Overview
The Lead Economist will provide technical and analytical leadership for development strategy initiatives, focusing on economic diagnostics, strategy formulation, and policy design to support inclusive and sustainable growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead or contribute to country-specific economic diagnostic assessments, including growth analysis, productivity decomposition, sectoral transformation, jobs diagnostics, and inclusion mapping.
- Translate analytical findings into forward-leaning development strategies and reform pathways.
- Integrate economic growth, inclusion, and prosperity frameworks into national and sectoral strategy processes.
- Produce policy briefs, discussion notes, and presentations for senior government audiences.
- Provide technical backstopping to UNDP Country Offices.
- Engage with senior government counterparts on development strategy and reform priorities.
- Facilitate high-level policy dialogues on inclusive growth, economic transformation, job creation, and institutional reform.
- Provide hands-on advisory support to governments on the identification, design, and sequencing of priority reforms.
- Strengthen capabilities for evidence-based decision-making.
- Support overall management and delivery of regional and country-level activities.
- Coordinate with Country Offices.
- Contribute to work planning, reporting, monitoring of results, and resource mobilization.
- Support partnerships with academic institutions, think tanks, and development partners.
- Lead the development of knowledge products on inclusive growth, institutional capabilities, and economic transformation.
- Facilitate peer learning across countries.
- Document lessons learned, methodologies, and country innovations.
- Contribute to regional policy dialogues, workshops, and conferences.
Required Experience
- Minimum 10 years (with master’s degree) or 12 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in economic policy analysis, growth strategy, jobs, and inclusive development.
- Demonstrated experience advising governments at senior levels on development strategy, economic reform, and long-term structural transformation.
- Proven track record in leading or contributing to development and growth diagnostics, strategy formulation processes, and institutional or policy capability assessments.
- Experience and strong technical grounding in economic growth, employment, and human development, with working knowledge of governance and institutional dynamics.
- Experience working with UN agencies, international financial institutions, or other development partners is desired.
- Familiarity with development challenges and policy contexts in Asia and the Pacific is desired.
- Experience in supporting partnerships with academic institutions, think tanks, and development partners involved in economic policy and institutional capabilities is desired.
Qualifications
- An advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Economics, Public Policy, Development Economics, or a related field is required.
- Or A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
- A PhD in Economics or related field is desirable.
