The Research Department of the ILO belongs to the portfolio of the Deputy Director General for Policy. The Research Department is charged with generating knowledge and insights that are relevant in supporting ILO member states and constituents in creating more and better jobs and achieving decent work for social justice and human well-being.

Major research programmes currently implemented at the Research Department focus on the future of work, covering a wide range of relevant themes related to  new technologies, innovation and jobs; capabilities to innovate, diversification and structural transformation;  global production systems; inequality; skills, training and talent management; enterprises and the future of jobs; green economy.

In addition, the Research Department produces a number of annual reports, with the World Economic and Social Outlook as one of the ILO’s flagship reports.

The Research Department contributes to developing and implementing the Strategic Policy Framework of the ILO.

The Junior Professional will contribute to the programme on new technologies, productive transformation and jobs. This work program is based on the insight that sustained and inclusive growth and the creation of decent work is a complex, non-linear process that involves technological, economic and societal transformation processes, and these processes are closely interlinked. The challenge for policy makers is to promote such processes. However, we still need to improve our understanding of the forces and principles that drive such transformative processes for the creation of more and better jobs and achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Against this background, the Research Department has launched a research project. In a first step, a new framework for analysis of job-creating transformation processes. This framework takes an innovative approach as it discusses capabilities of societies as major factors shaping the patterns and dynamics of economic transformation processes.  These capabilities are embodied in the social knowledge base.

We are now entering the second phase of the research project in order to empirically test this framework and to provide evidence from country studies. Country studies will help to understand how the particular knowledge base of societies has shaped the opportunities and limits of enterprises and economies to adopt to new technologies, innovate, diversify and shape the patterns of structural transformation. The aim of this research is to develop instruments, tools  and methodologies which ILO constituents can apply to assess their capabilities to innovate, and undertake a diagnostics of the feasible range of products the country could potentially develop, given the country-specific knowledge base.

Capabilities to innovate differ widely across societies, and therefore, policy makers aiming at transforming their economies need to understand how to build up new capabilities om societies and to align these policies  with industrial, investment, science and innovation policies that creates new industries and jobs. 

The Junior Professional will closely collaborate with the coordinator of the research program, and will contribute to designing, planning, implementing and backstopping country studies. Moreover, each of these studies will be published in 2019 and a conference will be organised to present the studies at the end of 2019 in the context of ILO’s centennial celebrations.

The Junior Professional will contribute to this work programme by participating in each element of the program cycle, thus having the opportunities to gain a wide set of different skills and competences:

• Prepare country background papers and desktop studies to set the scene for each of the country studies
• Undertake data analysis using data sets provided by ILO, international organisations and member countries
• Participate in the drafting of concept notes, Terms of references and design of country studies 
• Identifying high quality researchers and collaborators to put together a research team
• Assist in the coordination and communication with external research partners.
• Participate in missions to present and discuss research with constituents
• Provide comments to the draft country studies and research reports provided by external collaborators.
• Assist in organising workshops, seminars and symposia to discuss research findings and disseminate the studies
• Contribute to the drafting of a synthesise report
• Participate in design and draft of ILO policy briefs

Undertake other duties and activities as may be assigned by the supervisor

The JPO will perform the assignment as part of a research network. The project will be implemented in collaboration with colleagues from different departments within the ILO, with country and regional offices of ILO, with other international organisation and with universities and research institutes.

Please see the following links for more information:

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/sdg-2030/goal-8/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_315681/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/global/research/publications/working-papers/WCMS_544189/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_534201.pdf

https://iloblog.org/2017/05/02/on-new-technologies-and-the-dynamics-of-job-creation/

TRAINING COMPONENTS AND LEARNING ELEMENTS

Training will be provided in the work process through guidance, discussion and feedback by the supervisor and interaction with experts.

The JPO will participate in seminars and workshops as well as in international conferences.

The JPO is encouraged to participate in formal training courses organised by the ILO, e.g. to improve drafting skills, negotiation skills, language skills etc.

Learning elements:

• Become familiar with ILO’s mandate.
• Learn about ILO’s tripartite institutional structure, cooperation between Headquarter and the Field.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of new approaches and frameworks developed by ILO to study job creation and employment, and the role of new technologies, innovation, institutions and policies in creating jobs.
• Learn to translate research findings into policy advice and policy briefs to inform policy makers.
• Learn to work with ILO constituents in developing countries to enhance their knowledge and capacities for policy design.

• Good communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Capacity to work on own initiative as well as cooperate as a team member.
• Capacity and willingness to learn, develop expertise and to think creatively
• The ability to work in a multicultural environment in which gender-sensitive behaviour and attitudes are also required.

Education

Advanced degree (master or PhD) in economics, development economics, business, technology, innovation, or social science.

Work experience

• At least four years of experience at the national or international level undertaking applied research or related activities in areas such as development economics, structural transformation, trade, political economy, technological change, training, institutional change, societal change.
• Work experience in a developing country would be an advantage.

Skills required for the assignment

• Strong analytical and research skills;
• Ability to prepare high quality and technically sound reports and publications;
• Ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal forms;
• Ability to initiate activities;
• Ability to work as a member of an international team;
• Ability to analyse national practices and data sets in the technical field;
• Good computer skills for data analysis, word processing, Excel, Powerpoint, STATA;
• Econometric skills would be an advantage.

Languages

• Excellent command of English, and proficiency and ability to communicate and draft clearly;
• Good knowledge of Spanish, French or Arabic.