(977) Senior Economic Statistician – ESD needed at South African Reserve Bank

Detailed description

The successful candidate will be responsible for the following key performance areas:

• Provide guidance on the strategic focus areas for the department and strengthen oversight on the implementation of initiatives across the statistical value chain.
• Identify strategic challenges, opportunities and priorities for the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) from own analysis of current domestic and global economic activity and research findings.
• Conduct research and analysis to inform policy formulation, set research priorities, guide other Economic Statisticians in their research and report writing, and lead internal and external engagements. 
• Ensure the accuracy of all relevant short-term economic indicators and disciplines covered in the Quarterly Bulletin and integrate analysis across all areas of the economy.
• Contribute to the quality assurance of all relevant statistical data publications.
• Participate in the design and development of new statistical datasets and indicators on emerging issues, including data gap initiatives. 
• Work to enhance the systems, processes and tools used to compile and visualise statistics in the area of work.
• Lead team engagements within and across teams/divisions to examine and reconcile data, findings, insights, explanations and recommendations from research and analysis.
• Review draft reports analysing short-term economic activity in the South African economy.
• Conduct and explain methodological research and analysis on short-term changes in economic indicators and complex economic phenomena affecting monetary policy. 
• Oversee research on methodological practices, make improvement recommendations, mentor Economic Statisticians, prepare case studies and run seminars or learning circles internally and externally.
• Lead internal evaluations of methodologies and continuous improvement of research or statistical methodologies and practices.
• Apply knowledge and professional judgement of statistical process, methodologies and technologies used nationally and internationally and communicate this understanding to stakeholders to ensure the establishment of fit-for-purpose outputs.
• Prepare and present documentation/presentations to senior management and other professional platforms focused on statistics compilation, research findings and policy implications, and contribute to the development of national and international statistical standards, classifications and frameworks. 
• Maintain a broad learning perspective and identify emerging trends and themes across all economic fields.

Job requirements

To be considered for this position, candidates must be in possession of:

• a Master’s degree in Economics and/or Statistics or an equivalent postgraduate qualification;
• 8 to 10 years’ experience in an economics and/or statistical environment; and
• a PhD or the ability to programme in R and/or Python and related open-source software would be an added advantage.