Economic Affairs Officer

The Economic Affairs Officer position is located in various UN departments including DESA, UNCTAD, and regional commissions. The role involves economic and sector analysis, intergovernmental support, and technical cooperation, focusing on economic development issues and policy formulation.

Responsibilities

• Monitors economic developments in a defined area and identifies recurrent and emerging issues of concern to the United Nations.
• Designs and conducts studies of selected issues in economic development and draft resulting reports.
• Interprets and applies results of econometric modelling to analysis of economic prospects and policies.
• Develops draft policy recommendations pertaining to area of work.
• Formulates proposals for development strategies, policies and measures for presentation to intergovernmental bodies and others.
• Attends international, regional, and national meetings to hold discussions with representatives of other institutions.
• Organizes expert group meetings, seminars, etc. on development issues.
• Prepares speeches and other inputs for presentations by senior staff.
• Provides substantive support on economic issues to intergovernmental bodies such as the General Assembly, UNCTAD, Economic and Social Council, Trade and Development Board, regional commissions and subsidiary bodies.
• Represents organizational unit at international, regional and national meetings.
• Designs, implements and monitors technical cooperation projects.
• Undertakes missions to member states as part of technical cooperation activities.
• Prepares global, regional, national or sector analyses to advise national governments on economic development issues.
• Conducts capacity building activities, including training seminars and workshops for government officials and others.
• Formulates technical modalities for the evaluation of individual technical cooperation projects.
• Supports junior staff, reviewing their work and providing feedback.
• Participates in intra- and inter-Departmental undertakings to represent the views or interests of the organizational unit.
• Performs other related duties including administrative tasks necessary for final delivery of the work unit’s service.
• Undertakes on-the-job and other training activities, both internally and externally.
• Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in economics or related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of seven years of experience in economic research and analysis, policy formulation, and the application of economic principles in development programmes or related area is required.
• Experience in collecting, processing, and analyzing economic or socio‑economic data, using quantitative and/or qualitative analytical methods to identify trends and inform policy or programme decision‑making, is required.
• Experience in coordinating research and analysis of emerging economic issues and in leading the drafting of associated knowledge products (e.g., reports, technical papers, policy briefs) is required.
• Experience in building strategic partnerships and alliances, with key stakeholders, including governments or international organizations, to achieve shared goals is required.
• Ability to apply economic theories and concepts in different sectors of economic and sustainable development.
• Ability to conduct independent research on economic topics, determine suitability, validity and accuracy of data provided by different sources.
• Ability to identify and develop sources for data collection.
• Ability to design and conduct capacity building activities for government officials and other stakeholders.
• Able to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management.
• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
• Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Skills

• Economic Research
• Economic Analysis
• Policy Formulation Support
• Quantitative Analysis
• Qualitative Analysis
• Data Collection
• Data Processing
• Socio-economic Data Analysis
• Trend Identification
• Research Coordination
• Knowledge Product Drafting
• Report Writing
• Technical Paper Preparation
• Policy Brief Writing
• Strategic Partnership Development
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Economic Theory Application
• Independent Research
• Data Validation
• Capacity Building
• Decision-Making Support

Languages

English, French