Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) 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 120 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 http://www.worldbank.org
1.BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
On 9 March 2023, the Office of the World Bank Chief Statistician was established to : (i) lead and promote the adoption of standards and best practices for data and statistics across the World Bank, including development of a World Bank policy framework for data and statistics quality assurance; (ii) champion data innovations by advising Senior Leadership on the implementation of major data and statistics initiatives, identifying strategic priorities for World Bank data governance, and fostering collaboration among partners on data and statistics priorities; and (iii) represent the World Bank in global discussions and deliberative fora on data and statistics.
To achieve these objectives, the World Bank Data Quality Assurance framework is being defined as the policy and procedures for implementation of data quality assurance Bank-wide. This will be supported by guidelines, tools, platforms and processes to enable staff to improve the quality, management, discovery and visibility of World Bank data. The Development Economics Group Indicators and Data team is responsible for implementation and adoption of these tools, platforms and processes for quality assurance in data management.
Position Context:
This position will be based in the Indicators and Data team (DECID) of the Development Economics Data Group (DECDG). DECDG houses the World Bank’s main data team, together with the Secretariat for the Data Council and the Office of the Chief Statistician. Its mission is to put data to work for development, by increasing country capacity to produce, disseminate, and use data of all kinds; improving accessibility, management, and dissemination of the WBG’s own data assets, and by producing high quality statistical indicators and data products to help improve development outcomes. The work of the department calls for extensive partnership with other international organizations, with member countries’ statistical offices, and, with regions, global practices, and other units.
Within DECDG, the Indicators and Data team produces high quality data outputs (such as the World Development Indicators database) and manages business processes and data quality procedures relating to data collection, transformation, and dissemination. The team manages a portfolio of key institutional data management and dissemination platforms including the World Bank Data Catalog, Microdata Library, Data Collection System and Databank and various websites such as World Bank Open Data (https://data.worldbank.org).
The team’s responsibilities are expanding to support the Office of the Chief Statistician, particularly in the implementation of the World Bank Data Quality Assurance framework and its roll-out across the institution. This will include development of standards, guidelines and tools for data and metadata management and data quality assurance guidance, processes, and metrics.
2.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
DECDG is seeking a creative, technical expert to join the team as an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) to assist in reimagining and implementing the next generation of data management and data quality tools for the World Bank. We are looking for a candidate with well-rounded skill sets and experience using modern tools and approaches to automate data processes, build data quality and validation pipelines, extract and enhance metadata and help in all manner of data management tasks. Specific duties will include:
Data Management
•Developing and maintaining automated extract/transform/load (ETL) flows to ingest and transform data from a variety of sources for both internal and external use.
•Curating datasets and documenting and automating curation processes to ensure data is updated regularly, data quality and accuracy is maintained, and metadata is managed effectively.
•Creating, documenting, and maintaining tools, libraries and APIs (Python, R) to simplify current data management tasks.
•Establishing protocols for generating effective data structure definitions, version management, data updates and publication across different data types.
•Establishing processes and guidance on data integration techniques to ensure consistency and enable improved harmonization where possible.
•Developing and improving guidelines and best practices for metadata, data management processes, data quality assurance, storage, analysis, and dissemination.
•Providing data science support and perform functional tasks related to data production processes.
•Supporting dissemination of related data and data products through visualizations, APIs and other means.
Data Quality Assurance
●Developing, documenting and implementing statistical data quality assessment methods to identify and flag potential data errors, omissions or inconsistencies.
●Implement and automate robust processes and controls to identify issues, validate, monitor and verify the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of data using machine learning or other modern techniques.
●Experience with modern data validation frameworks (e.g. Great Expectation or similar) considered an advantage.
●Investigate novel technologies including machine learning and how they can be applied to improve data quality and implement operational solutions.
●Establishing data quality metrics and reporting protocols, conducting regular audits, identifying and rectifying data issues.
●Collaborating with relevant teams to improve data capture and validation mechanisms.
Selection Criteria
•Master’s Degree or PhD in computer science, statistics, economics, mathematics or related field.
•Minimum of three years of professional experience focused on data management, data production, data quality assurance, or equivalent with a strong quantitative and computational background.
•Technical experience in various aspects of data science – a creative problem solver with strong skills in design and problem formulation; data curation; data acquisition, cleaning and management; data interpretation, analysis; process automation and machine learning/AI.
•Excellent quantitative or statistical skills and experience in applied data quality control.
•Outstanding data wrangling skills, including experience working with semi-structured data (JSON, XML) and APIs.
•Experience developing robust, well documented Python or R packages.
•Strong understanding of metadata and familiarity with metadata standards (e.g. DDI, ISO19139/19115, SDMX) and schemas.
•Experience working on production systems and familiarity with agile development practices and issue tracking tools (eg. JIRA, TFS, Azure DevOps), version control (e.g. Git) and collaborative development (e.g. Github) is essential.
•Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills is a must. The selected candidate will have to interact effectively with a range of clients and colleagues.
•Communication skills: strong writing and data presentation skills, including data visualization.
•Self-starter: ability to take the initiative and work independently.
•Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
•Enthusiasm for, and commitment to, development work.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.
Note: The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET appointment of three years. If an ET appointment ends before a full year, it is considered as a full year toward the lifetime maximum. Former and current ET staff who have completed all or any portion of their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.
