E T Consultant

E T Consultant

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group 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. Please visit www.worldbank.org.

Within this architecture, the Prosperity Vertical focuses on the policies and institutions that underpin inclusive and sustainable growth, bringing together fiscal policy, public finance management, macroeconomic and poverty analysis, and private sector–enabling reforms. Prosperity’s Fiscal Policy and Growth department includes the Distributional Impact of Policies Global unit (also known as Poverty). The Poverty team focuses on integrating distributional analysis of reforms and investments into operational knowledge and lending. The Poverty team comprises applied microeconomists, statisticians, data scientists, and social and behavioral scientists who support WBG teams and governments with tools like macro-micro simulation modeling and poverty mapping — ensuring policies and programs reduce poverty and inequality and informing lending and prior actions where relevant.

Well-designed policy reforms can drive economic growth and poverty reduction, but their effectiveness depends on understanding how macroeconomic dynamics translate into household-level outcomes and where the poor are concentrated geographically and socioeconomically. With a tighter fiscal envelope and poverty rates that have failed to decline, policies in developing countries will have to be carefully calibrated to sustain social progress. How do macroeconomic shocks — such as changes in sectoral employment, wages, or commodity prices — affect the welfare of the poorest households? Where do poverty concentrations persist, and why? What does the evidence on the distributional transmission of macroeconomic change tell us about which population groups are most vulnerable to economic downturns? Answers to these questions could help countries weather economic slowdowns and provide a sound basis for pro-poor policies that are responsive to risk, grounded in evidence, and support inclusive and spatially equitable growth.

The Micro Modeling Lab 

Embedded in the Distributional Impact of Policies Global unit, the Micro Modeling Lab (MML) is a team of data scientists and economists tasked with providing just-in-time assistance to regional teams working on the distributional impact of policy reforms. The objective is to inform the Bank’s analytical and operational work, ensuring that intervention design and implementation appropriately considers the poverty and distributional impacts by providing just-in-time expertise. The Micro Modeling Lab works with Poverty economists on the ground and with other Global Solutions Groups to develop and scale tools and solutions across teams, including through testing and adaptation, development of platforms, and hands-on support to country teams. In addition, the team is tasked with capturing, curating, and disseminating operational solutions.

Scope of Work and Tasks

The Micro Modeling Lab is looking for an economist or data scientist with strong quantitative methods and advanced programing skills, including working experience in micro simulation modeling, econometric analysis and statistical techniques. The consultant will be expected to estimate the distributional impacts of macroeconomic shocks, structural changes, and policy reforms across multiple country case studies. The consultant will work closely with the Poverty team to enhance, adapt, and scale existing approaches, applying best practices in programming and tool development. 

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Undertake the application of macro-micro simulation models for different country teams, ensuring methodological rigor and compliance with standards and protocols defined by the MML. All coding protocols and data archiving should be shared through GitHub and SharePoint.
• Collaborate on efforts to create standardized macro-micro simulation models to strengthen just-in-time analytics, helping to resolve technical challenges as they arise in close coordination with the broader team.
• Contribute to the development, refinement, and improvement of standardized analytical, microsimulation, and visualization tools that support analytical and operational work.
• Participate in activities and exchange information with other World Bank teams working on related issues across sectors and Global Solution Groups.

Like all members of the Poverty Global Practice, the consultant will also be expected to contribute to the global knowledge base of the department.

Duration and location 

This contract will be for one year, based in Washington, DC, with possibility of extensions contingent on performance and business need.

Selection Criteria

• Master's degree or equivalent in Economics, Statistics, or a related field.
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience applying quantitative methods and analytical tools to poverty and distributional analysis. Experience working with both household and administrative data is desirable. 
• Experience with micro simulation methods to assess distributional impacts is desirable.
• Strong experience in data analysis and programming in STATA; proficiency in R and/or Python is considered a plus. Experience using Git or other code-sharing platforms for collaborative and reproducible workflows is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently on complex analytical tasks, paired with the ability to collaborate with others within multicultural and multidisciplinary teams.
• Excellent written, communication, and presentation skills in English, including the ability to convey complex analytical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience working effectively with cross-functional teams.

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

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.