Data Scientist

Data Scientist

Job #:

req25253

Organization:

World Bank

Sector:

Research & Quantitative Analysis

Grade:

GF

Term Duration:

3 years 0 months

Recruitment Type:

International Recruitment

Location:

Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):

English

Preferred Language(s):

Closing Date:

12/12/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

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

Summary

Development Impact (DIME) seeks to recruit a Data Scientist within DIME's Infrastructure and Climate Change unit. DIME's objective is to increase the use of data analytics and impact evaluation research in the design and implementation of public policy, to increase the effectiveness of development investments, strengthen country institutions for evidence-based policy making, and generate knowledge in strategic development areas. The Data Scientist will work closely with the ieConnect for Impact program within DIME, which is an impact evaluation program dedicated to transport and includes a focus on urban mobility, transport corridors, road safety, and rural infrastructure. The Data Scientist will support the use of cutting-edge data sources and techniques in DIME's work.

Description

We are seeking a highly motivated Data Scientist with expertise in a variety of analytical approaches, including geospatial analysis, machine learning, statistical/econometric analysis, and natural language processing-and has experience working with data from a wide variety of data sources, including administrative data, satellite imagery, mobility data, social media data, among other public and private sector data sources. The Data Scientist will support integrating "alternative" and "big data" sources into DIME projects through leading technical components of projects, developing open-source tools to facilitate leveraging data from different sources, providing guidance to teams on alternative/big data sources, and supporting other team members and government clients in advancing their technical capacities-such as through trainings. The Data Scientist will play a pivotal role in assessing and understanding best practices for applying alternative/big data sources to support DIME's portfolio of impact evaluations.

We seek a candidate with expertise in various statistical software and data science tools and their application to development research; strong technical skills in design and analysis of prospective impact evaluation; and the interest and ability to explain and communicate technical programming methodologies in an organized and systematic way. The candidate should have proficient knowledge of software including R, Python, Google Earth Engine, and/or Stata. Familiarity with SurveyCTO is a plus.

Role & Responsibilities:

The Data Scientist will have the following responsibilities:

• Collaborate with a diverse team to identify opportunities for alternative and big data sources for impact evaluations of development projects.
• Support the application of geospatial analysis, machine learning, natural language processing, among other analytical approaches into DIME projects.
• Assess and develop open-source tools and methodologies to facilitate the use of big/alternative data sources.
• Collaborate with DIME economists, clients and academic partners to analyze structured and unstructured data, publish well-documented, reproducible work, and explore synergies in the data acquired across the portfolio.
• Serve as point of contact for DIME team members for dealing with geospatial data. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting projects with identifying geospatial data sources (e.g., public and commercial satellite data sources), as well as managing, processing, and visualizing geospatial data.
• Support and actively promote the adoption of big/alternative data sources across the DIME portfolio. This includes identifying opportunities to leverage these data sources, developing tools and trainings to facilitate using these data sources, and offering customized support.
• Promote the use of data science work implemented by DIME within the global development community, through seminars, conference presentations and working groups.
• Work together with other Data Scientists/Analysts in DIME to create a Big Data Program that formalizes the above tasks as offerings within DIME, while fostering collaborations as a broader community of practice across the World Bank.

Selection Criteria

> Master's degree in economics, public policy, computer science, statistics, data science or related field plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience.

> Strong data analysis skills, preferably with experience working with a variety of data sources such as geospatial data (including satellite imagery), private sector data, administrative data, among others.

> Technical experience in various aspects of data science; creative problem solving with strong skills in design and problem formulation; data acquisition, cleaning, and management; data interpretation and analysis; and the presentation and communication of reproducible results.

> Proven experience with geospatial analysis, machine learning, natural language processing, statistical/econometric analysis, web scraping, preferably in the context of international development.

> Strong programming skills in R, Python, Google Earth Engine, and/or Stata, with experience with relevant libraries. The ability to write clean and maintainable code is strongly preferred.

> Experience developing interactive dashboards, such as using R Shiny.

> Experience developing open-source tools, such as R and/or Python packages.

> Experience using collaborative platforms (Github, Google Colab, others).

> Experience using cloud resources, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and/or Microsoft Azure.

> Demonstrated ability to communicate complex coding concepts and teach different statistical software language to audiences with varying levels of computer and coding literacy.

> High proficiency with Github is required.

> Demonstrated experience working on impact evaluation analysis, particularly in the context of urban mobility, transport corridors, road safety, and/or rural infrastructure.

> Demonstrated experience with primary data and survey data collection is highly desirable.

> Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to learn new methods quickly.

> Excellent communication skills and capacity to present technical issues to non-experts.

> Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively in an international and interdisciplinary environment.

> Excellent written and spoken English. Knowledge of another language may be an advantage but is not required.

> Proven ability and willingness to work as part of a team in a multicultural environment, and work across teams in cross-thematic projects, foster teamwork, and mentor junior staff.

This internal requisition is open to WBG and IMF staff only (including short-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries). External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate 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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