Short Term Staff – Research Assistant, ECMR0

THE BANK:

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).  The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa. The Bank is seeking to build a management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

 THE COMPLEX:

The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is the Bank’s spokesperson on economic matters and the VP for the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Complex. The Complex is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the generation of analytical work to inform the Bank’s operational engagement and policy dialogue; (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT:

The Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department (ECMR) is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa. It provides technical support to operations and regional member countries through rigorous analytical work; engages in impactful policy dialogue with decision-making bodies within and outside of the Bank; and most importantly enhance the operational effectiveness of the Bank in achieving the High 5s. The activities of the department focus on macroeconomic surveillance, analysis of structural factors impeding Africa’s progress in reducing poverty and creating jobs, as well as microeconomic issues related to finance, infrastructure development, private sector development, industrial organizations, governance & institutions, agriculture, competitiveness & investment climate, and regional integration. The activities of the department are structured around two units. (i) the Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting, and (ii) the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact.  

THE POSITION:

The Research Assistant (Short Term Staff) will support and assist the ECMR across a range of activities linked with producing a number of knowledge products, including flagship reports, documents, research papers, economic briefs and presentations. However, the job holder will focus more on the African Development Review, a professional journal devoted to the study and analysis of development policy in Africa. Published four times a year, the Review emphasizes policy relevance of research findings, rather than purely theoretical and quantitative issues.

KEY FUNCTIONS:

Under the Supervision of the Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department, the STS Research Assistant will perform the following:

1. Manage and monitor the online submission platform (ScholarOne Manuscript Central) for the African Development Review
2. Check and ensure “complete checklist” for all submitted manuscripts: check-in submitted manuscripts and to monitor the full review process
3. Create Reviewers’ Accounts
4. Maintain reviewers’ database
5. Assign or pass on submitted manuscripts with “complete checklist” to the Editor
6. Select and invite reviewers at all stages of the review process.
7. Manage all files associated with a manuscript including timely response to authors’ questions/requests or as may be directed by management.
8. Generate and create reports on manuscript and user activity
9. Generate data bases from internal and external sources as may be required
10. Formatting documents related to the African Development Review and communicating with the Publishers as may be directed by management.
11. Provide analytical support to the Research Department through critical literature search and review, data preparation, cleaning and analysis
12. Reviewing, revising, formatting and finalizing the publication of Bank’s Working Papers and other major Bank’s knowledge products
13. Reviewing, revising, formatting and finalizing the publication of Africa Economic Briefs and How They Did It
14. Ensuring the working paper and briefs are in line with the Working paper guidelines and the Bank’s corporate identity
15. Liaise with PCER for posting the brief online
16. Any other task that may be assigned by the Task manager / Manager /Director. 

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience and knowledge):

1. Hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Economics or a related field; 
2. Have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in a similar multilateral institution or any other institution engaged in research activities;
3. Good written and oral skills in English or French with a good working knowledge of the other language
4. Competences in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access). Knowledge of SAP is an added advantage
5. Competences in the use of standard econometric / statistical software used in the Bank (Eviews, SPSS, Stata)
6. Acquaintance with major databases (Word Bank, OECD, IMF, SSRN, AfDB) Highly desirable
7. Familiarity and competence in the use and management of an online manuscript submission system.

THIS POSITION DOES NOT ATTRACT INTERNATIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THE POST HOLDER WILL BE CONSIDERED A SHORT TERM STAFF (local staff).

Source