BACKGROUND
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? 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.
Development Economics Vice Presidency
The Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC) is the premier research and data arm of the World Bank. Under the leadership of the Vice President and World Bank Group Chief Economist, DEC sets the Bank's research agenda and advises Bank Management on a wide range of development policy issues. DEC also advises policy makers on development challenges and helps to promote development issues within the broad development community.
Office of the Chief Statistician and Development Data Group (DECDG)
The Office of the World Bank Group Chief Statistician and Development Data Group (DECDG) spearheads the World Bank Group's development data agenda. It provides strategic guidance and oversight on data standards, data governance, data quality, and ways to leverage data innovations both for our institution and for our operational work and clients. Through state-of-the-art data public goods, cutting-edge innovations and research, pioneering partnerships, and globally trusted technical expertise, DECDG leads efforts to ensure development data is of high quality, accessible, and widely used across the world.
Development Data Group - Survey Unit (DECSU)
The Development Data Group’s Survey Unit (DECSU) is one of the four units in the department. DECSU advances the World Bank Group's leadership in global development data through the development and deployment of next-generation survey systems that enable countries, the World Bank Group, and development partners to produce trusted and representative data on living standards and purchasing power worldwide. The unit harnesses rigorous research, “AI-enabled and AI-enabling” digital innovation, and global partnerships to drive evidence-based policymaking for resilient and sustainable development. The unit is home to three major programs, namely International Comparison Program, Living Standards Measurement Study, and Survey Solutions.
International Comparison Program
The International Comparison Program (ICP) is one of the world’s largest and most enduring statistical initiatives, the ICP produces global purchasing power parities (PPPs) by coordinating the collection of comparative price surveys and detailed GDP expenditures from countries worldwide. PPPs are THE essential global dataset that allows for reliable cross-country comparisons of living standards, poverty, productivity, and economic size. The ICP Global Office at DECSU oversees the global management and implementation of the ICP, under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission, currently with the participation of 199 countries that provide the underlying data for the estimation of global PPPs. The ICP Global Office serves as the secretariat for the Program’s governance bodies and produces and disseminates global PPPs and related measures.
As a global public good, PPPs underpin the Sustainable Development Goals; the World Bank’s Global Poverty Monitoring, corporate scorecard, shareholding reviews, voting power calculations and key analytics, such as poverty and inequality assessments, country climate and development reports and food security crisis preparedness plans; the IMF’s World Economic Outlook and quota calculations; and several flagship UN/international reports/analytics, including Human Development Index (HDI), World Energy Outlook, State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), and Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet (joint World Bank-FAO initiative). These are select high-profile examples of the use of PPPs, as part of an expansive and ever-growing set of use cases that support evidence-based policymaking across the globe. For details on the ICP, please visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/icp.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
DECSU is seeking to recruit a Mid-Career Professional (Economist) to contribute to the technical, operational, and analytical activities of the International Comparison Program (ICP), in support of the ICP Global Office. The position would be based at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC, with a work program that would be central to the delivery of updated Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs), which are due to be released in 2027 and will have immediate and wide-reaching implications for all global, regional, and country-specific analytics that power the work of international and regional organizations and the donor community. Specific responsibilities include the following:
• Assist in the compilation, validation, and analysis of all data collected under the ICP, including price data from market surveys conducted in 199 participating economies, data on GDP expenditures, consumer price indices, and national accounts deflators.
• Support the estimation and quality assurance of updated global purchasing power parities (PPPs) using established ICP methods and tools, towards the scheduled 2027 release.
• Support on-going methodological research and tool development, in collaboration with ICP Staff and technical partners, to improve the quality, efficiency and timeliness of PPP estimates, with a focus on developing and validating PPP estimation approaches that (a) combine traditional price data from market surveys with alternative price data sources - such as web scraped and/or scanner data – and (b) leverage advanced machine learning techniques.
• Support on-going methodological research, in collaboration with ICP Staff and technical partners, to improve the quality of PPP estimates for approximately 30 non-participating countries, half of which are currently classified as fragile and conflict-affected situations.
• Develop compelling data visualizations with PPPs using advanced data-visualization tools, for ICP technical reports, policy briefs, and working papers.
• Contribute to the updating of baskets of goods and services for ICP-supported price surveys globally and support preparation of operational materials and guidance documents in close collaboration with ICP regional implementing partners.
• Support the preparation and dissemination of technical reports, policy briefs, and research papers, including through the delivery of technical presentations at conferences, seminars, and other professional venues.
• Provide technical support ICP data users on the use and interpretation of PPPs and related measures.
Note : The selected candidate will not be assigned to programs involving their own government such as donor coordination and trust fund management.
SELECTION CRITERIA
• Minimum of master’s degree in economics, statistics, data science, or related field.
• Minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in applied quantitative research, data science, or a closely related field.
• Proficiency in Stata, Python and/or R, with experience using these languages for data processing, analysis, automation, or methodological research.
• Experience in applying machine learning and data-driven empirical methods.
• Experience in working with non-traditional or complementary data sources is desirable.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with proven experience preparing reports, research papers, and blogs, including the use of data visualizations.
• Additional desirable language skills: French, Spanish.
• Strong commitment to high-quality work, with problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Proven ability to work in a team and intercultural environment, with minimal supervision.
• Strong organizational, research, and oral presentation skills.
