Head of Economics

**Date**:17 Jul 2025

**Location**: London, GB

**Company**:Civil Aviation Authority

**Head of Economics**

**Salary**:£90,000 up to £105,000 dependent upon experience**

**Contract Type**:Permanent, Full-time (Part-time or FTC available)**

**Security Level: BPSS**

**Visa Restrictions: This position does not offer visa sponsorship.**

We are the UK's aviation and aerospace regulator and recognised as a world leader in its field. Our activities are diverse, enabling the aviation industry to meet the highest safety standards, and we pride ourselves on our ability to adapt to the constantly evolving aviation environment.

**The role**

The Economic Regulation and Competition Policy (ERCP) team is a vital part of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Consumers and Markets Group (CMG). It protects consumers by ensuring that airports and air traffic service (ATS) providers do not exploit their market position, oversees the CAA’s competition responsibilities and provides economics input and support to the CAA’s wider policies and initiatives. The team is responsible for the economic regulation of Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL), Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) and the monopoly air traffic services provider for the UK, NATS (En Route) Plc (NERL). Understanding the impact of policy options and our actions is essential in ensuring we protect the interests of consumers, while enabling wider aviation policy.

We are looking for a highly experienced economist to play a key role in leading significant elements of our work in the regulation of airports and ATS, and economic analysis input to programmes across the CAA. Reporting to a Programme Director, as the Head of Economics, you will manage the work of economists and policy experts in the team to assess key policy issues, as well as overseeing the commission and delivery of work by consultants. This includes work on our key price control programmes, including airport capacity expansion.

This role is permanent and offers the opportunity for professional development, through working within a highly experienced team, directly influencing and engaging with senior leaders, and working across a wide variety of high profile and interesting economic and policy issues.

We understand that work-life balance is key and would be happy to consider those seeking part time work and/or a job share as well as those seeking a full-time role. We operate (and are committed to) a hybrid working model, with the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. The team currently requires attendance in the office around one and half days per week for full-time employees (pro rata for part time colleagues) on average and we will keep this under review based on team needs.

**Core accountabilities**

The Head of Economics will be responsible for:

- Overseeing and driving forward key elements of policy development and the economic analysis that supports this policy. This is expected to include work on the economic regulatory frameworks for airports and air traffic services, including assessing the efficiency of costs and design of regulatory incentive mechanisms, and may include supporting wider CAA work on areas of consumer policy, aviation markets, and new innovations and technologies.
- Ensuring key deliverables are clear, on time, produced to a high quality, robust to external challenge and scrutiny, and supported by appropriate quality assurance processes. This includes reviewing and drafting consultation, decision and policy papers that cover difficult technical issues as well as issues with the potential to generate intense media and stakeholder interest. It also includes the drafting and quality assurance of CAA board papers.
- Developing the overall approach to senior engagement with key internal and external stakeholders on the range of policy issues and engaging at a senior level with key stakeholders on a wide range of issues.
- Overseeing the work of our economists and policy experts, technical advisors and consultants.
- Reviewing and challenging regulatory business plans and submissions from other stakeholders.
- Working closely with the Programme Directors to ensure work is fully coordinated across the wider ERCP work programmes.
- Providing advice to the Programme Directors, Economics Director, Chief Economist, the CAA Executive Committee and Board as required.
- Development and empowering of team members, through opportunities to develop skills and training, as a senior leader in the team.
- Championing CAA values and D&I policy.

**About you**

**Skills, knowledge and experience that are essential for the job**:

- Experience working at a senior level planning and conducting economic analysis and policy development, for example within a government department, regulator or regulated company (or other relevant experience).
- Excellent analytical skills and the ability to design and oversee complex analysis.
- Ability to develop effective work programmes to address a wide rang