E T Consultant
Job #:
req39071
Organization:
World Bank
Sector:
Other
Grade:
EC2
Term Duration:
1 year 0 months
Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment
Location:
Washington, DC,United States
Required Language(s):
English
Preferred Language(s):
English
Closing Date:
11/4/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Description
The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG)'s mission is to improve the World Bank Group (WBG) development results through excellence in evaluation. IEG is responsible for the assessment of the relevance, efficacy, and efficiency of WBG operational policies, programs and activities, and their contribution to development effectiveness. IEG's evaluations aim to enhance accountability and learning to inform the formulation of new (and course corrections of ongoing) core work of the WBG. For more information, visit www.ieg.worldbank.org.
IEG's organizational structure comprises: The Office of the Director General, Evaluation (IEGDG) which includes the Methods Advisory Function (IEGMA); the Human Development and Economic Management Department (IEGHE); the Finance, Private Sector and Sustainable Development Department (IEGSP); and the Knowledge and Communications Department (IEGKC). Through the VP and Director General of Evaluation (DGE), IEG reports directly to the Board of Executive Directors.
IEG's Methods and Data team was established in 2016 to help deepen the quality and credibility of IEG's evaluation work. Since then, the team has focused its work in four areas: (1) Advising IEG evaluation teams on developing and implementing the most appropriate evaluation design to address specific evaluation questions; (2) Researching cutting-edge evaluation methodologies and experimenting with data science and AI in the practice of evaluation; and (3) Supporting the development of evaluation skills among IEG staff and the broader evaluation community via training and knowledge-sharing.
The Data Scientist (AI Specialist) will be responsible for supporting the development, deployment, and maintenance of AI-powered web applications for evaluation, following guidance provided by IEGMA and in collaboration with World Bank Group Information and Technology Solutions department (ITS). This role sits at the intersection of evaluation methodology, data science, and software engineering and involves collaborating with IEG units, WBG ITS and vendors to execute tasks associated with designing, building, operationalizing, and improving these tools. This is a full stack software engineering role involving end-to-end development across UI and APIs, including cloud deployment to build reliable, secure, scalable, and maintainable products.
Duties and Accountabilities
Responsibilities and skills include, but are not limited to the following:
• Support the development, deployment, maintenance, monitoring, and refinement of AI-powered web applications that conform to IEG and WBG requirements for responsible AI use.
• Develop and manage the applications' cloud resources and environment (e.g., Azure), in coordination with WBG ITS.
• Implement end-to-end features, including front-end user interfaces, back-end services, and data integrations, within WBG ITS environment constraints.
• Implement back-end logic and robust APIs to support front-end functionality and integration with AI/ML services and data pipelines.
• Deploy applications in the cloud, including configuring environments, secrets, and release processes in coordination with WBG ITS.
• Operate, maintain, and continuously improve the applications, including performance optimization, reliability enhancements, and secure dependency updates.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for deployed applications, including diagnosing issues using logs/telemetry and coordinating fixes with WBG ITS as needed.
• Apply software engineering best practices to ensure applications are secure, scalable, and maintainable (e.g., access control, secure coding, dependency management, and appropriate architecture patterns).
• Develop and maintain automated tests (unit and integration) and participate in code review to ensure quality, reliability, and performance.
• Implement and improve CI/CD pipelines and application observability (logging, monitoring, alerting) to support reliable releases and operations.
• Set up queries to monitor usage of the tools and provide reports to IEGMA.
• Gather user feedback and iterate on application design and functionalities based on this feedback.
• Document codebase, processes, and functionalities for future reference and training purposes.
• Participate in regular team meetings and provide updates on project progress in notes and presentations.
Selection Criteria
• Master's degree in computer science or related technical disciplines such as software / computer engineering, information systems / technology, or data science.
• Strong familiarity with AI/ML concepts (e.g., NLP, LLMs) and frameworks (e.g., PyTorch).
• Demonstrated experience in building and deploying production web applications in the cloud, including designing services/APIs, integrating data sources, and meeting security and performance requirements.
• Excellent knowledge of cloud computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence platforms, frameworks, models, and techniques.
• Excellent Python programming skills and experience with back-end development in Python (e.g., FastAPI).
• Proficiency with modern front-end development (HTML/CSS/JavaScript and a framework such as React; TypeScript preferred).
• At least five (5) years of prior work experience as a full stack developer building, deploying, maintaining, and scaling cloud applications (Azure preferred).
• Experience integrating AI/ML components (e.g., calling model endpoints, RAG pipelines, or search) is an advantage; preference for experience with Azure.
• Knowledge of WBG ITS policies and procedures.
• Knowledge and experience of working on complex data science / data engineering applications within WBG ITS environment.
WBG Culture Attributes:
1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.
