Senior Agriculture Economist/Agriculture Specialist

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? 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.

Req#: req22436

Application Closing Date: 5/17/2023

Agriculture and food systems are a crucial pathway to meet the World Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals; it is estimated that global food production must increase by at least 35 percent to meet the needs of the rising global population!

The Agriculture and Food Global Practice (AGF GP) of the WBG, supports a Global Vision for Agriculture and Food with agriculture able to feed every person, every day, in every country with a safe, nutritious and affordable diet, and where jobs and income gains in the food system are sufficient to meet poverty reduction targets.

The East Asia and the Pacific AGF GP Unit (SEAAG) focuses on promoting improved food security, climate resilient and low carbon agriculture, One Health, fostering competitive agri-food production systems and value chains focused on smallholders, and sustainable rural development in our client countries. We also work closely with other Global Practices and the International Finance Corporation on the water, natural resources, nutrition, finance, transport and logistics, land, climate change and One Health agenda. The SEAAG team consists of 23 staff, 80 percent of whom are based in country offices.

The WBG engagement in Indonesia and Timor Leste in the agriculture sector is expanding, a sector which employs a significant share of the population and most of the poor draw their livelihood from agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. The WBG agriculture program in Indonesia and Timor Leste focuses on increasing agriculture productivity and farmer incomes, promoting competitive, resilient and low carbon agriculture, supporting the emergence of value chains through facilitating partnerships with the private sector, sustainable landscape management, advancing the One Health agenda and fostering overall agriculture-food system transformation.

Job duties and responsibilities

The primary responsibility of the Senior Agriculture Economist/Senior Agriculture Specialist will be to provide technical and strategic leadership in the dialogue, and development and implementation of the AGF GP’s analytical and technical assistance program and projects in Indonesia and Timor Leste.

The selected candidate will also lead or contribute to quality assurance and to fostering strong linkages with internal and external clients, as well as other development partners. The selected candidate will report to the SEAAG Practice Manager based in Singapore, while working closely with the AGF team and the EAP Sustainable Development Program Leader and the Country Management Unit in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Senior Agriculture Economist/Senior Agriculture Specialist will:

• Identify innovative opportunities or ways to address existing needs in the agricultural sector, including bringing in experience from other parts of the world, and to better align the GP’s portfolio with the EAP region’s and CMUs’ core priorities;
• Mentor and coach other AGF GP staff in the country office.
• Lead the preparation and supervision of projects led by SEAAG in the Indonesia and Timor Leste, as well as those projects supporting agriculture and food system related activities led by other GPs. Assure timely delivery of these operations with high levels of quality.
• Lead or contribute to analytical studies and technical assistance in Indonesia and Timor Leste. Initiate and maintain a high-level engagement and policy dialogue with key government counterparts and with development partners on the strategic program and policy issues in areas including food security, climate resilient and low carbon agriculture, repurposing public expenditures, linking smallholders to markets and agriculture value chain development to accelerate green competitive agriculture development, sustainable landscape management, and One Health.
• Work with the relevant Program Leaders and staff of the Agriculture GP and other GPs to find opportunities for addressing agricultural and food system and rural development issues as part of the Systematic Country Diagnostics, Country Partnership Frameworks, country policy dialogue, sector investment operations, development policy operations, and other multi-sectoral projects;
• Represent the World Bank in fora involving the community of development partners and private sector. Provide support, either explicit or implicit, to the work of the development partners in the sector. As necessary, represent the World Bank and the AGF GP’s management at events with sectoral focus;

Selection Criteria

• A minimum of 8 years of relevant working experience in areas related to agriculture economics, agribusiness, agriculture, rural development and other fields related to food systems
• Ability to work across various subject areas and multi-disciplinary teams; while being diplomatic and sensitive to cultural, political and gender issues
• Proven written and oral communication skills in English, including the ability to present complex issues to specialists as well as to non-specialist audiences
• A minimum of a Masters in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Agriculture or related fields.
• Proven experience in leading analytical studies and dialogue with clients
• Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving and team skills with ability to find balanced, pragmatic and implementable solutions.
• At least eight years of experience on agricultural and rural development issues;
• Demonstrated solid experience in leading policy dialogue and complex projects, with demonstrated high quality results;

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.