Closing Date: 21-Nov-2011
Background / General description
The World Bank is an
international financial institution which provides financial and technical
assistance to Governments in developing countries to support economic growth
and poverty reduction. The World Bank’s Sydney office, part of the East Asia
and Pacific Region, covers operations in 12 Pacific member countries: The
Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau,
Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and
Vanuatu. These countries represent some of the
world’s smallest economies, many
of which are extremely isolated from economic centers. The countries covered by
this office range in land area from 183 sq km to 463,000 sq km, in population
from 12,000 to 6.5 million, in per capita GNI from US$1100 per annum to over
US$6,000. Pacific countries are socially
and culturally diverse. Some are fragile and emerging from recent conflict,
while some are very traditional and structured societies. Most Pacific Island
countries have narrow production bases and are highly vulnerable to external
shocks. In recent times, the cumulative effects of the food, fuel and global
financial crises – and in some cases natural disasters – have hit these
economies hard, exposing vulnerabilities and revealing the need for reform.
A key objective of the
World Bank is to provide high quality analytical and advisory services with
strong dissemination and implementation commitments. The Bank also provides
technical assistance to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Pacific
Island countries to implement policy recommendations, to manage and benefit
from economic opportunities, and to cope with economic shocks.
In the past year, the
Bank has been scaling-up its engagement in the Pacific. This has helped to
enhance the Bank’s capacity to provide more timely support to meet client
needs, resulting in the strengthening of Bank’s relationship with client
governments as well as with key development partners. The overall Pacific work
program has evolved and expanded with the growing demand for Bank services.
The Poverty Reduction
and Economic Management Department in the East Asia and Pacific Region (EASPR)
is responsible for the Bank’s work in the areas of economic policy, public
sector reform, governance, poverty analysis, and financial and private sector
development.
A crucial component of
Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) work involves understanding
and analysing economic and social data, as well as monitoring events in the
region which have an impact on client needs and the provision of advisory
services. An economist is responsible for this core economic monitoring work as
well as being involved in several tasks, such as, designing policy responses to
the impacts of external or domestic economic shocks, public expenditure
analyses, public service reform, and regional labor migration schemes. It is
anticipated that the lists of tasks will continue to expand along with the PREM
work program.
The economist will be
part of East Asia PREM’s Pacific team, and will report to the Lead Economist
based in Sydney, Australia. The Pacific PREM team includes about ten
professional staff based in Sydney, Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands, and
Washington D.C.
This is a one-year
extended term consultant (ETC) position based in Sydney, Australia with a
possibility of renewal for one more year subject to performance and work
requirement.
Duties and Accountabilities
• Contribute to the
Bank’s Analytical and Advisory products such as public expenditure analyses,
country economic reports, civil service reviews, public financial management
reviews.
• Keep abreast of
macro-fiscal developments in the region, and periodically contribute to Bank
reports on these topics.
• Work with Bank teams
(including joint Bank-Donor teams) on possible policy-based budget support
operations in PICs
• Assist in the design
of outreach and capacity building programs for PIC governments.
• Work with other Bank
teams, the IMF and other development partners, in maintaining a dialogue with
PIC governments on a range of economic policy issues
• Contribute to the
Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessments
• Research and analyze
economic data and information from sources such as publications of member
country governments, central banks, statistical agencies and academia
• Gain competency in
using databases and tools for economic analysis used in the Bank.
Selection Criteria
• An honours or masters
degree in economics, finance, international development studies, public policy
or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of 5 years
of relevant work experience
• Excellent analytical
skills and solid background in applying these to economic policy issues, with
experience in policy making processes an advantage
• Work experience in
developing countries and knowledge of Pacific Islands’ economies is highly
desirable
• Direct experience in
capacity-building activities, dialogue with government officials, and civil
society organizations is a plus
• Willingness to travel
frequently and at short notice to countries covered by the office
• Excellent verbal and
written communications skills in English.
• Experience in working
in a multi-cultural environment and developing effective working relations
within and outside the organization.
• Ability to work
flexibly on a range of assignments and adjust to a variety of complex evolving
tasks to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to learn independently
and quickly and respond effectively to business and client needs.
How To Apply: