Economics Principal Specialist - Corporate Evaluations Cluster Leader

We improve lives

The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.

The Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) is responsible for evaluating all aspects of the IDB Group's work. OVE reports directly to the IDB Group’s Boards of Directors and has a dual objective of improving management’s accountability and learning. OVE independently evaluates the IDB Group’s strategies, policies, programs, activities, delivery support functions, and systems. Its main deliveries include: corporate, country, and thematic evaluations; validations of project-level self-evaluations, which are summarized in OVE’s yearly validation report, and a review of management’s implementation of OVE’s recommendations, which is summarized in the yearly Recommendations Tracking System Report (ReTs). In addition to evaluating IDB Group’s work, OVE supports capacity building on monitoring and evaluation to the staff of public institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). OVE is a member of the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG), a standard-setting platform for independent evaluation in Multilateral Development Bank

About this position

We are looking for an experienced professional with in-depth knowledge of corporate practices, operations, and strategies of the IDB Group, other MDBs, or similarly complex corporate environments to join OVE’s leadership team as the Cluster Leader (CL) responsible to oversee OVE’s corporate evaluation portfolio and supervise the staff of the corporate cluster. OVE’s corporate evaluations focus on the IDB Group’s own structure, strategies, policies, instruments, and internal processes. They assess how these aspects affect the Group’s performance and development effectiveness; and seek to derive improvement recommendations. Examples of corporate evaluations recently delivered by OVE include the IDB Group’s Evaluation of the Development Effectiveness Framework, the Evaluation of Policy-Based Lending at the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Evaluation of IDB Invest.

What you’ll do

• Ensure timely delivery of high-quality corporate evaluations to the IDB Group’s Boards of Directors. Provide overall guidance and quality assurance of OVE corporate evaluations: help the team leaders (TLs) and team members conceptualize the evaluations requested by the IDB Group’s Boards, provide timely feedback to the TLs and the teams through all stages of the evaluation process, revise draft reports and provide inputs to the reports as needed to ensure high quality of deliverables. Work closely with OVE’s Principal Advisor in the design of corporate evaluations.
• Provide leadership to OVE’s corporate cluster. Supervise the staff and research fellows mapped to the corporate cluster: agree on their work programs and results, provide periodic performance feedback to them, and complete their yearly performance assessments. Provide overall guidance and support to corporate cluster staff and research fellows; ensure access to appropriate training resources on relevant corporate issues; hold periodic staff meetings of the corporate cluster.
• As a member of OVE’s leadership team, contribute insights to the discussions on OVE’s overall strategic directions, the definition and implementation of OVE’s work program, management of OVE’s human and financial resources, and the establishment of a productive collaboration with external partners. Participate in the discussions with management and the Board on defining OVE’s work program.
• Collaborate with the members of OVE’s leadership team by providing input to the evaluations managed by other CLs, discussing and agreeing on the allocation of the corporate cluster staff time to evaluations in other clusters, and working jointly with other CLs to address requests by the OVE director. The corporate CL will also participate actively in OVE’s yearly validation of management self-evaluations and will lead OVE’s yearly validation of  action plans to implement OVE’s recommendations.
• Establish a constructive dialogue with the members of the IDB Group’s Boards and with management on the corporate evaluations. Together with OVE’s director and the members of the team of the corporate cluster, engage with the Boards throughout the evaluation cycle. Engage with management at the conceptualization stage of corporate evaluations (pre-approach paper), at the emerging findings stage, and when management reviews the draft reports. Ensure a transparent, constructive dialogue that leads to accountability and mutual learning, while maintaining OVE’s independence from the Boards and management. Engage with relevant centers disseminating good corporate practices, both within the MDB and private spheres.

What you'll need

• PhD or Master’s degree (or equivalent) in economics, social sciences, public policy, business administration or related field and at least 10-15 years of relevant professional experience.
• Excellent track record in leading high-quality complex analytical work or evaluations.  Advanced knowledge of quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, including data science applications. Advanced knowledge of design challenges for corporate evaluations and how to address them. Demonstrated capacity to provide intellectual leadership on evaluation methods relevant to corporate evaluations. Strong practical understanding of designing and conducting rigorous multi-level, multi-site, and theory-based evaluations is a plus. Knowledge and understanding of OVE evaluation products and processes is a plus. Excellent planning, organizational and communication skills (written and oral).
• In-depth understanding of operations and strategies of the IDB, other MDBs, or similarly complex corporate setings. Knowledge of the public and private sector windows of MDBs and experience in leading projects – policy and investment loans, private sector operations, technical cooperations – is an important plus.
• Experience in managing teams, including supervising, coaching, mentoring, fostering collaboration, and empowering team members. Ability to attract, select, and motivate talented and diverse staff. Strong empathy and emotional intelligence.
• Ability to represent OVE within the IDB Group and with external stakeholders and audiences. Ability to operate collaboratively across organizational boundaries and different constituencies, while maintaining independence of judgment, including when facing pressure.
• Proficiency in English required. Additional knowledge of Spanish, French, or Portuguese is a plus. Spanish is highly desirable, so if you are not proficient, we will ask you to commit to learning once you join us, since the skill is essential for long-term success in this role.

Requirements

• Citizenship: You are a citizen of one of our 48-member countries. We may offer assistance with relocation and visa applications for you and your eligible dependents.
• Consanguinity: You have no family members (up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB, IDB Invest, or IDB Lab.

Type of contract and duration

• International: International staff contract, 36 months initially, renewable upon mutual agreement.

What we offer

The IDB group provides benefits that respond to the different needs and moments of an employee's life. These benefits include:

• A competitive compensation package, including an annual base salary expressed on a net-of-tax basis
• Leaves and vacations: 24 days of paid time off + 8 personal days + sick leave + gender- neutral parental leave 
• Health Insurance: IDB Group provides employees and eligible dependents with a robust medical benefits program that covers medical, dental, vision, preventive care, and prescription drugs. 
• Pension plan: defined benefit pension plan that provides financial security and supports employees in planning their future. 
• We offer assistance with relocation and visa applications for you and your family when it applies 
• Hybrid and flexible work schedules 
• Health and well-being:  Access to our Health Services Center which provides preventive care and health education for employees. 
• Development support: We offer tools to boost your professional profile, such as mentoring, 1:1 professional counseling, training and learning opportunities, language classes, mobility options, among others. 
• Other perks: lactation room, daycare center, gym, bike racks, parking, spouse career program, and others.

Our culture

At the IDB, we work so everyone brings their best and authentic selves to work while finding their purpose. Our people consistently strive for excellence, and we recognize and celebrate the impact of their contributions.

In our efforts to drive innovation, we intentionally include all voices, cultivate a sense of belonging and champion fairness. We welcome individuals from underrepresented groups to join us and share their unique perspectives.

We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job interview process. If you require an accommodation to complete this application, please email us at.