Senior Economist/Regional Credit Managers at the World Bank

The World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group, is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors.

The World Bank Group is launching a recruitment drive aimed at increasing the number of Sub Saharan Africans in its work force. This commitment to hire Sub Saharan Africans reflects the Bank Group's senior leadership commitment for a diverse workforce in which African nationals can play a key role in fighting poverty and increasing shared prosperity. Employment opportunities will be in various technical areas and professional streams for talented and diverse young professionals and mid-career level professionals to contribute and grow their skills in a career in international development.

A career with the World Bank Group offers a unique opportunity for exceptionally talented individuals with a passion for international development to contribute to solving some of the world&'s most pressing problems. Bank staff work with governments, civil society groups, the private sector, and others in developing countries around the world, assisting people in all areas of development, from policy and strategic advice to the identification, preparation, appraisal, and supervision of development projects.

We are recruiting to fill the below position:

Job Title: Senior Economist/Regional Credit Manager

Job #: 151352
Location: Washington, DC
Area: Finance / Risk Management
Recruitment Type: International Hire
Grade: GG

Background / General Description

The World Bank Group:

• The World Bank Group (WBG) comprises the five institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
• The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries.
• It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help poor nations reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve the quality of life.
• The World Bank Group's work focuses on achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
• The goals call for eliminating poverty and achieving inclusive and sustainable globalization.
• The MDGs lay out a blueprint for the World Bank Group, setting its priorities and measuring its results.
• The World Bank is the world's largest funder of education; the world's largest external funder of the fight against HIV/AIDS; a leader in the fight against corruption worldwide; a strong supporter of debt relief; and the largest international financier of biodiversity, water supply, and sanitation projects.

Risk Management:

• The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group is the core unit responsible for institutional risk oversight, including establishment and monitoring adherence to risk policies and guidelines and risk assessment and reporting to the Board and executive management.
• The Credit Risk Department (CROCR) within the WBG CRO Vice Presidency focuses on ensuring that the Bank's credit risk exposure is commensurate with the risk appetite of stakeholders and strikes the appropriate balance between financial and development objectives.
• CROCR manages the credit risk inherent in IBRD's loan portfolio. Since the IBRD lends only to sovereign governments, or with a sovereign guarantee, the only credit risk that IBRD accepts is that of sovereign governments. CROCR's core functions include, among others (i) Assessing and rating country credit risk for all IBRD borrowers; (ii) Assessing country eligibility for IBRD resources; (iii) Influencing IBRD's lending strategy and assessing lending plans against lending allocations as established through the exposure management framework: (iv) Anticipating countries that are vulnerable to crises; (v) Participating in arrears workouts for IBRD borrowing countries; (vi) Engaging with the Paris Club of bilateral creditors; and (vii) Ensuring IBRD is adequately for loan losses; and (viii) Assessing/Monitoring the size of credit shocks (unexpected losses) as part of IBRD's capital adequacy framework.

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. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities

• The department is currently seeking a Senior Economist/Regional Credit Manager who will play a central role in assessing the creditworthiness of IBRD borrowing countries, and in determining the risk of their actual and potential exposure for the IBRD balance sheet, including those related to IBRD guarantees.
• The successful candidate is expected to have a good understanding of sovereign credit risk concepts and practices, be familiar with the drivers of the risk appetite of IBRD stakeholders and investors, and have an understanding of the balance between the financial and development imperatives of the World Bank's mandate.
• The individual will have a strong command of global economic, systemic, and financial issues, and external financing sources and instruments available to developing countries, excellent quantitative skills with a demonstrated aptitude for analyzing economic and financial data, and extensive on-the-job experience of assessing the macro-economic and financial policies of emerging market economies 
• The Senior Economist/Regional Credit Manager will join CROCR at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, DC, USA.

Together with members of the current credit risk team, the accountabilities of the Senior Economist/Regional Credit Manager will be as set out below:

• Play an important role as part of the current team in ensuring the department's credit risk framework and policies for managing small and large exposures are applied coherently and comprehensively within the financial framework of IBRD, including the institution's role as a counter-cyclical lender, its uniform loan pricing policy, its provisioning and capital adequacy framework and its AAA rating status.
• Together with other team members contribute to the Department's work program in the area of loan loss provisioning and credit and portfolio risk modeling and measurement, including the design and development of new credit risk measurement and management frameworks and models, and the use, maintenance and periodic recalibration of existing models.
• Conduct other quantitative analytics, including applied econometrics, and complex modeling projects.
• Produce rigorous analytical work on the macro-economic and financial situation of IBRD-eligible borrowers and countries transitioning from concessional to market-based finance and present the findings in credit risk reports and creditworthiness analyses.
• Write reviews of lending proposals and Country Partnership Strategies, and represent and present this written work, as the department's representative, at departmental and Bank wide meetings.
• Work on credit risk issues for policy and Board papers and briefing notes for senior management.
• Liaise and engage with senior Bank staff to enhance their understanding and support of IBRD's credit risk function and related policies.

Selection Criteria

• Candidates must meet the generic criteria for international level GG: Advanced degree (Master's and/or PhD) with concentration in quantitative fields such as Finance or Economics or a related discipline; or comparable, demonstrated, on-the-job experience.
• Relevant work experience, strong analytical skills and a proven track record of achieving high-quality substantive results over an extended period (typically 8 years) in the field of macro-economic and financial analysis with recognition by peers and managers for excellent and innovation.
• Strong and proven mathematical, statistical and analytical skills.
• Familiarity and experience with econometric and financial modeling techniques, including in the areas of sovereign credit and portfolio risk measurement
• Current knowledge of global economic and political developments and evolving trends in global capital markets and what they imply for the macro-economic outlook of IBRD borrowers or countries looking to transition from IDA to IBRD, the credit risk to the IBRD portfolio, the potential for revisions to Bank lending policies and practices.
• Understanding (or the ability to quickly assimilate) of the financial framework underpinning IBRD's AAA financial framework and its implications for formulation of credit risk policies to guide IBRD lending practices and exposure limits
• Excellent inter-personal, communication and presentation skills, including the capacity to communicate complex technical issues in simple terms, verbally and in writing.
• Ability to interact effectively with other Bank staff and senior management and to convey departmental position clearly and tactfully; but with the capacity and readiness to stand firm on difficult and sensitive issues.
• Proven ability to work effectively in a complex, multi-cultural team environment, share knowledge and experience with other colleagues, and to work across organizational boundaries in a team based environment.
• A high degree of self-motivation with the ability to work across a broad range of concurrent tasks, to set priorities and to achieve results in a demanding work environment.

Competencies:

• Technical Writing and Presenting - Knows the audience's knowledge of the subject, needs and concerns, and is able to choose the most appropriate medium and to structure the messaging properly.
• Financial Risk Analysis & Modeling - Demonstrates in-depth proficiency level sufficient to recommend potential solutions to mitigate currency, price factor or interest rate risks.
• Capital Markets Financial Literacy - Reads, analyzes, and can compile financial statements of other financial documents and can assist, consult or lead others.
• 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.
• Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.

Application Closing Date
5th August, 2015.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

If you are interested in this position, please click the link above to submit your application. You will be prompted to log in to the "Member Center" or "Create a New Account". Please fill in all fields, answer the screening questions if any, attach your resume or CV, and submit your Statement of Interest (no more than 700 words).

Note

• A select number of candidates will be interviewed in September and October 2015 in Washington, D.C. and locations in Africa and Europe.
• Those applications that were not selected for interview during this campaign will be kept on file for up to one year and may be considered for future opportunities.
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.