Economist

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The World Bank Group is seeking an Economist to join the Distributional Impact of Policies Global unit within the Fiscal Policy and Growth Department. This unit focuses on integrating distributional analysis of reforms and investments into operational knowledge and lending. The team comprises applied microeconomists, statisticians, data scientists, and social and behavioral scientists who support WBG teams and governments to ensure that WBG interventions and country policies and programs reduce poverty and inequality in a sustainable manner. The Economist will be based in Washington, DC.

Requirements

Master’s degree (PhD preferred) in economics, public policy, or other related field with a strong quantitative background and programming skills.
At least five years of relevant professional experience.
Strong foundation in core poverty and equity analytics, with proven expertise in at least three of the following areas: solid grounding in welfare measurement methodologies, poverty line construction, and the analysis of household survey data; demonstrated experience with survey-to-survey imputation methods used to generate welfare estimates in data-scarce environments; proficiency in applied micro econometrics, including distributional analysis, decomposition methods, relevant to assessing policy implications on welfare outcomes; experience integrating geospatial data with household survey data to analyze the geographic dimensions of poverty and inequality.
Demonstrated experience supporting or leading global analytical products.
Ability to synthesize complex technical materials, operational lessons, and findings from regional analytical work into global public goods that are accessible and policy relevant.
A track record of contributing to flagship reports, global datasets, or knowledge products that draw on multi-country evidence and cross-regional insights.
Capacity to work across teams and disciplines to ensure analytical products meet both technical rigor and operational relevance.
Experience in the design and delivery of technical training and workshops, effectively communicating complex methodological content to diverse audiences including government counterparts, researchers, and practitioners across varying levels of technical expertise and adapting training content and delivery to different regional and institutional contexts.
Strong communication skills: ability to present technical findings and policy implications clearly and compellingly to a wide range of audiences, including senior management, policymakers, academic audiences, and the public; produce high-quality written outputs, including technical papers, policy notes, and presentations that are well-structured and accessible.
Solid organizational and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple deliverables simultaneously and meet tight deadlines.
Flexibility and adaptability in a dynamic work environment where priorities may shift rapidly.
Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and take initiative with minimal supervision while remaining aligned with team objectives and institutional priorities.
Ability to work flexibly, creatively, and to multitask as the need arises.
High degree of self-motivation, positive attitude, commitment, and drive.
Superb interpersonal skills, ability to collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams, and to listen to and integrate ideas from diverse sources, governments, NGOs and donors, while being respectful and sensitive to cultural, political and gender issues.
Ability to work with staff from all levels.

Nice To Haves

PhD preferred in economics, public policy, or other related field with a strong quantitative background and programming skills.

Responsibilities

Design and implement cutting edge analytics on poverty and equity that provide policy relevant guidance and foster public debate, including acting as a team member on flagship and global reports.
Support the delivery of poverty and equity global programs, ensuring close alignment with operational and client needs.
Support the production of public goods and knowledge and facilitate knowledge flows between regional and global teams.
Support corporate engagement of the Department, including reviews, preparation of briefs and policy notes on thematic issues, just-in-time rapid analytics, diagnostics and guidance.
Provide cross-support on selected tasks to the regional poverty and equity programs on analytical and advisory tasks, support the design of operations, and/or strengthen the data landscape to support evidence-based policymaking.
Use and develop new frameworks, instruments and technologies to assess the distributional impact of policies and shocks and to monitor changes in poverty and inequality.