This position is located in the Economic Development Unit (EDU) at the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, which serves 26 countries and territories of the Caribbean. The Economic Affairs Officer reports to Coordinator of the EDU.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded in 1948 with the purpose of contributing to the region's economic and social development. Its mission includes the design, monitoring and evaluation of public policies and the provision of advisory services, expertise and training to Governments, as well as support for regional and international cooperation and coordination activities. ECLAC employs over 600 staff members at its Headquarters in Santiago, its Subregional Headquarters in Mexico City and Port-of- Spain, and country offices in Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo and Bogotá, as well as a liaison office in Washington, D.C. Please visit our website at www.eclac.org, for further information.
Under the overall supervision of the Director and direct supervision of the Coordinator of the EDU, the incumbent will carry out the following duties:
Economic or sector analysis:
•Monitors developments in the areas of public finance, debt, fiscal and monetary policy and regional economic development, including emerging issues of concern to small developing economies and drafts policy recommendations.
•Monitors macro-economic performance and provides analyses and proposals for structural transformation of small developing economies.
•Designs, conducts and drafts reports on studies of selected issues in economic development.
•Interprets and applies results of econometric modelling to analysis of economic prospects and policies.
•Undertakes in depth research and analysis on current and emerging development issues.
•Organizes expert group meetings and seminars on development issues.
•Prepares and makes presentations at conferences, lectures and other forums
•Prepares speeches and other inputs for presentations by senior staff.
Intergovernmental support
•Provides substantive support on economic issues to intergovernmental bodies, such as the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), Caribbean Development Roundtable (CDR) and ECLAC Session.
•Represents ECLAC at international, regional and national meetings.
•Contributes substantively to the preparation of ECLAC flagship publications and supports requests for contributions on the Caribbean from other ECLAC Offices.
Technical cooperation:
•Designs and monitors technical cooperation projects.
•Undertakes missions to member states, either alone or as a participant in a multidisciplinary team, as part of the Organization’s technical cooperation activities.
•Prepares global, regional, national or sector analyses that provide a basis for advising national governments on economic development issues.
•Conducts training seminars and workshops for government officials and others.
•Assists in designing evaluation processes for technical cooperation projects.
General
•Supports junior staff, reviewing their work and providing feedback.
•Assists in providing general editorial oversight for official work programme outputs of the office.
•Performs other related duties as required, including a variety of administrative tasks necessary for the final delivery of the work programme of the office.
•Undertakes on the job and other training activities, both internally and externally.
•Professionalism: Ability to apply economic theories and concepts in different sectors of economic and sustainable development is required. Ability to conduct independent research on economic topics, determine suitability, validity and accuracy of data provided by different sources is required.
Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
•Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
•Planning& Organizing: 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.
Managerial Competencies:
•Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.
Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in economics or related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in economic research and analysis, policy formulation and application of economic principles in development programmes or related area is required.
Experience in quantitative analysis, econometrics and statistics/econometric packages for the systematic analysis of data including methods of statistical inference is required.
Experience in econometric modelling, public finance and fiscal and monetary policy in the Caribbean is desirable.
Experience in research and writing on development issues in the Caribbean, as evidenced by a record of publications, is desirable.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable.
NOTE: ‘’Fluency’’ equals a rating of ‘’fluent’’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and ‘’Knowledge of’’ equals a rating of ‘’confident’’ in two of the four areas.
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
-Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures.
- The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. ECLAC is fully committed to the implementation of the UN system-wide strategy on Gender Parity introduced by the Secretary-General in September of 2017.
- A staff member holding a temporary appointment who is recruited in the Professional and above categories, on a temporary appointment, and placed on a position authorized for one year or longer may not apply for or be reappointed to his/her current position within six months of the end of his/her current service. For full information on eligibility requirements, please refer to section 5 of ST/AI/2010/4Rev.1 on Temporary Appointments.
•For this position, applicants from the following Member States, which are unrepresented or underrepresented in the UN Secretariat as of 30 November 2020, are strongly encouraged to apply: Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vanuatu, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.
Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.
The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.