Senior Economist

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

- 228512**Salary**:

- £46,660 - £57,348**Grade**:

- Grade 7**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- OFQUAL - Chief Regulator's Office**Type of role**:

- Economist
- Other**Working pattern**:

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

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Coventry, West Midlands (England), CV1 3BHAbout the job

**Summary**:
Ofqual is the independent qualifications regulator for England. We currently regulate 200 + awarding organisations, and approx. 11,600 certified qualifications. These include GCSEs, AS and A levels, and a broad range of vocational and technical qualifications. Regulating on behalf of students of all ages and apprentices is central to how we fulfil our statutory objectives.

Over the last nine years, general qualifications in England - GCSEs, AS and Levels - have been overhauled to ensure that they compare with the best in the world. Technical qualifications and apprenticeships are now undergoing a similar programme of reform, with the introduction of the new T Levels at the forefront of this.

The team you will join has responsibility for providing risk identification and management services in respect of our regulated market; and therefore we are looking for an experienced economist who can contribute to that responsibility through the use of economic concepts, theories and analytical techniques.

**Job description**:
You will take the lead in providing insight and advice for developing our regulatory approach, including regulatory burden and wider economic regulatory principles which will also include overseeing, gathering and submitting our legislative reporting requirements for regulatory burden.

You will work to support competition in the qualification market through the design and delivery of regulatory tools with a focus on price transparency.

You'll be comfortable moving between operational and strategic work and be encouraged and expected to contribute your expertise and insights into an eclectic range of work. This means you'll be in a high-profile role and involved in work linked to each of Ofqual's directorates as well as our Senior Management Group.

**Duties and responsibilities to include, but is not limited to**:

- Providing expertise and objective advice to help facilitate the development of Ofqual as a trusted source of economic and market analysis of the qualifications sector to establish Ofqual as an effective and credible regulator
- Contributing to the development, organisational integration and implementation of a strategic approach to regulation to support the achievement of Ofqual’s statutory objectives
- Leading on the development of a framework/model for assessing the how well qualification market is working pulling together key market, financial and economic intelligence and information that will proactively enable Ofqual to assess the risk of market failure and to inform Ofqual’s overall approach to risk-based regulation
- Being a source of expertise that analyses, evaluates and uses evidence and economic theory to provide advice on economic issues to contribute to policy development across Ofqual’s functions and in doing so contribute to Ofqual’s duties on regulatory burden
- Leading and planning investigations and research activities on the efficiency of qualifications markets, including where relevant undertaking studies to evaluate whether the fees charged for specific qualifications represent value for money, in order to help secure Ofqual’s statutory efficiency objective
- Supporting wider work undertaken by the Risk & Markets team to help secure the achievement of team objectives
- Leading on work with the Office of Fair Trading to address competition complaints relating to the sector. Creating and maintaining effective working relationships with colleagues and external stakeholders
- Leading on the design and production of reports, consultation documents and other communications for use to articulate economic regulatory issues and concepts internally and externally
- Identifying and co-ordinate appropriate staff and finances to ensure delivery of the above responsibilities
- Engaging in effective Continuing Professional Development in line with GES standards
- To perform any other reasonable duties as directed by line management

Ofqual is a rewarding, dynamic place to work. We offer employees the opportunity to develop within their role and progress through the organisation via a number of Learning and Development opportunities and activities.

**Responsibilities**:
**Qualifications**:

- Level 6 qualification (or international equivalent) with at least 50% economics content in each of the final two years, or a Postgraduate Diploma (or equivalent) in Economics or a Master degree in economics.**Behaviours**:
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

- Seeing th