The World Bank’s Infrastructure Vice Presidency (INF VPU) is keen to increase recruitment of highly-qualified, early and mid-career African and African Diaspora (A&AD)[1] staff for careers in transport, energy, digital development, infrastructure finance and infrastructure economics. To this end, the INF VPU has created two branded recruitment programs: (i) the A&AD Infrastructure Fellows Program; and (ii) the A&AD Infrastructure Mid-Career Professionals program. The present recruitment process is carried out under the A&AD Infrastructure Fellows program.

The Transport Global Practice seeks to connect people, goods and services to jobs, schools, hospitals, local, regional and international markets, using faster, cheaper, safer and more efficient solutions, while keeping traffic fatalities, congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and local air pollution in check. It responds to the needs of developing countries and transition economies for modern and reliable transport solutions.

The Infrastructure Vice-Presidency Front Office (GGIVP) provides strategic leadership and oversight of the four infrastructure departments: Energy & Extractives Global Practice (GEEDR); Transport Global Practice; Digital Development Department and Infrastructure, Private Sector & Guarantees Group.

Within the Infrastructure Vice-Presidency, the Infrastructure Chief Economist’s Office (INFCE) is responsible for strategic leadership of the knowledge program across the Vice-Presidency, and works on two cross-cutting activities: Infrastructure Economics Research Program and Infrastructure Data and Diagnostics Program. INFCE comprises a small team of research-oriented PhD economists, that tackle research challenges that cut across the infrastructure sectors, or call for a more rigorous approach to economic research, leveraging close partnerships with academia.

The Infrastructure Chief Economist’s Office is now seeking an Infrastructure Economist to contribute to a dynamic and emerging infrastructure economics research and data agenda. The position is based in Washington DC and will be supervised by the Infrastructure Chief Economist’s Office. 

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be an integral part of the INFCE team, working closely with other units across the World Bank. The candidate will be based at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington D.C.

The responsibilities of the proposed ETC position include contributing to the Infrastructure Economics and Research Program as well as the Infrastructure Data and Diagnostics Program. These activities range from collecting, organizing and analyzing data, to reviewing literature, to drafting research papers and shorter briefs or blogs. All tasks are undertaken in a highly collaborative team environment.

The ETC selected for this assignment will be expected to:

1. Contribute to the Infrastructure Economics Research Program by identifying and scoping out suitable research projects, collaborating in the development of specific research papers, presenting results of research at various fora.

2. Contribute to the Infrastructure Data and Diagnostics Program by supporting the identification and compilation of strategic datasets from different sources, and conducting diagnostics of infrastructure performance in specific countries as part of the Infra-SAP program. (Infra-SAP is a country level infrastructure assessment that forms part of the World Bank’s extended core diagnostic program.)

3. Undertake data analysis; including data cleaning, exploratory data analysis, graphical analysis of data, spreadsheet-based data analysis, econometric analysis of data. This work will entail the use of standard econometric packages and other programming software (such as Stata, Matlab, Python, etc.), with a particular emphasis on analysis of geospatial data and big data. Summarize data and results of empirical analysis effectively using tables, graphs and charts (through Excel, Powerpoint).

4. Contribute to the production of research papers by undertaking literature reviews, developing conceptual and theoretical frameworks, discussing the significance of empirical results, and providing clear policy interpretations of research findings.

5. Draft briefs, short notes, and sections of relevant operational documents including Project Concept Notes, funding proposals, minutes of meetings, etc.

6. Prepare presentations for senior management meetings and to support dissemination and communication of progress on key initiatives.

7. Make oral presentations and actively participate in technical meetings to discuss and identify suitable solutions and approaches on a wide range of economic issues;

8. Assist in the organization of knowledge-dissemination events such as conferences, workshops, and seminars to promote technical discussion of INFCE work and to expose INF to recent leading edge research in academia;

The position calls for a highly-motivated individual who is able to work seamlessly with teams and independently completes tasks assigned to her/him. The successful candidate shall already have a master’s degree and should either have a doctorate in economics or be close to completing one. The candidate will be expected to have co-authored his/her own academic quality research papers. It is expected that Doctoral research and/or any previous or subsequent research activity would evidence an interest and some technical background in transport, and ideally logistics. A developing country research focus and/or professional experience in developing countries is preferred.

Other specific skills include:

• Master’s degree in an economics-related field related to transport/logistics, as well as a Doctorate that is either completed or close to completion.
• 5 years of professional experience either before, during or after graduate school, with exposure to infrastructure sectors, including energy, transport of digital development;
• Proven ability to analyze complex data sets and translate results into easily readable and policy-relevant materials (e.g. tables, graphs, ppt, summary notes, papers).
• Knowledge and Experience of Infrastructure Economics – Understands key economic concepts relating to the infrastructure sectors; applies them to addressing practical policy challenges;
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Understands policy making; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients;
• Client Orientation – Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success;
• Drive for Results – Able to take personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results and has the personal organization to do so;
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion – Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view;
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication – Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner; and
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, in particular ability to effectively dialogue with and relate to clients and stakeholders.