Economist Job #092109

Duties and Accountabilities:
The economist will be an integral part of the public finance and regional development team, and will also offer support to other country team members as needed. The economist will primarily work on the PEACH project, supervising the analytical work that will be contracted out to universities in the regions as well as leading the team’s engagement in a number of provinces and supervising a number of research analysts working on the same project. The specific responsibilities of the economist will be:

Specialized Skills

• Lead and/or co-lead analytical work for PEACH, in particular the elaboration of Public Expenditure Analysis reports in selected provinces;
• Contribute to work being carried out by other units in the World Bank in the area of public financial management at the subnational level (including both analytical work and operations);
• Together with other team members supervise the quality of the subnational database for which the PFRD is responsible;
• Lead the PEACH component to build capacity in civil society and non-governmental organizations, including oversight of work program, budget and staffing;

Engagements

• Contribute to the development of the World Bank’s engagement with local governments through active participation in the Local Government Group in the World Bank Office Jakarta;
• Lead the engagement with the client at the subnational level, in particular provincial and district governments where PEACH is being implemented. Contribute to the engagement of the team with the national government agencies involved in PEACH (MoF, BAPPENAS, MoHA);
• Support the liaison with donors that are engaged with subnational governments where PEACH is being implemented, in particular taking a leadership role in our liaison with donors’ representative in Sulawesi (Makassar);
• Liaise with other units in the World Bank as necessary in implementing PEACH (COSU) and realizing synergies arising from other units’ work program (in particular PREM, SD);
• In coordinating the Makassar based team, the economist will play a key role in our relationship with Bakti and their role in the implementation of PEACH;

Management

• Support the PEACH project manager in the management of the whole PEACH team, including acting for him when necessary;
• Supervise and mentor other team members in PEACH, in particular providing quality control for the analysis being carried out by universities and team members in the area of public expenditure analysis;
• Coordinate and supervise the work of the Makassar based team (currently two research analysts and one operations officer) and project assistants based in the provinces where PEACH is being implemented. This likely to involve frequent travel to Makassar and other provinces where PEACH is being implemented;

Selection Criteria

• Minimum of M.A. in Economics or related discipline.
• Minimum five years of relevant working experience.
• Excellent knowledge of decentralization and public finance in Indonesia.
• Excellent data skills and familiarity with statistical methods and standard econometric software packages, especially STATA.
• Excellent knowledge of principal sources and retrieval systems of economic and social development data.
• Experience in leading production of major reports and/or programs specifically on public expenditure
• Understanding of Bank policies and practices related to analytical work and operations;
• Fluency in English and good writing skills.
• An excellent team worker who can also work independently and is self-motivated.

Apply Now

Closing Date: 08-Dec-2009