Resident Advisor - South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC)

Overview

Deliver training and technical assistance in macroeconomic forecasting and diagnostics.

You have:

• Ph.D. or Master's degree in economics or finance.
• At least four years of practical experience analyzing economic issues and providing policy advice.
• Strong analytical skills in macroeconomics and finance.
• Practical experience in delivering training and technical assistance, preferably in macro-forecasting and modeling.
• Excellent teaching and communication skills in English.
• Good organization and planning skills, with project management experience a plus.
• Willingness to live in New Delhi and travel within the South Asia region.
• Desirable familiarity with IMF's financial programming framework and macro-econometric forecasting tools.
• Desirable ability to connect theory to practice.
• Desirable good research record or policy-making experience.

Work for the IMF. Work for the World.

The IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development and the IMF’s South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC), located in New Delhi, India, is seeking a qualified candidate to fill the position of Resident Advisor to deliver training and TA in macroeconomic forecasting, diagnostics, and policy analysis. For the selected candidate, this is a full-time position based in New Delhi with an initial appointment term of one year (renewable).

The primary mission of SARTTAC is to enhance the economic and policymaking capacity of its six member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) by providing capacity development (CD)—i.e., training and technical assistance (TA)—under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Operational since 2017, SARTTAC provides support in building capacity in public financial management and revenue administration, monetary and financial sector policies, and macroeconomic frameworks, forecasting, and statistics (for more information, see https://www.sarttac.org/), working closely with CD departments at IMF headquarters.

The selected candidate will report to ICD’s CD delivery wing for all technical aspects of his/her work, including the set up and management of his/her workplan as an integral part of the delivery of ICD training courses and TA by ICD CD delivery divisions. For all other aspects, the selected candidate will report jointly to ICD resource management division and the SARTTAC Director. He/she will be involved in leading/contributing to the delivery of training to country officials at facilities in SARTTAC and in other locations in South Asia, as well as contributing to work on macroeconomic frameworks through TA to the member countries, jointly with and backstopped by ICD’s HQ delivery divisions. The aim of ICD’s training and TA in macroeconomic frameworks is to help recipient countries improve the macroeconomic forecasting and analytical capabilities of government institutions in support of their macroeconomic policy decision-making processes.

The selected candidate will also work closely with other IMF and non-IMF CD providers to ensure integration of TA with training and to exploit synergies across other CD programs in SARTTAC. He/she is also expected to contribute to the operational work, regional visibility, and sound governance of SARTTAC.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Identifying training and TA needs in SARTTAC member countries that may feed into the ICD work plan pipeline. Identification of needs should include regular interaction with ICD delivery divisions, SARTTAC management, and South Asia country teams in the IMF Asia and Pacific Department, aided by the development of contacts in the CD-receiving agencies of member countries. The selected candidate will have the primary responsibility over his/her workplan, coordinating strategically and communicating regularly with ICD delivery division managers and SARTTAC managers to ensure timely and effective delivery.

Preparing and delivering lectures, case studies, hands-on workshops, and other materials for ICD training courses at SARTTAC, in collaboration with staff at IMF HQ and with short-term experts reporting to ICD. The candidate should be prepared to cover most aspects of the training curriculum of ICD, which includes all aspects of macroeconomic diagnostics and forecasting, with a macro-fiscal, macro-monetary, and macro-financial focus. Awareness of transformational issues in CD—i.e., climate, gender and inclusivity, and digitalization and big data—and inclusion of them into macroeconomic training is also desirable.

Leading/contributing to work on TA projects aimed at improving member countries’ capacity in developing frameworks, models, and processes used to incorporate this into policy decision-making, in collaboration with ICD delivery divisions’ staff and short-term experts. Depending on country needs and capacity, this could range from building accounting-based frameworks to semi-structural gap models or even DSGE models. Near-term forecasting/nowcasting and/or debt dynamics tools may also be included.

Liaising and collaborating with other resident advisors in SARTTAC and other regional capacity development centers of the IMF to leverage support, as desirable, in the design and delivery of CD.

Supporting the Director of SARTTAC with contributions to the corporate activities of the Center such as annual workplans and updates, quarterly bulletins, and annual reports on SARTTAC activities, and selected outreach events, in keeping with the Center’s sound governance.

Qualifications

Candidates should have a Ph.D. or Master’s degree in economics or finance, experience in training course and TA delivery, and a demonstrated capacity to deliver CD. Candidates should have strong analytical skills in macroeconomics and finance, and at least four years of practical experience analyzing economic issues and providing policy advice. Candidates should have practical experience in delivering training and TA, preferably in macro-forecasting and modeling. Experience in providing advanced training to public sector officials in applied macroeconomic policy issues, particularly monetary, fiscal, and/or financial policies and familiarity with the IMF’s financial programming framework and with macro-econometric forecasting tools are highly desirable, as is an ability to connect theory to practice. Excellent teaching and communication skills in English are essential, as are good organization and planning skills, with project management experience a plus. Furthermore, a good research record and/or policymaking experience are also desirable. Candidates should also have a working knowledge or the capacity to learn the IMF’s results-based framework for the management (RBM) of CD and the Capacity Development Management and Administration Program (CDMAP). Applicants must be willing to live in New Delhi and travel within the South Asia region.

Department:

ICDAI Institute for Capacity Development Immediate OfficeHiring For:

A12, A13, A14The IMF is committed to achieving a diverse staff, including age, creed, culture, disability, educational background, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, nationality, race, religion and beliefs, and sexual orientation.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: imf.org