Economist

Introduction

The position is located in the Multilateral Cooperation Department (MULTILATERALS). MULTILATERALS’ role is to lead, coordinate and promote the ILO’s active involvement in the UN system and cooperation with other multilateral organizations. This includes the management of the relationship with the international financial institutions in close coordination with the Deputy Director-General for Policy, who leads the collaboration with those institutions on policy, research and data. The Economist will  provide support towards effective coordination and communication between, on the one hand, ILO Departments at headquarters and field offices and, on the other hand, the key international and regional financial and economic institutions, most particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The incumbent will collaborate with relevant specialists in technical departments at ILO headquarters and in field offices, as well as with the ILO  Offices for the United States and Canada,  and for France. A particular focus will be in the area of policy coherence between the ILO, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and relevant regional economic and financial institutions as stated in the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, as well as stipulated in the Report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work, in decisions taken by the ILO Governing Body and the International Labour Conference.

The position reports to the Director of MULTILATERALS.

Specific Duties

1. Serve as focal point in relation to the preparation of briefings on developments at the OECD for ILO senior management. Monitor trends and advise on ILO engagement with the OECD, prepare briefing notes and draft speeches on OECD issues for the department director and ILO senior management. Form part of the ILO delegation to OECD meetings, as required.     

2. Under the supervision of the director and in close cooperation with the Deputy Director-General for Policy, the ILO Office for the United States and Canada, as well as the Regions and other Departments, contribute to ILO engagement with the IMF and the World Bank. This includes providing briefing on key developments at the IMF and the World Bank; drafting inputs for statements by the ILO Director-General to the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee; participating in country level collaboration with the IFIs and assisting the department director during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings.

3. Contribute to documents for the ILO’s Governing Body and the International Labour Conference hat concern policy coherence with international and regional economic institutions, global economic developments and multilateralism.
 
4. Serve on internal working groups and technical teams dealing with the international and regional economic and financial institutions, global economic developments and the relationship between labour market institutions and macroeconomic developments.

5. Contribute as a resource person to knowledge-sharing, training programmes, events and technical meetings of ILO staff at headquarters and in field offices. Provide guidance on the ILO’s approach to policy coherence and partnerships that enhance efforts to reflect decent work in policy-making and governance frameworks and to foster decent work outcomes at the global, regional and national levels.

6. Participate in meetings organised by ILO constituents that concern the promotion of decent work in the policies and programmes of international and regional economic and financial institutions.

7. Perform other relevant duties, as assigned.

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

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Generic Duties

1. Undertake research and prepare analytical reports on selected subjects within the area of technical competence.
2. Assess country experience (on selected topics) with a view to identifying best practices in finding solutions to problems identified.
3. Provide technical inputs (articles, reports) for regional, country or related sectoral analyses, ILO reports and publications.
4. Provide technical backstopping, project implementation and monitoring.
5. Undertake missions for the purpose of providing technical recommendations on selected topics following ILO established guidelines, manuals and standards.
6. Monitor and coordinate research carried out by external collaborators.
7. Act as focal point on a specific field of specialization.
8. Participate in training seminars and workshops as resource person.
9. Represent the technical unit at international, regional and national fora.

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree in economics

Experience

At least three years of professional experience in economic and policy analysis at the national level and two years at the international level.

Languages

Excellent command of one official language (English, French, Spanish) of the Organization, and working knowledge of another official language, one of them must be English.

Competencies

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical

Ability to participate effectively in technical missions and multi-disciplinary teams; capacity to provide first-line technical advice in the area of specialisation; the ability to conceptualise and design research techniques and analyse complex cross-national practices and data sets covering a wide range of issues in the specialised technical field; capability to guide and co-ordinate the work of external collaborators, general service staff or young professionals; ability to prepare reports and publications of a high quality, technically sound with conclusions leading to an action plan and programme development and ability to provide credible implementation assistance to senior specialists in carrying out research, project formulation and implementation.
Solid knowledge of the work of the Organization, its policies, programmes and procedures and of employers’ and workers’ organizations and knowledge of international and regional economic institutions. Ability to contribute and provide input into discussions in a multilateral environment. Strong skills in economic analysis and ability to undertake policy analysis and to produce reports.

Behavioural
Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.