RESEARCH ANALYST CONSULTANT VACANCY
Background
Currently
Indonesia is building towards a comprehensive and integrated social
protection framework and strategy. Currently there are a number of
individual programs existing in parallel, but lacking a common and
aggregated vision and with little coherence across social
assistance, social insurance, and labor market programs. As a result,
social protection is not currently operating as a
system across the whole population that ensures that the appropriate policies, financing strategies and instruments are in place
for different groups to address their various needs in a timely, predictable and coherent manner.
While
Indonesia has many of the key programs and systems in place, there is
now an acknowledgement in government that Indonesia’s poor and
vulnerable
needs to be better served by a comprehensive social protection system
that is effective, coordinated and integrated, and that Indonesia needs
to get better value for the significant budget it invests in the sector.
The Ministry of Finance requested the World
Bank to produce a forward-looking strategy and approach to social protection in Indonesia.
The forward look
should address key challenges recognizing that the current system is
fragmented, with disconnected social assistance, social security, and
employment
promotion elements, offering different benefits to different segments
of the population, but without taking into account their interaction,
duplication, and potential inefficiencies. The demand for the work has
since been confirmed by the National Planning
Agency, Bappenas, who will be the principal Government counterpart for
this work and has agreed to collaborate on relevant social protection
inputs for the upcoming national development plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024.
The proposed
Social Protection Flagship
aims to provide analytical and advisory inputs to inform the Government
of Indonesia (GoI) in its efforts to develop a Social Protection
Strategy and build a comprehensive social protection system that
includes social assistance, social insurance, and active
labor market policies. The flagship will answer the following key
questions: (i) what reforms are needed in the Social Protection system
to ensure that in the aggregate there is a coherent set of objectives,
policies and programs to serve the needs of Indonesia’s
population and at the same time allow the Government to improve
efficiency of spending; (ii) what is the institutional and financial
architecture required for the system to be conducive to promoting a
well-functioning and coherent system; (iii) at the program
level, and in the aggregate, what are the significant gaps and overlaps
in coverage across the income distribution that needs to be filled or
rationalized; and (iv) at the delivery systems level, what is needed to
achieve coherence, efficiency and client responsiveness.
The
World Bank has a unique position to partner with GoI on this Social
Protection
Strategy. In Social Assistance, since 2009 the Bank has supported a
range of analytical work that has strengthened the overall sector,
supporting the conceptualization and setup of unconditional cash
transfers, the PKH conditional cash transfer program across
all its delivery system, and the establishment social registry and
targeting development (Unified Data Base). In Social Insurance, the Bank
has been key partner in the design and implementation of the National
Social Insurance System, and well into its implementation,
through different stakeholders. In productive inclusion, jobs and broad
skills development, the Bank engagement is working across several
ministers to act to address the jobs challenge. All these areas are also
directly aligned with the World Bank’s Country
Partnership Framework (CPF) for Indonesia 2016-2020, which emphasizes
the strategic role of improving delivery of social services, spending
better, and boosting shared prosperity, equality, and inclusion.
Immediate objectives
The research analyst will support the task
team with data analysis, research and specific analytical tasks as part
of the Social Protection Strategy report, background papers and
presentations.
The research analyst would
work
closely
with the Staff Social Protection Specialists, and Task Teams Leaders. He or
she
would play an important role in the delivery
of a flagship Social Protection
Strategy Report and associated analytical work underpinning it, the
background papers and presentations.
Beyond
the immediate objectives, the research analyst work program will include, but may not be limited to, the following tasks
and
responsibilities:
- Contribute to analytical and advisory activities (AAA) in the area of Social Protection and Jobs in Indonesia and other country programs as requested.
- Provide support to high quality policy advice as required in response to on-demand analytical requests from the Government of Indonesia, development partners, and from within the Bank;
- Collect data and other public policy and program information from various government institutions, including central ministries, subnational government and statistical agencies; and use these data to conduct quantitative and qualitative research and analyses on public expenditure related to social protection and jobs issues.
- Play a key role in the interpretation of analytical findings and formulation of key messages from research findings, supporting the articulation of policy recommendations based on analytical inputs.
- Help prepare presentations, written briefs and policy notes, and draft technical sections of reports based on the above analyses under limited supervision
The successful applicant for the research analyst consultant position will meet the following qualifications:
- Master’s degree in public policy, economics, or related sector (mathematics, statistics, development economics, public policy or political science) with at least 2 years of experience in areas related to social protection and/or poverty reduction.
- Demonstrated experience in leading analytical and technical assistance activities designed to support the development and strengthening of social protection and jobs programs and generate a range of engagement products (presentations, policy briefs, memos, etc).
- Strong analytical skills (quantitative and qualitative) and proven ability to conduct independent policy- relevant research, translate theory into practical applications, and adapt professional knowledge and technical skills to analyze, diagnose and propose solutions to policy issues and challenges.
- Proficiency in programming with STATA
- Working knowledge of major Indonesia statistical datasets such as SUSENAS, SAKERNAS required, PODES and IFLS preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to provide prompt and high quality responses as well as capture knowledge and communicate main messages in knowledge briefs, policy notes and power point presentations for varied level audiences (technical and high level audiences).
- Demonstrated high quality of written and verbal communication skills in both English and Bahasa Indonesia.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with proven ability to work in a team in a collaborative way, delivering cross-support and building relationships around a common goal as well as in intercultural environment, with minimal supervision.
Indicative timeline
The work program described under the immediate objectives is expected to be carried out within a 4-month period between November
2018 - February 2019. The research analyst would initially be hired for 30 days and receive an extension
based on performance and on an as-needed basis.
Application procedure
Please submit a CV and a one page cover letter to
mpuspitawati@worldbank.org
by the 30th of October.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
The World Bank Group
is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality,
culture and educational
background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to
apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest
confidentiality.
