Senior Economist

Senior Economist

IsDB – Islamic Development Bank

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Job Purpose:

• To undertake advanced macroeconomic/sector/thematic analysis using appropriate tools and techniques to underpin evidenced-based analysis.
• To guide Management better understand critical development /sectoral challenges facing member countries.
• To provide recommendations to enhance the quality of interventions and relax binding constraints to macroeconomic growth/sectoral development.
• Guide relevant teams within the IsDB Group to better understand the major challenges being faced by member countries and enhance the quality of their interventions in member countries.
• Lead and contribute to country economic work and sector studies.
• Contribute to thought leadership and prepare policy briefs, topical issues, and papers to update Management and IsDB Group on current trends and latest developments.
• To produce high quality reports for internal and/or external use and publish in high quality journals in accordance with the relevant IsDB’s policies (e.g. communications, disclosure and Intellectual Property Rights).

Key Accountabilities:

Policy and Strategy Planning:

• Contribute to the Economic Research Division’s annual work plans, programs and activities.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of strategies, policies, procedures and guidelines of the IsDB Institute.
• Contribute to the development and effective implementation of the relevant frameworks and tools for the Economic Work under the Economic Research Division (ERD)of the IsDB Group Chief Economist.
• Contribute to the determination, development of the MCPS, its processes and delivery for IsDBG.

Macroeconomic/Sector/Thematic Research & Analysis:

• Adopt international best practices and latest analytical tools/techniques in undertaking research assignments.
• Undertake research and analytical work at the global, country, sector and thematic levels in order to highlight challenges and recommend appropriate interventions to enhance economic growth and sustainable development in member countries.
• Undertake evidence-based Country Diagnostic Studies (CDS), including economic sector research and analysis, to identify binding constraints to development and develop recommendations to relax the binding constraints as a key input to the Member Country Partnership Strategies.
• Support the enhancement of statistical work in the department through effective use of internal data and interface with statisticians to provide feedback to improve the quality and management of data.
• Collaborate with the Economist in the Regional Hubs to ensure that the analysis for different countries are done accurately and efficiently.
• Develop from research and analytical work a gap analysis framework that identifies specific areas of improvements for enhancing economic growth and sustainable development in member countries.

Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination:

• Guide and facilitate the knowledge transfer of ERD analyses and findings to other employees within IsDB Group (including Regional Hubs) and externally to all stakeholders, including member countries, the broader development community, academia and other key stakeholders.
• Contribute to and coordinate periodic events conducted by the IsDB Group, such as Seminars, Regional workshops, NGOs seminars and capacity building workshops.
• Participate in the preparation of research output and the Division’s publications and releases.

Reporting:

• Lead the preparation of relevant reports at the global, country, sector and thematic levels, for the use and information of external parties and the Regional Hubs.
• Coordinate with other stakeholders to publish the reports and findings related to the evidenced-based analysis undertaken.

Academic and Professional Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics or related fields.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in advanced economic analysis focusing on economic and developmental issues, of which 3 years in an international development institution.

Skills & Necessary Knowledge:

• Advanced research methodology.
• Statistical techniques.
• Advanced knowledge of development issues.
• Problem solving skills.
• Advanced diagnostics techniques.
• Advanced analytical thinking.
• Accurate and methodical.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• MS Office skills.
• Advanced knowledge of statistical and data analysis software.

Languages:

• English – Mandatory
• Arabic – Preferred
• French – Preferred

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