170 products and services, the department links business ambition with operational excellence—from intuitive employee experiences and precision payroll to data-driven decision making, intelligent automation, and AI enablement. Operating from Washington, Chennai, Sofia, and additional locations in a global delivery model, the team seeks to combine disciplined strategic planning with focused roadmaps, agile product delivery, design‑forward innovation, digital engineering, automation, and AI to produce solutions that are engaging, impactful, and efficient. The goal is a unified, OneWBG corporate backbone—streamlined, connected, and adaptive—that empowers leaders, staff, partners, and shareholders with the processes, capabilities, and insights to advance the WBG's mission at scale.

Unit & Team Context

The Corporate Digital Backbone unit creates an autonomous digital backbone for the orchestration of data, transactions, processes, and insights across the diverse corporate portfolio, e.g. application modernization, technology debt reduction, efficient data exchange, advanced analytics, enterprise integration, automated business processes, and agentic-AI. The Analytics for Corporate team deliver data and analytics capabilities for corporate functions that enable data-driven decision-making consistently and efficiently across all products in the corporate portfolio.

Duties and accountabilities:

Role Scope

The Data Scientist is responsible for the extraction of meaningful insights from data assets to support informed organizational decision-making. With limited supervision, this role optimizes the design and execution of data governance and analytics initiatives, manages collaboration with stakeholders, and develops reports, dashboards, analytical models, statistical models, predictive models and machine learning techniques to solve complex business problems.

• Performs advanced-level research and analyses in the field of specialization and oversees large and/or complex projects or processes, with limited supervision.
• Proposes solutions to moderately complex problems in the field of specialization.
• Provides powerful data visualization and storytelling capabilities.
• Seeks common ground and negotiates issues with internal and/or external clients to recommend for higher-level approval.
• Provides knowledge-based guidance, coaching, and training to more junior staff within the role area, serving as a technical resource for other professionals.
• Requires practical application of professional knowledge at a broad-based level to complete difficult assignments.

Requirements

• Education & Experience: Typically requires a Master's degree with 5 years of experience or a Bachelors Degree with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field is preferred.
• Advanced Analytics and Modeling Expertise: Demonstrated mastery in developing and deploying statistical models, predictive analytics, and machine learning algorithms (including supervised/unsupervised learning, regression, classification, and neural networks) that solve complex business problems, with deep knowledge of probability distributions, hypothesis testing, and experimental design applied to real-world organizational challenges.
• Data Design, Visualization, and Knowledge: Demonstrated experience in data design, visualization, presentation, and storytelling, applying design thinking to translate complex analysis into clear, decision-oriented insights, including the design of mobile applications that deliver just-in-time, in-the-flow-of-work insights for rapid decision making. Knowledge of corporate data domains—particularly budget and human resources—and the ability to leverage these datasets to develop actionable analytics and visual products.
• Data Governance and Scientific Rigor: Proven experience designing enterprise-wide data governance frameworks that support reproducible research and model validation, including protocols for feature engineering, model versioning, data lineage tracking, and ethical AI practices that ensure data quality, bias mitigation, and compliance across analytical workflows.
• Strategic Business Translation Skills: Ability to distill complex statistical analyses, A/B test results, and machine learning model outputs into compelling data narratives for executive leadership, translating mathematical insights and model performance metrics into clear business strategies, evidence-based recommendations, and operational improvements that drive organizational impact.
• End-to-End Data Science Solutions: Track record of building complete analytical pipelines from data exploration and feature selection through model development, validation, and production deployment, delivering interactive dashboards, automated reporting systems, and self-service analytics tools that democratize insights across the organization
• Technical Innovation and Thought Leadership: Demonstrated ability to mentor junior data scientists in advanced techniques (ensemble methods, deep learning, NLP, time series forecasting) while evaluating and championing emerging tools and methodologies from academic research and industry that enhance analytical capabilities and accelerate insight generation.

Nice To Haves

• Recommended Certifications: Data Science Council of America (DASCA) Principal Data Scientist; Databricks certified Machine Learning Professional; SAFe DevOps or SAFe Architect.

Responsibilities

• Analytics Integration
• Optimizes analytical and advisory services or operational work in core areas of data science
• Develops a data governance framework that includes clear guidelines for data classification, ownership, and stewardship
• Leverages statistical concepts, practice, and theory, and knowledge of probabilities to guide clients and/or stakeholders in identifying key operational issues and optional solutions
• Solutions Design and Implementation
• Optimizes and delivers data, dashboards, reports, analytics, research and evidence-based solutions for bank-wide institutional directions and strategic vision
• Collaborates to develop data solutions and market knowledge and ensure continuous processes improvements
• Develops data models and manages data processing and cleaning, enabling quality assurance and data visualization
• Develops machine learning and AI tools to accelerate reasoning and analysis to support decision making
• Communication and Narrative
• Translates technical analyses in core areas of data science into recommendations for programs, policies, and strategies for social and economic development
• Manages the adoption and suggestion of new concepts and ideas from inside and outside the organization to optimize data solutions
• Design of Dashboards, Reports, Data Portals
• Experience with data design, data visualization, data presentation, and data storytelling using design thinking approaches.
• Design of mobile apps for just in time and in the flow of work insights for decision making.
• Knowledge of corporate data domains, including budget and human resources.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level