WBG Pioneer - Trade Intern

The Trade Policy and Facilitation Unit (WKPTT) at the World Bank is seeking a Trade Intern to support analytical and technical assistance work on trade-related issues in low- and middle-income countries. The intern will focus on advancing the unit's capacity to analyze regulatory texts using AI, machine learning, and data-driven approaches.

Responsibilities

• Support the unit’s analytical work on trade policy reform and trade facilitation agenda, focusing on non-tariff measures (NTMs), regulatory alignment, and quality infrastructure (QI).
• Provide substantive technical inputs to analytics and policy advice.
• Contribute to knowledge dissemination through reports, policy notes, and inputs to engagement with government counterparts and development partners.
• Review relevant literature on data-driven and AI approaches to regulatory text analysis with a focus on non-tariff measures.
• Develop a template and set of good practices to guide country-level regulatory analysis using data-driven and AI methods.
• Contribute to the development of the unit's trade and trade-related regulatory data products.
• Support the preparation of analytical outputs, including data visualizations, background notes, and report sections.

Requirements

• Currently enrolled in, or in the final year of, a postgraduate program (master's or PhD); PhD candidates preferred.
• Between 0 and 6 years of relevant professional experience.
• Academic background aligned with the requirements of this role.
• Demonstrated interest in international development and the World Bank Group's mission.
• Strong analytical, research, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with trade data and familiarity with trade and trade-related policy databases, including tariff data and other measures affecting trade.
• Proven expertise in applying machine learning and other data-driven approaches to the organization and analysis of textual data, using Python or R.
• Solid understanding of AI model capabilities and limitations, including the ability to select the right tool for a given task and make informed choices between open-source and proprietary models based on performance, cost, and data sensitivity.
• Practical experience building AI-assisted workflows for regulatory text analysis, including configuring AI agents with the right context and instructions to produce reliable, verifiable, and reproducible outputs.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English; proficiency in additional languages is an asset depending on assignment location.
• Ability to work effectively in diverse, collaborative, team-based environments.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.

Skills

• Trade Data Analysis
• Trade Policy Analysis
• Tariff Data Management
• Machine Learning
• Textual Data Analysis
• Python Programming
• R Programming
• AI Model Evaluation
• AI Workflow Development
• Regulatory Text Analysis
• Data-Driven Approaches
• Analytical Research
• Problem Solving
• Technical Assistance
• Written Communication
• Verbal Communication
• Organizational Skills

Languages

English