Senior Economist

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

- 228817**Salary**:

- £49,960 - £61,530- National - £49,960 - £57,229 / London: £53,682 - £61,530**Grade**:

- Grade 7**Contract type**:

- Fixed Term
- Loan**Length of employment**:

- 12 months**Business area**:

- IFA - Digital and Analytical Services**Type of role**:

- Analytical
- Economist
- Operational Research
- Statistics**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 2WT : Darlington, North East England, DL1 5QE : Manchester, North West England, M1 2WD : City of Westminster, London (region), SW1P 3BTAbout the job

**Summary**:
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is working to transform the skills landscape by improving access to high quality apprenticeships and technical education. You will be part of an organisation that works to help people of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to maximise their potential, contribute to improving social mobility and the UK’s productivity.

We aim to create a great place to work by offering:

- An environment with flexible working options
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- An employer pension contribution of up to 27%
- A generous annual leave allowance up to 30 days after 5 years of service
- A wide variety of staff support networks including access to a Wellbeing Network, BAME Network, and a Diversity and Inclusion Network.

**Job description**:
We are looking for a Senior Economist to join the Research and Analysis team to drive forward an exciting new analytical project funded by the HMT economic innovation data fund. You will explore the flow of money and economic drivers in the apprenticeship system, and review where opportunities lie to address skills mismatches. This project presents a unique opportunity for an outstanding economist to lead this new research to support the future development of the skills system.

The team sits in the Digital and Analytical Services division at The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) and has a range of specialisms including data science, statistics and social research. You will work closely with colleagues across the Digital and Analytical Services Division to produce high quality analysis to inform IfATE's strategic and policy priorities.

You can find out more about the team in the job attachments.

**Responsibilities**:
Your aims will be to increase government understanding of the value and efficiency of apprenticeships and technical education and explore the return on investment for employers. Your analysis will make up the core of a wider piece of work aiming to better understand the outcomes of technical education and apprenticeships. Colleagues from across teams and government will work together to consider the findings and recommend policy interventions to improve outcomes.

The role could include:

- Reviewing and mapping the current apprenticeships and technical education system to understand the flow of money and economic drivers.
- Exploring if we can quantify the benefits for employers, learners and the economy. This could include benefits beyond salary increases such diversity and filling skills shortages.
- Bringing together evidence about skills mismatches, setting out how technical education and apprenticeships currently contribute to these, and model scenarios to reduce mismatch
- Writing clear and concise reports and recommendations based on evidence.
- Working in partnership with other government departments, especially HMT, to understand wider views.
- Managing one HEO Economist, working collaboratively together to set milestones and complete the project.
- Quickly getting up to speed with existing literature and policy

**Person specification**

We are looking for a high performing economist with a record of quickly understanding a policy area and bringing together evidence from a variety of sources to inform decisions. You will need to work collaboratively and be comfortable setting direction for a project and working with short timescales to achieve high quality work.

**Essential skills and experience**
- Experience of economic analysis, with a proven ability to quickly get up-to-speed with a complex policy area
- Experience of using evidence and economic approaches to set out practical business recommendations
- Experience of planning and leading projects through to successful completion of the objectives
- Experience of working collaboratively across stakeholders to understand and meet the needs of multiple customers
- High standards of analytical quality, especially when handling personal or other sensitive data.

**Desirable skills and experience**
- Knowledge of apprenticeships and technical education
- Experience of management of junior economists

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