Principal Economics Consultant

Location/s: London or Birmingham, UK
Recruiter contact: Andrea Gaffney

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. 

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual. 

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you're surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the business unit  
The Buildings Unit (BLD) has a major presence in Mott MacDonald's regional offices throughout the UK and mainland Europe, providing a wide range of diverse and transferable cross-sector skills across five key Sectors; Advisory, Built Environment, Energy, Transportation and Water. We also provide local services to customers and technical leadership to the rest of the Group in these sectors.

About Cities Studio

This role sits within Mott MacDonald's Cities Studio team. Cities Studio brings together economists, planners, and urban designers to deliver integrated urban development solutions that help communities and businesses thrive. Based in London, we work on high-profile projects across the UK and internationally, covering:

• Economic development strategy and policy
• Town centre and urban regeneration
• Transport hubs and transit-oriented development
• Mixed-use neighbourhoods and urban quarters
• 'Campus-style' developments for healthcare, education, and industry

About Place Economics 
Place Economists are an integral part of Cities Studio. Our Place Economists provide public and private sector clients with business cases, economic strategies, funding advice, and impact assessments to support development schemes. Crucially, they also collaborate with spatial planning teams on viability, funding, and growth strategies—bringing together our economics and design offer for our clients.

Overview of the role
Due to the expansion of Cities Studio, we are seeking a Senior / Principal Economics Consultant to support our growing team. You will lead and deliver projects, manage small teams, and contribute to business development. This role offers significant career progression, including opportunities to develop technical expertise and move into leadership positions.

You will work across a wide range of projects in many sectors, which could include: economic strategy and policy advice; evidence reviews for regional, town and neighbourhood-based spatial planning; business case advice; socio-economic impact analysis; and developing quantitative and qualitative research tools and further developing our existing models.

Your responsibilities will include the following technical, project management and team management responsibilities. You may not have experience across all technical activities, as we recognise you may have a specific focus within the portfolio.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Collaborate with planners and designers on place-based strategies
• Manage and further develop our evidence-based research to support strategies, regeneration, and development programmes
• Develop and deliver economic and financial appraisals, Five-Case business cases, feasibility studies and impact assessments
• Provide economic development strategy advice
• Manage projects, budgets, and client relationships including day-to-day contact and project management
• Lead proposal development and tender responses
• Mentor junior colleagues and support team growth
• Designing and facilitating workshops with diverse disciplines and senior stakeholders
• Produce technical and narrative-led reports, action plans, and presentations

Candidate specification

• Bachelors Degree in Economics, Economic Development, Finance, Geography, Social Science, Urban Planning, or related field (Masters degree desirable)
• Experience working in similar roles, most likely within a multi-disciplinary or specialist place economics consultancy, or the public sector
• Project experience in the fields of fields of economic development, regeneration, transit-oriented development, placemaking or similar fields
• Familiarity with HM Treasury Green Book and Five-Case Business Cases (BBC Practitioner desirable)
• A strong personal and professional interest in socio-economic and urban development
• Experience in economic strategy, policy, business cases, and appraisal
• Proven project management and business development experience
• Strong analytical skills, including financial modelling and/or GIS
• Knowledge of land use economics and property development

Our team works in offices across the country, so you should be comfortable in a hybrid (in-person and virtual) working environment. You should be analytical and approach projects with creative solutions.

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UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working  

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years' service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

 Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.