ET Consultant – Data Scientist/Applied Economist

ET Consultant – Data Scientist/Applied Economist

Description

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/who-we-are/ibrd

Who We Are

The World Bank Group (WBG) is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. The Finance, Competition and Investment (FCI) Global Practice combines financial sector expertise with private sector development expertise to help countries build competitive markets, mobilize private capital, and create sustainable, better-paying jobs. FCI's work spans financial stability and integrity, financial inclusion and access, long-term finance, crisis and disaster risk finance, investment climate reform, trade and regional integration, and the facilitation of private capital, with climate, gender, and digitalization as cross-cutting priorities.

This position sits within EAWF2, the FCI unit supporting the Africa West and Central (AFW) Region across three Country Management Units: Ghana+ (Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), Nigeria, and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC, comprising Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon). Across these countries, EAWF2 helps governments expand access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises, strengthen financial institutions and regional financial integration, promotes entrepreneurship, and designs policies and programs to promote firm capabilities and technology adoption, advance investment climate and business environment reforms, and design programs that channel private investment toward job creation, particularly for youth and women. The team pursues this agenda through a mix of lending operations, analytics, and advisory services; working closely with government counterparts, IFC, and MIGA to ground policy dialogue and project design in rigorous, firm-level and macro-financial evidence.

What You Will Do

As an Extended Term Consultant – Data Scientist/Applied Economist on the EAWF2 team, you will work at the intersection of applied research and operations, helping the team translate data and analysis into decisions that shape how projects are designed, how policy dialogue is conducted, and how results are communicated to clients and management. In practice, this means your work will directly inform which reforms get prioritized in a country program, how a lending operation is structured to reach underserved firms and households, and how the team demonstrates the jobs and private capital mobilization impact of its portfolio. You will contribute to:

● Diagnostics and evidence generation: producing firm-level and macro-financial analysis that identifies binding constraints to private sector growth and shapes the design of new lending operations and advisory engagements across the Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and CEMAC programs

● Firm-level data analytics: work with large firm-level datasets as well as trade data to perform just-in-time analytics as well as deeper applied research projects

● Narrative and communication of results: drafting analytical notes, background papers, and evidence-based narratives that make the case for reforms and investments to clients, and that demonstrate the portfolio's contribution to job creation and private capital mobilization to management and donors

● Operational support: contributing to the preparation and supervision of lending operations as well as analytical and advisory engagements, so that technical findings are reflected in project design and implementation is informed by real-time evidence

● Knowledge synthesis: helping connect research findings and country diagnostics to operational recommendations, ensuring that lessons from one country or instrument inform the design of others across the unit's portfolio

● Client and partner engagement: preparing briefs, presentations, and inputs used directly in dialogue with management, government counterparts, and development partners, and coordinating with regional and global FCI teams, IFC, and MIGA to keep the team's work aligned with the broader World Bank Group private sector development agenda

● Financial sector monitoring: tracking financial stability and access to finance developments and reforms in all client countries, producing regular PowerPoint presentations, and liaising with the global teams to perfect monitoring tools and methodologies. 

Selection Criteria

● A recently completed Master's degree (or equivalent) in Economics, Finance, Public Policy, or a related field; a PhD is a plus

● 3-5 years of demonstrated experience with firm-level, bank-level, or similar micro-data analysis, gained through academic research, a thesis, an internship, or prior work experience; 

● Strong quantitative and analytical skills (including knowledge of relevant statistical tools, such as Stata and/or R), with curiosity and the drive to learn how to translate data into clear, policy-relevant narratives

● Involvement in impact evaluations (including randomized controlled trials) would be a plus

● Knowledge of using AI tools to automate data analysis, generation of dashboard, and literature review would be highly valued

● Solid understanding of constraints to growth of the private sector and associated financial sector development challenges in low- and middle-income countries, including familiarity with the relevant academic literature and key policy debates

● Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; working knowledge of French is highly desirable

● Genuine interest in private sector development, jobs, competitiveness, and financial sector development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (ideally proven by past experiences in the region or similar relevant settings), and enthusiasm for building a career at the intersection of research and operations

● A proactive, self-starting attitude and the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, multicultural team environment

● Strong client orientation, integrity, and commitment to the World Bank Group's mission of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity on a livable planet

Note: This is an Extended Term Consultant appointment for a fixed term (12 months) with a probation period of 3 months, and could be extended for up to 36 months depending on performance and budget availability.

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.