Senior Environmental Economist at World Bank Group

Senior Environmental Economist

Employer: World Bank Group

Employment: Full-Time | Permanent

Place of Work: Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Posted date: 3 years ago

Deadline: Submition date is over

Description

Do you want to build a truly worthwhile career? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges.

For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Eastern and Southern Africa (E AFR) Region

Home to about 700 million of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally, and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The subregion boasts of some of the world’s richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.

The sub-region harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continue to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

The World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,207 staff, mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities:

Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.

Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and the government is connected by 2030 – a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.

Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities. With the influx of COVID-19, we are mobilizing financial support and timely analysis and advice to countries across the sub-region to deal with the pandemic.

Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure. Several East African countries are currently facing a debilitating Desert Locust infestation, threatening the already precarious food security situation. The Bank has put together a program to help affected countries deal with the scourge.

Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.

Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Eastern and Southern Africa (E AFR) Region: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/eastern-and-southern-africa

The Sustainable Development Practice Group

The Sustainable Development (SD) Practice Group (PG) helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food, Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy, Environmental and Social Framework, Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience & Land, Social Sustainability and Inclusion, and Water.

Environment Natural Resources & Blue Economy Global Practice (ENB)

The sustainable management of the environment and natural resources is vital for economic growth and human wellbeing. When managed well, renewable natural resources, watersheds, productive landscapes, and seascapes can provide the foundation for sustained inclusive growth, food security, and poverty reduction. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment

Unit and Country Context

The Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy Unit for Africa East and Southern Region (one of four Environment units in Africa) have about 40 staff. Half of these staff work on environmental safeguards/environmental risk management. The other 50 percent work primarily on lending and knowledge products in client countries. About 50 percent are based in the field. The balance is based in Washington DC and travels to the region frequently. The skills of these staff include economics, pollution management, forestry, fisheries management, landscapes management, watershed management, and natural areas protection.

The position

This is an internationally recruited position for a Senior Environmental Economist to be based in Addis Ababa. Internationally recruited staff are remunerated on an international pay scale and are expected to move to assignments in different regions approximately every four years. The Senior Environmental Economist will report to the Practice Manager, Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy for East Africa. The Ethiopia country office has approximately 100 staff, including an ENB coordinator and about 6 experienced ENB staff, providing a vibrant, collegial working environment. There is a very large ENB lending and an analytical program in Ethiopia.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. Current Bank Group Staff members will be offered a 4-year assignment and the field assignment in Addis Ababa will be for 4 years. External candidates will be offered a 3-year term appointment.

The Senior Environmental Economist - will have the following key responsibilities:

The Senior Environmental Economist will have the following key responsibilities as agreed with his/her Practice Manager based in an annual Result Agreement:

The position is an international posting based in Addis Ababa and at least half of the work program will be in Ethiopia, but the Senior Environmental Economist will be expected to provide economic support to environment and natural resource programs across the East Africa region. The work program will be primarily be focused on economic analysis work but could also include some project operational responsibilities.

Analytical Work Program

The Senior Environmental Economist is expected to be a thought leader for the World Bank in the area of environment and natural resource economics. This will include remaining current on the latest developments in the field. The position requires flexibility and adaptability, using economics tools to solve a range of practical problems in the areas of Natural Capital Accounting, forestry, biodiversity and rehabilitation of degraded landscapes, fisheries management, and blue economy, and pollution management. This will include an ability to integrate economic analysis and biophysical modeling. For Macro/fiscal economists the focus will include analysis of macro and fiscal policies related to the environment, including taxation and subsidy policies. It will also include carrying out, with minimum supervision, components of studies on selected economics issues on the critical path to solving problems in the areas listed above; and, in some cases, leading/ co-leading such studies. It will also include the effective communication of the results of these studies through written and verbal communication.

Project Operations Work Program

Participate in and/or lead natural resource or environmental management projects and the policy dialog with the government and other stakeholders on the environment or natural resources. This includes coordination with other financiers, review of sector policies, strategies, and legislation. A particular focus will be to support the building of a portfolio of environmental projects, which could include waste management, forestry and land restoration, and protected areas management. This will include working across a range of lending products including, Development Policy Loans, Payment-for-Results Programs, Investment loans, and guarantee products.

Participate as a team member or team leader in the development and/or supervision of the implementation of environment or natural resources activities or components in projects, including participation in identification missions; seeking and developing opportunities to integrate sound environmental management and policies in investment project operations; maintaining dialog with the client and enhancing their capacity for understanding and compliance with on environmental policies; and contributing to mission outputs such as back to office reports (BTORs) and Aide Memoires

Technical Advisory WorK

The Senior Environmental Economist will be expected to provide technical advice on a broad range of economics-related challenges faced in World Bank operations units that work directly with clients. This will include a technical review of pieces of analytical work carried out by other teams in the Bank, economics advice to lending operations managed by the World Bank, particularly on protected areas management, landscapes restoration, pollution management, and the economic impacts for climate change and ecosystem loss.

Knowledge Management

The Senior Environmental Economist is expected to maintain effective communication with relevant communities of practice, including NGOs, academia, civil society, the private sector as well as specialized international organizations. Active participation in communities of practice and global level technical innovation and knowledge sharing in the area of economics, forestry, biodiversity and rehabilitation of degraded landscapes, fisheries management, and blue economy, and pollution management will be an important component of this position.

The Senior Environmental Economist is expected to learn World Bank Group procedures, and contribute to their improvement, by participating in training offered, by developing a personal training program, keeping abreast of research and development knowledge in the environment and natural resources sector, and relevant safeguard management process.

Coordinate and carry out other tasks as requested by the relevant Manager such for example, contribute to the organization of training or knowledge-sharing events.

Selection Criteria

General requirements:

• MS or Ph.D. in Economics, Applied Economics, Environmental Economics, Finance, or related field is the minimum requirement. There is a strong preference for candidates holding a Ph.D.
• Rigorous quantitative training in economics, econometrics or quantitative economic modeling is required.
• Candidates with microeconomics training focus on environmental management problems are encouraged to apply.
• Candidates with macroeconomics and fiscal management training focused on the environment and natural resources policy are also encouraged to apply.
• Minimum of 8 years of full-time relevant professional experience post-Masters Degree on research or applied for work as an economist on environmental issues (time in a Ph.D. program counts toward this professional experience).
• Excellent English communication skills are required (writing, speaking, listening, and reading).
• Proven teamwork and successful experience working with multi-disciplinary teams.
• A strong sense of teamwork and ability to work independently with limited supervision.
  Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Willingness to travel extensively, including to remote rural areas.

The following would be an advantage but not required:

• A second language (French, Spanish, or Portuguese) would be highly beneficial.
• Knowledge and experience working on integrated economic and ecosystem modeling would be an advantage.
• Familiarity and some work experience with Natural Capital Accounting, particularly in the context of the System of Economic and Environmental Accounts (SEEA) would be an advantage.
• Experience working in developing countries, understanding the institutional and political context, and exposure to the national environmental policy challenges would be an advantage, but not required.

Competencies Level GG, Senior Environmental Economist

• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
• Policy Dialogue Skills Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Environmental Policy, Strategy, and Institutions - Solid understanding of environmental policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
• Environmental Sciences – Solid understanding of fundamental concepts of natural science (soil science; water; ecosystems; conservation; agriculture concerns, etc.).
• Biodiversity – Solid understanding of biodiversity with the ability to apply knowledge to projects and analytical work.
• Environmental Economics – Advanced technical knowledge in the application of economic concepts relevant to the environment.
• Team Leadership - Leads teams to achieve challenging outcomes, providing a role model and enhancing the team-leadership skills of team members.
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.

WBG COMPETENCIES

• Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions.
• Deliver Results for Clients - Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs.
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Collaborates across boundaries gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
• Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Applies knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
• Make Smart Decisions - Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward.

For information about WBG Core Competencies, please visit https://bit.ly/2kbIA7O

Poverty has no borders. Neither does excellence. This is why we continually search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe. We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life, and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.