Junior Economist

Background

With the financial support of the Gates Foundation, GDN is implementing a global research programme on the Economics of Open Transaction Networks (OTN). The programme aims to develop economic theories around open transaction networks and their development impacts, and to test them empirically in a number of low- and middle-income countries.

The programme brings together:

• GDN economists and invited senior economists, led by the President of GDN.
  
• A Scientific Advisory Committee of global experts on OTN and digital public infrastructure.
  
• National research teams implementing comparative empirical projects across countries and sectors.
  

Position Summary

GDN seeks to recruit a Junior Economist to support the economics work of the OTN programme and to contribute to GDN's wider research portfolio and institutional partnerships. The Junior Economist will work closely with the GDN economists, the invited senior economists, the Senior Programme Manager, and the wider programme team. The programme’s theory work does not assume that candidates already know the work in OTN.

Key Responsibilities

• National research team support and quality control
  

• Hold regular meetings with each national research team to track progress against milestones, discuss methodological issues, and surface obstacles early.
  
• Review research plans, draft analyses, and final outputs, providing technical feedback that brings the work to programme standard.
  
• Coordinate inputs from the senior economists and the Scientific Advisory Committee on country-specific questions, and liaise with national teams, institutional contacts, and data partners.
  

• OTN implementations and methodology guide
  

• Monitor and track the OTN implementations under study, and liaise with platform operators and protocol bodies to identify and coordinate the data needed to support the research.
  
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of the OTN methodology guide, and to the early-stage workshop for the selected national teams.
  

• Cross-country synthesis and empirical analysis
  

• Build the analytical infrastructure for the cross-country synthesis and contribute to its drafting.
  
• Conduct empirical analysis on transaction data and aggregated platform data, drawing on the OTN white paper and the literature on digital public infrastructure, platforms, and open networks.
  

• Wider GDN research and partnerships
  

• Contribute to GDN's research projects and institutional partnerships, supporting follow-up and implementation of committed deliverables where empirical or coordination input is needed.
  
• Contribute to the development of project proposals and concept notes for GDN's wider research and partnership work.
  

Desired Profile

Education and Experience

• Strong training in economics. Candidates with a Master's degree in economics and relevant applied experience, or recent PhD graduates are encouraged to apply. A doctorate is not a requirement for this role.
  
• Demonstrated experience in applied empirical research, ideally in applied microeconomics, industrial organisation, development economics, or digital markets.
  
• Experience coordinating with researchers, advisors, and partner organisations is valued.
  

Preferred Skills

• Proficiency in R, Stata, or Python, with experience handling administrative or transaction-level data.
  
• Ability to write clearly and communicate economic concepts clearly through concise notes, tables, and figures.
  
• Ability to work well in a collaborative, multi-cultural environment and deliver reliably against timelines.
  

Application Procedure

Interested candidates are invited to submit the following documents on GDN’s Application Portal:

• An updated CV
  
• A cover letter detailing your qualifications, experience, and salary expectations
  
• Contact details of at least three professional references
  

Please specify the earliest date you can join. GDN aims to fill the position on priority; therefore, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The deadline for applications is Sunday, 19 July 2026.

Global Development Network is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.