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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for International Economist

💰 $90,000 - $160,000

EconomicsInternationalPolicyResearchTrade

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking a seasoned International Economist to deliver rigorous, policy-relevant economic analysis on global macroeconomic developments, trade and investment flows, and country/sectoral risks. The role combines advanced econometric and quantitative modelling with policy engagement—producing forecasts, written advisory notes, and stakeholder-ready briefings used by senior decision-makers at multilateral organizations, ministries, private-sector clients, and development partners.

Core objectives:

  • Produce timely global and country-level macroeconomic forecasts and scenario analysis.
  • Assess trade policy, FDI and supply-chain implications for growth and poverty outcomes.
  • Translate quantitative results into actionable policy recommendations and high-impact communications.

Keywords for discovery and LLM retrieval: international economist, global macroeconomic analysis, trade policy analysis, econometric modelling, forecasting, emerging markets, multilateral institutions, IMF, World Bank, policy advisor.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Economist / Research Analyst (Domestic or International)
  • Trade Policy Analyst or Trade Economist
  • Economic Consultant (specializing in macro/ trade)

Advancement To:

  • Senior International Economist / Lead Economist
  • Head of Country or Regional Economics
  • Director of Economic Research / Chief Economist

Lateral Moves:

  • Trade Policy Advisor / Trade Negotiator
  • Economic Risk Analyst in financial institutions
  • Senior Economic Consultant / Policy Advisor in NGOs or multilaterals

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the design, development and maintenance of macroeconomic forecasting models (time-series, structural DSGE, VAR, panel models) to produce quarterly and annual national and regional forecasts, scenario analysis, and stress tests used by senior leadership and external stakeholders.
  • Conduct rigorous econometric modelling to quantify trade policy impacts, tariff changes, non-tariff measures and trade agreement scenarios on GDP, employment, prices and welfare—producing replicable code, documentation and sensitivity checks.
  • Produce high-quality policy papers, technical reports, briefing notes and peer-reviewed publications that synthesize complex quantitative results into clear recommendations for ministers, donor agencies and private-sector clients.
  • Monitor global macroeconomic indicators (inflation, growth, exchange rates, capital flows, commodity prices) and prepare daily/weekly/monthly briefs that identify risks, spillovers and policy implications for target countries and regions.
  • Analyze foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, cross-border capital movements and multinational enterprise behaviour to advise on investment policy, incentives, and regulatory reform.
  • Design and implement computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, partial equilibrium models or gravity models to evaluate trade reforms, market access initiatives and supply-chain disruptions affecting trade and domestic production.
  • Lead country-level diagnostics that combine macro-fiscal analysis, balance-of-payments assessment and macrofinancial risk analysis to inform program design, conditionality and technical assistance.
  • Provide actionable advice on exchange rate policy, macroprudential measures and fiscal/monetary policy mix—translating technical trade-offs into policy options for non-technical audiences.
  • Build, curate and maintain large cross-country datasets (WITS, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, national statistics) and apply reproducible workflows for data cleaning, merging and validation to underpin analysis.
  • Prepare and deliver high-impact presentations, slide decks and briefings for boards, donors, government delegations and public events; respond to media and stakeholder inquiries on international economic issues.
  • Lead and mentor junior economists, analysts and interns—reviewing technical work, improving modelling standards, and building team capabilities in econometrics and forecasting.
  • Coordinate multidisciplinary research projects, manage external research contracts and supervise consultants to deliver analytical outputs on time and within budget.
  • Conduct counterfactual and impact evaluation studies assessing the effects of trade liberalization, tariff changes, trade facilitation measures and regulatory reforms on firm-level performance and household welfare.
  • Provide tailored economic risk assessments and scenario planning for private-sector clients and investors, including sovereign risk, currency risk and policy uncertainty in emerging markets.
  • Integrate climate, sustainability and ESG considerations into economic analysis—estimating macroeconomic costs/benefits of transitions, carbon pricing and resilience investments.
  • Maintain close working relationships with multilateral institutions (IMF, World Bank, WTO), central banks, ministries of finance/trade and donor agencies—representing the organization in technical working groups and negotiations.
  • Oversee the development of interactive data visualizations and dashboards (Tableau, Power BI, R Shiny) that enable stakeholders to explore forecasts, trade exposures and scenario outputs.
  • Lead replication and quality assurance efforts: peer review of models, code repositories (Git), version control and documentation to ensure transparency and reproducibility of results.
  • Advise on design and evaluation of trade adjustment programs, labor market policies and targeted social protection measures to mitigate adverse distributional impacts of trade shocks.
  • Prepare inputs for grant proposals, donor reports and program design documents that secure funding for research, technical assistance and capacity building in partner countries.
  • Conduct country and sector risk mapping that identifies vulnerabilities in global value chains and recommends diversification, trade facilitation, and investment strategies.
  • Serve as the primary contact for external researchers, think tanks and academic partners on joint research initiatives and policy dialogues in international economics.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc policy requests from senior management and external partners, turning rapid-turnaround data analyses into succinct policy options under tight deadlines.
  • Contribute to internal capability building by designing and delivering training workshops on econometrics, forecasting, trade modelling and policy communication for colleagues and partners.
  • Manage research project budgets, procurement and vendor relationships for data subscriptions, software licences and consulting services.
  • Maintain and expand a network of subject-matter experts, academic collaborators and technical partners to enhance analytical breadth and credibility.
  • Synthesize complex modelling outputs into short policy briefs and op-eds targeted for public dissemination, donor engagement and stakeholder influence.
  • Ensure compliance with data governance, licensing and privacy requirements when handling proprietary or sensitive datasets.
  • Participate in tender and procurement processes for external research support, ensuring technical specifications align with organizational standards.
  • Perform periodic reviews of forecasting model performance and implement improvements based on out-of-sample validation and back-testing results.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced macroeconomic theory and applied international economics (trade, FDI, balance of payments, exchange rates).
  • Econometric and statistical modelling expertise (time-series econometrics, panel data, instrumental variables, structural estimation).
  • Practical experience with forecasting frameworks: VAR, DSGE, structural break testing, scenario analysis and stress testing.
  • Proficiency in statistical and programming languages: Stata, R, Python (pandas, statsmodels), MATLAB and EViews.
  • Experience building and calibrating Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models, gravity models for trade and input-output analysis.
  • Strong data management skills: SQL, data wrangling, API usage, web-scraping and constructing large cross-country datasets (WITS, UN Comtrade, IMF, World Bank).
  • Experience with visualization and reporting tools: Tableau, Power BI, R Shiny, ggplot2; ability to produce dashboard-ready outputs for stakeholders.
  • Familiarity with macrofinancial risk assessment tools, sovereign risk indicators and crisis scenario modelling.
  • Knowledge of trade policy frameworks, WTO rules, regional trade agreements and non-tariff measures; ability to interpret legal/negotiation implications.
  • Practical experience using financial and market data platforms: Bloomberg, Refinitiv, Haver Analytics (advantageous).
  • Reproducible research practices: version control with Git, script documentation, unit testing and peer-review workflows.
  • Policy advisory and impact evaluation skills: cost-benefit analysis, difference-in-difference, regression discontinuity and propensity score matching.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional written communication: drafting clear, persuasive policy briefs, technical reports and op-eds for diverse audiences.
  • Strong oral presentation and facilitation skills for high-level briefings, stakeholder dialogues and public events.
  • Strategic thinking and problem solving: translate technical findings into practical policy recommendations and implementation options.
  • Stakeholder engagement and diplomacy: ability to build trust with government officials, donors and private-sector partners across cultures.
  • Project management: prioritize, scope and deliver multiple research streams under tight deadlines and budget constraints.
  • Mentoring and team leadership: develop junior staff technical capacity and foster a collaborative research culture.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to data quality, transparency and reproducibility.
  • Adaptability and intellectual curiosity: keep up with emerging methods (machine learning for economics, big data) and new data sources.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Master's degree in Economics, International Economics, Development Economics, Public Policy, Finance, or equivalent quantitative social science.

Preferred Education:

  • PhD in Economics (International/Applied/Development), or equivalent research experience with a strong publication record.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Economics
  • International Economics / Trade
  • Development Economics
  • Public Policy / Public Finance
  • Applied Statistics / Econometrics
  • Finance (macroeconomic or international finance focus)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–10 years of professional experience in economics roles; mid-level roles typically require 3–5 years, senior roles 6+ years.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of applied international economics experience in multilateral organizations (IMF, World Bank, WTO), central banks, national ministries (finance/trade), international NGOs, or global economic consultancies.
  • Track record of producing published analyses, policy briefs, or peer-reviewed articles; demonstrated success in modelling trade reforms, forecasting and policy advisory.
  • Experience working across emerging markets and developing countries, with familiarity of data limitations and pragmatic modelling choices.
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