Work for the IMF. Work for the World.

The IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) is seeking a specialized Economist to join its Financial Institutions Division (STAFI), with a focus on the Financial Access workstream, including the Financial Access Survey (FAS) database. This is a one-year contractual position with the possibility of extension for up to four years. The division works closely with other Fund departments on analytical, policy, and operational activities to support the IMF’s bilateral, multilateral, and financial sector surveillance.

STA provides global leadership in macroeconomic and financial statistics methodologies and standards for the IMF, its member countries, and the broader international statistical community. It works closely with other Fund departments, donors, and external partners to meet data needs for surveillance and lending. STA supports these activities through capacity development aimed at strengthening countries’ statistical capacity to produce and disseminate statistics for sound policy analysis and effective policymaking.

STAFI operationalizes the IMF’s role as the global standard setter for the Financial Access Survey (FAS), alongside Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS) and Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs), by developing and updating internationally agreed methodologies that ensure high-quality, consistent, and cross-country comparable data. STAFI leads the development, maintenance, and dissemination of the global FAS database, which supports analysis of global financial inclusion. STAFI also manages STA’s capacity development program for the FAS, providing technical assistance and training to IMF member countries worldwide, while contributing to broader updates of international statistical methodologies on emerging financial sector issues and to related STA and IMF initiatives.

The FAS provides a unique supply-side database on access to and use of financial services, covering more than 190 economies, with over 120 series and historical data dating back to 2004. The FAS dataset includes both traditional and non-traditional financial services data. Selected series are disaggregated by type of financial service provider, type of customer (e.g., households and SMEs), gender and income group. These cross-country comparable statistics help policymakers and financial institutions identify gaps in financial inclusion, design targeted interventions, and monitor progress toward enhancing access to and use of financial services. The statistics are sourced from financial sector authorities. 

Duties and responsibilities

The successful candidate will support STAFI’s Financial Access Survey (FAS) work by contributing to statistical methodology, data management, analysis, and capacity development. Responsibilities include supporting the FAS revamp and data management, contributing to the FAS analytical agenda including Financial Health, supporting the development and delivering capacity development activities. The selected candidate will work under the general supervision and guidance of STAFI management.

More specifically, the selected candidate will be involved in the following activities within STAFI’s work program:

• Enhance and maintain the FAS, including contributing to the revamp of the survey to strengthen financial sector and macro-financial surveillance.

• Develop, update, enhance, and implement international statistical methodologies for the FAS, including developing new methodologies on frontier issues such as fintech, disaggregated data, and financial health, and additional data dimensions.

• Develop and implement STAFI’s capacity development program for the FAS, including training and TA.

• Support other Fund departments in multilateral and bilateral surveillance through methodological advice, data, capacity development, and analytical work.

• Contribute to the analytical work agenda within the division’s areas of responsibility, in support of furthering STA’s objectives, including showcasing STA databases and/or using them for evidence-based policymaking.

• Contribute to the work on the G20’s Data Gaps Initiative 3, focusing on the recommendation on fintech-enabled financial inclusion.

• Collaborate with other international organizations and external stakeholders.

• Participate in other division/departmental activities as appropriate, including review of relevant policy/country documents and data related issues and the development and leverage of other STAFI databases.

Qualifications

• An advanced degree in Economics, Finance, Statistics, or a related field, along with at least four years of relevant professional experience, is required. The ideal candidate will have solid expertise in financial inclusion, strong data management skills in R and Stata, and hands-on experience with the statistical compilation and methodological development of financial inclusion data.

• Experience working in financial sector authorities—particularly in developing data methodologies, delivering capacity development, and publishing research—is highly desirable. Shortlisted candidates will be required to complete a quantitative test in R or Stata as part of the selection process.

• In addition to the technical skills described above, the candidate should possess excellent written and oral communication skills in English, as well as strong interpersonal skills to foster effective working relationships with country authorities and to collaborate effectively within teams.

• The candidate should be dynamic and highly motivated, with a strong results orientation, a proven ability to work both independently and as part of a team and have an appetite for innovation.

• The candidate must also be capable of managing a wide range of assignments and working under tight deadlines. A working knowledge of Spanish, French, or Arabic would be an additional asset.

Minimum qualification

Educational development, including and/or supplemented by work experience, typically acquired through the completion of considerable graduate work in Economics, Finance, Statistics, or a related field of study, or equivalent, is required; or, an advanced university degree in Economics, Finance, or a related field of study, or equivalent, plus a minimum of four (4) years of relevant professional experience is required.

This is a one-year contractual appointment. Contractual appointments at the IMF are renewable for up to four years of cumulative contractual service, pending incumbent's performance, budget availability and continuous business need ​.

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The IMF is guided by the principle that the employment, classification, promotion, and assignment of staff shall be made without discrimination against any person. We welcome requests for reasonable accommodations for disabilities during the selection process. Information on how to request accommodations will be provided during the application process.