Principal Research Economist at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Principal Research Economist (ECMR.1)

Reference: ADB/19/081
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50071253

The Complex

• The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is the Bank’s spokesperson on economic matters and the Vice President for the Economics Governance and Knowledge Management Complex.
• The Complex is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the generation of analytical work to inform the Bank’s operational engagement and policy dialogue; (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies.

The Hiring Department/Division:

• The Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa.
• It provides technical support to operations and regional member countries through rigorous analytical work; engages in impactful policy dialogue with decision-making bodies within and outside of the Bank; and most importantly enhance the operational effectiveness of the Bank in achieving the High 5s.
• The activities of the department are structured around the Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting on one side, and the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact on the other.
• The Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division is responsible for the following, inter alia: (i) Conducting policy research and debt sustainability analysis in order to improve the Bank’s macroeconomic surveillance and understanding of sovereign debt risk profile and the policy tools that regional member countries can deploy to contain debt distress; (ii) Conducting macroeconomic analysis, modelling and forecasting to inform decisions made by the Bank’s regional member countries (iii) Providing cutting edge analytical support to Senior Management through timely and rigorous economic intelligence work; (iv) Collaborating with partner institutions; research think tanks and universities, both within and outside Africa, in order to deepen analytical capacity and broaden the scope and outreach of the Bank’s research work and (vi) Leading the production and dissemination of all the Bank’s flagship publications and other knowledge products on Africa’s emerging macroeconomic and development issues and on the Bank’s High 5s priority areas.

The Position

• The Principal Research Economist - Macroeconomic Modelling and Forecasting is responsible for leading and contributing to analytical and research work focusing on macroeconomic issues that are relevant for the Bank’s regional member countries and its operational engagement.
• The position entails leading and contributing to research on the Bank’s High 5 agenda, as well as active involvement and leadership in designing and implementing models for African countries individually and as a group.
• The Job holder will also conduct development policy analysis on regional member countries.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting, the Principal Research Economist will:

Plan, develop and implement research programs and projects focusing on macroeconomic issues of particular relevance to the Bank’s RMCs and its High 5 agenda. This involves:

• Initiate, oversee and contribute to research projects focusing on macroeconomics issues using established and proven quantitative techniques/methods. This entails among others constructing a suite of structural macro-econometric models, Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium, Global Vector Autoregressive Analysis and other simpler Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models.
• Contribute to the preparation of Flagship publications and knowledge products such as the African Economic Outlook; African Development Report; Economic Frontier Research and Bank Policy Currents; books, reports, etc.
• Provide senior management and regional member countries with comparative research analysis, socio-economic data and macroeconomic projections of the most widely used socio-economic parameters relating to Africa’s economies and Bank Group operations.
• Keep abreast of latest research and innovative solutions pertaining to the development agenda and macroeconomic issues in the region, considering their practical applications for the Bank and its regional member countries.
• Provide inputs in collaborative research and knowledge management activities carried out jointly with regional and international organizations, research and capacity building institutions in Africa, development research centers and universities.

Provide technical and analytical inputs into the work of Operations Complexes. This involves:

• Provide support and input to regional, investment and technical assistance project teams on macro-economic issues related to country/regional context, macroeconomic trends, country, region or sector -specific analysis. This entails among others Providing input into Country Strategy Papers and budget support operations;
• Carry out simulations and forecasts based on the models developed and lead in the disseminating results and provide advice to the Bank’s senior management and regional member countries to strengthen policy dialogue.

Participate in the Bank’s dissemination efforts of its analytical and research products with the view to help build capacity of RMCs and position the Bank as a thought leader:

• Organize internal Research Seminars and/or International Conferences such as the African Economic Conference on Development Policy Issues.
• Contribute to the training and capacity development activities in the Bank and in regional member countries.
• Publish research output in the Bank’s working paper series and reputable peer reviewed journals.
• Organize and contribute to international and regional conferences, seminars and workshops.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• A minimum of a Master’s degree in Macroeconomics; Econometrics, Development Macroeconomics; Applied Statistics, or any related discipline.
• Specialization in industrial policy, agricultural, energy economics is a strong advantage.
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional and research experience in multilateral or research institution in Africa or other low income countries.
•  Having a private sector experience is an added value.
• Strong publications record in reputable peer review journals on general issues of development and on in macroeconomic issues in Africa or other low-income countries.
• Extensive knowledge of empirical regularities of different macroeconomic theories.
• Ability to construct large macroeconomic models using sophisticated econometric techniques.
• Ability to handle, process and analyze large datasets using packages such as Matlab, R, Eviews, the General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS).
• Ability to identify the appropriate methods and techniques to analyse and forecast macroeconomic trends resulting from policy and external shocks.
• Proven ability to lead and manage small team of researchers in specific projects and/or tasks;
• Capacity to initiate innovative research ideas and techniques in order to improve research policy making content of development research.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in Microsoft Suites (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access) and SAP.

Application Closing Date
23rd May, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: This position is classified international status and attracts international terms and conditions of employment.