Duties and Accountabilities:

As part of the broader MTI Guinea-Bissau team, specific responsibilities of the Country Economist include the following:

1.       Independently research and analyze a wide variety of specific economic, financial, country or sector topics and issues for lending, research, and/or policy related tasks.

2.       Lead the regular macroeconomic monitoring of Guinea-Bissau, which includes weekly country updates, as well as key products such as the Macro and Poverty Outlook (MPO), the annual Guinea-Bissau Economic Update, the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) and the Performance and Policy Actions (PPAs) under the Sustainable Development Financing Policy framework (SDFP).

3.       Data allowing, develop, and update, a model / framework with key country economic and social data for Guinea-Bissau that serves a basis for broader MTI work products.

4.       With the support of the Senior Country Economist, coordinate the policy dialogue on macroeconomic and fiscal policy and economic growth issues with the Bissau-Guinean authorities, with the IMF and economic departments of other development agencies and non-government stakeholders.

5.       Support and/or co-lead fiscal and debt non-lending activities, including – but not limited to – Public Expenditure Reviews (PER)/Public Finance Reviews (PFR) and Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA);

6.       Support and/or co-lead core country diagnostics such as Country Economic Memorandums (CEM) and other growth diagnostics, working with other GPs to integrate structural, sectoral and macroeconomic issues, as well as working on the Climate Change Development Report (CCDR) and its dissemination, and associated engagements on climate change.

7.       Co-manage projects, trust funds, and grants and support data needs of sectoral staff.

8.       Advise sector teams on the macroeconomic and fiscal implications of sector policies and investment decisions – for example on the oil and gas and power sectors – and provide cross-support where relevant.

9.       Provide analytical inputs for and advises the Country Management Unit (CMU) on country strategic engagement and economic policy issues, including participation in review meetings.

10.   Under this position, the Economist will interact and at times lead discussion with a wide variety of groups including counterparts in government and in a variety of international and other partner organizations, academia; Bank counterparts within and across sectors, networks; and managers across the Bank Group.

Selection Criteria

For this position, you should have demonstrated outstanding technical skills, a capacity to operate successfully across sectors and with other development partners, and first-rate interpersonal skills! You must be able to interact effectively with senior members of the government, senior officials of donor governments, across Bank GPs, and with Bank senior management. In addition, you should demonstrate ability to work in a complex and fragile environment.

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in economics, with five years of experience. A PhD would be an asset and is equivalent to three years of experience.
• Strong technical and operational skills as evidenced in a proven track record in delivery of World Bank (or similar) operations, such as Development Policy Lending or analytical reports;
• Proven sense of initiative, results orientation, and leadership qualities, as well as effective teamwork skills;
• Experience in working in/on a fragile country is a plus

• Strong communication skills, including the ability to speak persuasively and to present ideas clearly and concisely with senior policy officials.
• Strong integrative capacities; i.e., ability to situate IDA activities within a coherent strategic framework.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both verbally and written. Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly on complex topics to a wide variety of audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiations skills and ability to work flexibly, creatively and to multitask as the need arises.

·  Work independently, seeking guidance and instruction on new, unusual or complex assignments.

• A high degree of self-motivation, positive attitude and drive.
• Strong commitment towards team work and knowledge sharing, especially across the World Bank Group

 Competencies:

• Possess a thorough understanding of the interlinkages between the various macroeconomic accounts.
• Possess the skills to conceptualize, conduct economic analyses and derive policy-relevant findings.
• Ability to translate technical analyses of macroeconomic, debt, trade, fiscal policy, and growth into policy recommendations and cross-country lessons.
• Demonstrates ability to think and work across WBG, practices and sectors

• Integrates divergent viewpoints of multiple external and internal stakeholders into a coherent project/program/strategy. 
• Possesses political judgment, diplomatic acumen, and negotiating skills
• Builds and sustains key stakeholder relationships with government and other key stakeholders
• Guides client and/or development partners in identifying key operational issues and optional solutions with a demonstrated ability to bring together different perspectives
• Demonstrates the ability to influence and persuade others to accept ideas and suggestions (such as counterparts in government, international partner organizations, academia, and Bank colleagues, senior staff and managers)