Principal Economist

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Job Description:

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 13 April, and therefore we advise getting your application in by no later than midnight on Sunday 12 April.

About the team you’ll be part of
 

Ofcom’s Economics and Analytics Group is a dynamic team of around 120 applied microeconomists, econometricians, behavioural economists, data analysts and finance experts.
 

As experts in evidence, we help Ofcom by providing thought leadership, technical and sector expertise, and the economic and financial insights to shape policy and decisions.
 

We work across all sectors regulated by Ofcom, often going beyond traditional telecoms and broadcasting regulation. Recent work includes setting out our plans for implementation of the Online Safety Act, our proposals for regulating fixed telecoms markets, enabling access to space spectrum for satellite connectivity, and supporting the Competition and Markets Authority in its investigation of the  Vodafone/Three merger. We also actively contribute to economic debates in the communications sector through published discussion papers.
 

About the role
 

We are looking for applicants with expertise and an ability to lead in one or more of the following specialisms:
 

• Competition and regulatory economics: assess markets and consumer issues, and shape developments in Ofcom’s regulated sectors.

• Policy Evaluation: design policies and evaluate their impact and outcomes.

• Econometrics: design research projects and analyse data using methods for policy evaluation (e.g., Difference-in-Difference, RDD, etc.), empirical industrial organization, or a combination of machine learning with econometrics.

• Behavioural economics: expertise in behavioural economics to help inform policy making, including developing primary research and summarising existing evidence. 
   

At Ofcom, we value your well-being and provide an environment that fosters both personal and professional growth.

You will get the opportunity to:
 

• Collaborate with teams of economists, data analysts, policy professionals, market researchers, technologists and lawyers on diverse and stimulating projects across a broad range of sectors.

• Apply economic expertise to address challenging questions, often leveraging data and cutting-edge quantitative analysis.

• Make a real impact on society while achieving a healthy work-life balance.
   

Your Key Responsibilities
 

As a Principal, and senior member within the team, you will (depending on your specialism):
 

• Lead teams of economists and data analysts that are integral to Ofcom projects.

• Provide high-quality economic analysis, including anticipating and considering counter-arguments or different points of view and providing the overall direction for analysis and the strategic approach on projects.

• Be confident in managing other economists across several projects and workstreams concurrently.

• Potentially be exposed to results for economic models or the results of econometric models and be able to interpret these accordingly.

• Support teams to produce clear, well-reasoned drafts of documents, including for publication.

• Communicate economic issues convincingly when attending team meetings, governance meetings and meetings with our stakeholders.

• Be integral to the leadership, motivation and development of the Economics and Analytics Group, together with your fellow Principals and Directors.

The skills, knowledge and experience you’ll need for success
 

Essential skills:
 

• A solid foundation in applied microeconomics gained through training in the relevant specialisms (e.g. competition economics, regulation economics, industrial organisation, public economics and/or quantitative skills).

• Extensive experience applying economic concepts in real-world scenarios across a range of projects in consultancy, regulator, competition or consumer authority, government department, academia, research institute or regulated company.

• You may also have significant experience in econometrics or behavioural economics.

• A degree in economics. A postgraduate qualification is desirable but not essential.

Behavioural skills:
 

• Articulating Ideas: A great communicator with the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment. You will be able to apply economic concepts to unfamiliar situations and be capable of communicating and simplifying these concepts effectively, both orally and in writing.

• Executing Plans: Adept with project management and able to effectively plan and organise economics analysis, including identifying work streams and coordinating resources efficiently. You’ll use thought leadership and be able to use new and creative approaches and frameworks.

• Empowering Development: You’ll have experience of, or demonstrate the aptitude for, coaching and mentoring less senior colleagues to get the best out of your team.

Inclusivity Statement

Ofcom has a clear mission: to make communications work for everyone.  To be able to deliver on this, we want our organisation to reflect the diversity of background, experience, upbringing and thought that exists across the UK.  We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability. We also warmly welcome applicants who are returning to the workforce after a break – for whatever reason. If you have taken time away and are ready to rejoin, we look forward to reviewing your application.

Where positions are listed as full-time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares, and other flexible working options. From day one, we champion flexible work arrangements to accommodate individual needs. You can read more about our Rewards, Benefits and Well-being on our careers page.

Our recruitment processes prioritise accessibility and inclusivity. If you need adjustments, information in an alternative format, or prefer to apply in a different way, please contact us at [email protected] or call 0330 912 1378.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we offer interviews to disabled applicants who meet essential criteria for advertised roles. Learn more about this scheme here.  https://careers.ofcom.org.uk/careers/how-we-hire/