Social Scientist

Social Scientist

Job #:
req19277

Organization:
World Bank

Sector:
Economics

Grade:
GF

Term Duration:
1 year 0 months

Recruitment Type:
International Recruitment

Location:
Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):
English

Preferred Language(s):
French and Portuguese

Closing Date:
10/13/2022 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. 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, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. 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

The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (AGIL) of the World Bank's Africa Gender Impact Evaluation Unit, which is mapped to the Africa Region Chief Economist's Office, conducts impact evaluations of development interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa, seeking to examine the gender gap between men and women when it comes to economic growth and empowerment. With the results of the impact evaluations, the AGIL aims to support the design of innovative, scalable interventions to address gender inequality in productive economic sectors across Africa. The impact objective of AGIL is to increase take-up of effective policies by governments, development organizations, and the private sector in order to address the underlying causes of gender inequality in Africa, and through that promote growth.

Background:

Institutional Context: The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (AGIL) is housed within the Africa Region Gender Impact Evaluation Unit, mapped to the Africa Region Chief Economist's office.

Impact Objective: The Africa Gender Innovation Lab has a clear and actionable impact objective: to increase take-up of effective policies that can address the underlying causes of gender inequality in Africa, particularly in terms of women's economic and social empowerment, and through that promote growth. AGIL aims to do this by strengthening knowledge, in particular, by producing and delivering a new body of evidence and developing a compelling narrative, geared towards policymakers, on what works and what does not work in promoting gender equality. This new evidence will deepen capacity for gender-informed policymaking throughout the Africa region, including policies created and enacted by governments, as well as common practices and program models of private firms, civil society, and development agencies.

Regional Orientation: AGIL's work is focused exclusively on Sub-Saharan Africa, where the team is currently working in over 20 countries with the aim of building an evidence base with lessons for the region.

Sector Specific: AGIL is focused on conducting rigorous research in order to generate evidence on how to close the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. AGIL's work is grouped into five categories: agricultural productivity; private sector development; land and property rights, youth employment, and social norms and gender-based violence.

Impact Evaluations: AGIL is currently working on over 60 impact evaluations, many of which have complementary qualitative research studies, and requires a core team of DC-based staff to coordinate and lead this work.

Influencing Policies and Practices that Matter for Gender Equality: AGIL engages in rigorous research by partnering with high-profile, large-scale, innovative and/or potentially influential projects and project partners on its impact evaluations. AGIL then uses its results, which are disseminated in papers, presentations, policy briefs, blogs, and in other ways, in order to influence how development projects and policies are conceived and run. AGIL aims to help direct funding to the most effective programs and policies, increase the availability of good data to inform programs and policies that target gender inequalities, and increase the use of evidence to inform program and policy decisions.

AGIL's internal organization and staffing: Each impact evaluation is led by a coordinator and other AGIL team economists and research assistants, often in collaboration with external researchers. GIL Economists split their time between Washington, DC and field sites. The project to be evaluated by each IE is implemented by external partners, and data collection is carried out by external firms who are generally monitored in the field by AGIL-affiliated field coordinators. The AGIL is advised by a steering committee. The Africa Gender Innovation Lab is led by Michael O'Sullivan.

The Social Scientist will work under the supervision of the Africa Gender Innovation Lab leader, Michael O'Sullivan. Key responsibilities will be to:

• Help to lead the GIL qualitative research portfolio.
• Identify priorities for qualitative research within AGIL's portfolio of studies, during the initial impact evaluation design and concept review stage, identifying which impact evaluations could benefit most from qualitative research, and designing the qualitative research strategies for specific GIL impact evaluations.
• For a select and strategic subset of AGIL impact evaluations, design and lead qualitative research studies that complement these impact evaluations, including recruiting, training, and supervising qualitative field staff; designing data collection instruments and protocols; securing ethical approvals, and leading data analysis and report writing.
• Publish qualitative research in peer-reviewed academic journals and summarize findings in briefs or reports for policy audiences.
• Across all of AGIL's activities, provide qualitative research technical support upon request, and effectively collaborate with principal investigators, most of whom are economists.
• Work with task teams, including AGIL economists, government representatives, World Bank global practice counterparts, and country and project teams, in selected African countries, to identify and develop innovative pilot interventions, impact evaluations, and qualitative research studies that identify or address underlying constraints that hinder women's productivity.
• Identify external collaborators and/or consultants to help carry out this work. Ensure quality of work. Hire and supervise the consultants. Build and manage qualitative research teams comprised of external research collaborators, field staff, and data analysts, working in close coordination with GIL quantitative research teams, and government and NGO collaborators.
• Present on research findings, as well as provide technical workshops to GIL team members and government counterparts and project teams.
• Provide support on the preparation of progress reports to management and other corporate gender reporting requirements.
• Assist on ad hoc requests: project appraisals, consultant selection, contract processing, and portfolio reviews

Selection Criteria

1. A PhD in anthropology, sociology, or a related discipline (e.g. human geography), preferred. Candidate should have substantial formal training in qualitative research methods and demonstrated skills in qualitative research design and data analysis.
2. 5 years of relevant experience conducting qualitative research, involving the collection of original data. Experience running qualitative studies, including in data collection design, implementation, and analysis, in developing countries, is required. Experience supervising research teams strongly desired.
3. Experience in Africa, and previous work in gender, are both strongly preferred.
4. Demonstrated ability to work on inter-disciplinary teams and mixed methods studies required. Some academic training in quantitative data analysis and survey methods also preferred.
5. Proven ability to publish in peer-reviewed academic journals and to author reports or briefs for policy audiences. Ability to present research findings to a wide range of audiences and to distill key messages for policy makers.
6. Familiarity with World Bank organizational structure and policies and practices related to operations. Ability to use evidence to inform World Bank policies and programs.
7. Teamwork - Demonstrated ability to build and manage a team, and successfully manage research collaborations with diverse collaborators across language, cultural, and disciplinary barriers. Collaborates with team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
8. Behavioral competencies that facilitate dialogue with research collaborators, country partners and country teams, including listening skills, capacity development skills, and ability to adapt advice and plans to the local institutional realities;
9. Client orientation - Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to partner and collaborator queries, requests, or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
10. Drive for results - Able to take personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results and has the personal organization to do so.
11. Business judgment and analytical decision-making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound logical decisions regarding own and others' work.
12. Knowledge-sharing, learning, and communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner. Strong written and oral presentation skills required. Strong ability to distill relevant recommendations/lessons for clients and target audience.
13. Fluency in English required. Strong skills in French and/or Portuguese are desired, but not required.
14. Willing and able to undertake frequent international travel.

Remuneration will be set according to standard World Bank rates, commensurate with experience. The position starts as soon as possible and will be based in the World Bank's headquarters in Washington DC.

Competencies

• Interdisciplinary research skills: Possesses a demonstrated track record of working on interdisciplinary research teams and an ability to integrate multiple theoretical perspectives for the design of research projects and the interpretation of research findings.
• Knowledge of gender theory: Understands theories of how gender inequality can be reproduced and/or challenged through institutional structures and interpersonal interactions. Possesses in-depth knowledge of the determinants, dynamics, and mechanisms of social inequality and social change.
• Management skills: Possesses the organizational, administrative, and leadership skills necessary for effective project management.
• Analytical skills and appreciation of methodological pluralism: Demonstrated experience with a range of social science research methods. Articulates the complementarities between different qualitative and quantitative research methods. Open to learning from all kinds of empirical studies.
• Experience with development assistance programs: Has exposure to the policy-making process and the realities of project design and implementation.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies policy makers' priorities and presents evidence-based recommendations to facilitate effective dialogue with governments and/or other stakeholders.

This internalrequisition is open to WBG and IMF staff only (includingshort-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries).External candidatesare requested not to apply. In case an externalcandidate applies, their application will not be considered

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.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

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