Lead Economist

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 307395**Salary**:

- £50,238 - £55,997**Job grade**:

- Grade 7**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- MCA - UK Maritime Services**Type of role**:

- Analytical
- Economist
- Policy**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- SouthamptonAbout the job

**Job summary**:
Are you a professional economist with a real passion for providing expert analytical advice, keen to head up a team in a dynamic environment?

Can you communicate efficiently, conveying and translating economic concepts to a variety of audiences?

Would you love the opportunity to influence high profile policies and change?

If so, we'd love to hear from you

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) implements the government's maritime safety and environmental policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea.
- Safer lives, Safer ships, Cleaner seas._

Our vision is to be a world-leading organisation, accelerating the transition to sustainable shipping with non-negotiable safety standards. We put our people, our customers and our planet at the heart of everything we do.

**Job description**:
We have a unique opportunity for an economic professional to join us at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), taking the key role of Lead Economist (Economic Adviser).

The MCA is responsible for regulating the maritime industry and providing emergency assistance to workers and the public to prevent loss of life and mitigate environmental disasters. Located within the UK Maritime Services Directorate (UKMS), the Lead Economist will support the Agency's aims of improving safety and standards within the industry, whilst promoting economic growth.

As the most senior economist in the MCA, the role holder will be overseeing a team to provide robust and influential economic advice to develop and deliver policy effectively within the maritime sector, and to provide leadership across the agency on a wide range of analytical matters.

You will have the opportunity to shape this role and undertake analysis to influence policies aimed at ensuring a safe, sustainable, and internationally competitive maritime sector.

The successful applicant will be the go-to expert within their field, engaging and collaborating with a variety of stakeholders providing representation for the MCA at analytical boards and embedding analytical assurance and economic evaluation throughout the agency. This role carries a lot of autonomy and involvement in senior decision making within the agency and provides direct engagement with external bodies within the regulatory arena.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

- Take lead responsibility for the analytical input on UKMS and Agency wide projects.
- To take lead responsibility for team’s analytical input to Impact Assessments.
- To lead development of an evidence base to deliver robust and economic appraisal.
- Attend DfT's Maritime Analytical Programme Board on behalf of the MCA to input into the wider maritime analytical strategy to represent MCA strategy.

For more information, please refer to the Role Profile attached to this advert.

**Person specification**:
**About You**

We are looking for an Economist professional with a passion and enthusiasm for economics and the ability to thrive working flexibly in a fast-paced project environment where priorities can change rapidly as needs dictate.

You will be a quick thinker and able to hold your own during challenging conversations, establishing yourself as a trusted adviser with the credibility to influence and provide guidance and robust recommendations agency wide. You will thrive on the level of autonomy that this role provides and will be committed, innovative and driven, leading your team from the front.

You will confidently engage to build positive working relationships with analytical colleagues and internal and external industry partners, promoting positive change, identifying best practice, and instilling a culture of using analysis, assurance and evidence-based decision making across the organisation.

This post is open to Government Economic Service members, and applicants who aspire to join the profession, hence the academic requirements of the role are that you will need have a first or upper second-class honours degree in economics (or international equivalent), or a postgraduate degree in economics. If it is a joint degree, at least 50% of the course modules must be in economics.

You will be supported in acquiring membership once in post.

**Additional Information**:
This role will be based in the Southampton HQ. MCA supports flexible working and operates a hybrid working model between home and office for this role, giving you greater flexibility over where and when you work. Details of