Head Of Economic Appraisal And Fiscal Events

The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Strategy and Delivery team is a multidisciplinary team (Statisticians, Social Researchers, Performance Analysts and Economists) sitting at the heart of all that we do in the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate in the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) to secure accountability and learning. Digital is a large area of spend for DBT year on year. As DBT's spend on DDaT is larger every year, developing a comprehensive M&E programme to understand what works, what does not work and why, is paramount. The team is the first step in creating and delivering an M&E Strategy for all DDaT products and services. The team is setting up the framework for key performance indicators, undertaking bespoke holistic evaluations and the measurement of HMT compliant Value for Money (VfM) to support Fiscal Events. This is vital to understanding how the resources are being used, support the continuous learning and understand the economic impact. The team’s aim is to fulfil the ambition reflected in a recent National Audit Office review which highlighted that DBT’s digital services do not yet provide the export support that some businesses need. Through embedding comprehensive M&E the team will support the continuous improvement of Digital products and services.  

About the role

As a Grade 7 Economist, you will devise the programme of work to ensure there is an appropriate measure of Value for Money (VfM) to cover all digital products and services in DBT (Business Support, Exports, Investment, Market Access, Corporate Enablers etc.) The VfM approaches to be deployed will align with existing evidence and approaches in the Department and therefore will need to work very closely with performance analysts in DDaT and with analysts in the wider DBT Analysis Group. You will design the work programme, will identify key gaps in the evidence and analysis, and make informed recommendations. You will also oversee the delivery of VfM which will combine the evidence on products (qualitative / quantitative) and economic impact where available. Where Green Book VfM may not be appropriate, the role holder will look to measure Governmental Digital Service (GDS) key performance metrics. You will also work very closely with the G7 M&E Leads across the DDaT areas of work to identify and address gaps on economic impact measures. Securing an effective ROAMEF cycle for each product and service will be an important aspect of the work. To achieve this, developing the right relationships and governance for the transmission of evidence and the enabling of a culture of continuous learning for the development and delivery of digital products. The G7 will line manage one or two analysts, normally economists or statisticians.

Responsibilities

• Devising a methodology for the measurement of Value for Money (VfM) in often difficult areas with little existing evidence base, requiring some creativity in approach and an application of the first principles

• Rapid responses to requests from senior stakeholders and Cabinet Office that will often require liaising with performance analysts
• Working with development teams to embed the right data collection to inform VfM calculations
• Contribution to Fiscal Events and appraisal to support business cases
• Working closely with other analytical teams to keep abreast with latest evidence and approaches to VfM measurement
• Embed new Behavioural Insights approaches and support AB testing
• Support M&E leads with gathering/analysing data
• Contribute to appraisal of AI projects