Principal Economist

The Role

We are looking for two Principal Economists to join the Chief Economists Team. The CET reports directly to the Chief Executive of Ofwat and plays an important role across all areas of Ofwat's work. It leads on the economic input into a number of strategic work programmes, such as developing our future regulatory strategy, mergers and competition work, one-off research/analytical pieces as well as leading on our approach to impact assessments and evaluation. It also supports other teams across Ofwat, for example by scrutinising the decisions on price reviews, supporting teams focused on developing markets and supporting regulatory policy development across several areas such as the environment, customers and innovation.

The Principal Economist will have responsibility for leading on key areas of CET's work by providing rigorous economic thinking and advice to inform our policies and help Ofwat deliver its strategic objectives. We are looking for candidates with excellent analytical skills, significant experience in regulatory economics, and experience managing the design, development and delivery of economic projects.

In this role you will be expected to:

• Lead on the delivery of economic and/or quantitative analysis projects.
• Provide economic advice on economic and/or quantitative issues across areas at Ofwat.
• Develop economic frameworks to assess policy options.
• Make recommendations to improve our regulatory approach.
• Assess the impact of our policies and interventions.
• Present economic analysis to colleagues internally and stakeholders externally.
• Draft reports and publications to a high standard. Manage and develop senior associate economists and graduate economists.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need the following essential attributes, experience, skills and knowledge:

• Significant knowledge of microeconomics and regulatory economics [Lead Criterion]
• An undergraduate degree in economics or a discipline with significant economic content
• Excellent analytical skills including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions on complex problems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
• Significant experience in applying economic analysis in economic regulation and/or competition policy and an understanding of the benefits they can deliver for customers.
• Experience of managing the design, development, and delivery of economic projects, including through leadership of multi-disciplinary teams
• Experience of building constructive working relationships and engaging with internal and external stakeholders.

Why join us?

We are forward-thinking, creative, innovative and ambitious. We actively encourage autonomy, collaboration and innovation and we have a unique culture fostered by trust, flexibility and respect.

With us, your work matters, your voice is heard, and your impact is felt. Ours is a culture of trust, flexibility, autonomy, collaboration, and innovation. We all want positive change for water customers, the environment, and the future of water.

But for us, change is more than what happens on the outside – we’ve always pushed boundaries internally, too. From becoming the first Civil Service organisation to achieve ‘Smarter Working’ status, to gaining our prestigious ‘Smarter Working Maturity’ award, we’ve consistently demonstrated our commitment to embracing innovative ways of working. We know our people do their best work when given freedom over where, when, and how they work. Which is why we trust them to do exactly that.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions for this role ranging from £15,350 to £25,400 annually
• 27.5 days leave (25 days annual leave + 2.5 days privilege leave) increasing to max 32.5 days with each year of service), plus bank holidays
• Access to exclusive discounts on a range of goods and services such as retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance and gym membership
• Flexible working arrangements
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for travel between home and office
• Regular professional development including funded certifications
• Health and well-being initiatives

Please follow the link for further details and to make your application. If you have any questions then you may contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.

Application deadline 04.02.24 at 23:55