Lead Regional Economist

IsDB - Islamic Development Bank

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Job Purpose

Play a leading role in the assessment of economic development of assigned Countries/Region and lead strategy analysis related to IsDBG Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS), Country Engagement Framework (CEF), operational strategies and regional and thematic programs. Participate in the conduct of policy dialogue with the Governments, multilateral institutions and NGOs to promote and facilitate implementation of IsDB policies, strategies and programs.

Contribute to the preparation and mainstreaming of the IsDB policies, guidelines and business processes in relation to MCPS and CEF.

Lead the coordination of inputs related to engagement and strategy documents and the work of the Country Economists in the Regional Hubs in order to develop MCPS, CEF, special projects and programs. Contribute to the quality, alignment and selectivity of MCPS and CEF in terms of its feasibility, processing and implementation.

Contribute to the development and maintenance of IsDB Resource Allocation frameworks, using performance and needs-based framework, act as focal point in related mainstreaming and capacity building activities. Support the management of the division on tasks which are generally non-routine, within clearly defined standards.

Act as the knowledge and resource center both internally for the IsDB Group and externally for Member Countries (MCs) for economic and development solutions, by conducting in-depth analytical work on economic development, policy guidance, and providing high-level advisory services.

Key Accountabilities

Policy and Strategy Planning and Inputs:

Lead the preparation of MCPS across IsDB MCs, in coordination with Regional Hubs and relevant multi-task teams to ensure effective formulation and implementation of the MCPS;
Provide inputs and participate in Programming, Economic and Sector Work (ESW) and economic evaluation of large-scale complex projects;
Contribute to the review and ensure prioritization and strategic alignment of the annual and three-year Work Program of the Country Programs Complex;
Contribute to the development and maintenance of IsDB’s Resource Allocation models, to aid the Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR), Country Engagement, Portfolio Efficiency, Annual Work Programming or exceptional programming exercises and MCPS Financial Envelope Formulation;
Lead multi-stakeholder teams for dialogue with the MCs on IsDBG MCPS work for the region, policy engagements, underlying diagnostic and analytical work;
Lead the preparation of the CSED Annual Work plan, programs, budgets and activities for the respective region in particular, and the Division as a whole;
Lead the critical role in the development of the templates and framework for Integrated Strategic Programming Framework tasks, MCPS Guidelines and Business Processes, MCPS mid-term reviews and MCPS closure report;
As part of every new MCPS in the respective Region, ensure coherent framework including growth diagnostics, development challenges, pillars of MCPS and ensure their validation at the field. Provide necessary guidance to Country Economists in both preparation and implementation of MCPS;
Contribute to the compliance of all MCPSs produced by the Regional Hubs in the respective region with the guidelines and their alignment with priority development needs of Member Countries;
Contribute in MCPS final review for all MCPSs in the respective region.

Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination:

Monitor and assess emerging challenges and trends in MCs/Regions, disseminate the findings to concerned internal & external parties in the context of specific issues of relevance to the Country Programs Complex and provide policy advice on timely and distinctive IsDB responses;
Contribute to the transfer knowledge of Division programs & tools to other employees within IsDB Group and externally to respective Region to ensure awareness;
Lead and coordinate annual and periodic events conducted by the Division, such as: Seminars, Regional Workshops, NGOs seminars, and capacity building workshops.

Reporting:

Act as an advocate and referee/reviewer on all economic reports related to the regional MCs in the Division and IsDBG;
Engage, communicate and collaborate with the inter-disciplinary teams in the Bank to enhance the rigor as well as advice on cross-cutting and thematic issues in MCs;
Support the preparation of regular internal status reports of all activities of the respective region within the IsDB Group and highlight any concern areas and success stories;
Coordinate with other stakeholders to present the reports and publication related to performance of Division’s programs;
Promote robust feedback system for gaining feedback from various internal and external stakeholders on the operations of the Division;
Contribute to the engagement of the Bank with BED and its sub-Committees, government officials at ministerial level and equivalent contacts in other international organizations, partner entities, media and other external constituencies and expert groups;
Conduct peer-review, provide feedback on all economic reports/data prepared by peers in the Division.

Research and Sector Works:

Demonstrated policy, sector research and diagnostic outputs;
Knowledge of best practices and latest developments and work with other Multilateral Development Banks (MDB), especially in the area of preparation and implementation of Country Strategies.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

Minimum Master degree in Economics International Development or Public Policy;
Minimum 10/8 years of experience as an Economist in the development sector, of which 5 years in a multilateral development bank, with active involvement in development of country strategies;
Minimum 3 years or experience in supervising/managing teams.