Chief Economist

Job summary

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) plays a pivotal role in shaping one of the UK's most important labour market policies: the National Minimum Wage, which includes the National Living Wage. Our recommendations directly affect millions of workers and thousands of businesses across the country and sit at the heart of the Government's Make Work Pay agenda.

The LPC is a unique social partnership, with a board of nine Ministerially appointed Commissioners representing employers, workers and academia. Commissioners’ role is to recommend minimum wage rates to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade each October.

We are seeking a Chief Economist to lead the analytical work that underpins these recommendations. Reporting to the Secretary, the Chief Economist is a critical role in the small secretariat of civil servants who support the Commissioners. This is a rare opportunity to combine labour market expertise, strategic leadership and high-profile policy influence within a unique social partnership.

Job description

As Chief Economist, you will be the LPC's senior analyst and lead the evidence and research that underpins the Commission's recommendations to Ministers. Working closely with Commissioners, senior officials and external experts, you will shape debates on low pay, labour market performance and minimum wage policy.

Leading a talented analytical team, you will ensure the LPC remains at the forefront of labour market research and evidence-based policy making. You will be responsible for:

• Evidence base: the recommendations of the LPC to Government are firmly based in evidence. You will ensure that the LPC’s evidence base remains robust, reliable and timely so that we can provide high quality advice.
• Communication: Having a robust evidence base is one thing, communicating it effectively is another. You will meet the challenge of communicating evidence that can be complex, contradictory and incomplete.
• Research programme: You will set the strategic direction of the LPC's research programme, overseeing both commissioning and delivery.
• Analytical team leadership: You will lead and develop a high-performing analytical team (currently comprising three G7 economists and one SEO statistician), supporting innovation, professional development and collaboration.
• Economic and statistical analysis: As well as overseeing and quality assuring the work of your team, you will undertake your own high quality and original analysis. This will include econometric analysis of the minimum wage’s impacts on a host of factors including pay, employment, hours worked and prices.
• Networks: you will maintain and build a network of experts and academics to ensure the LPC has access to the latest thinking and research on minimum wages and broader changes in the labour market. This will include minimum wage policy makers and experts in other countries.

Working pattern and location

This is a full-time role, based in the Low Pay Commission’s office in Canary Wharf in London.

Person specification

Essential criteria

The below criteria are essential and will be assessed at application stage;

• “Big picture” knowledge of labour market economics –You must have a strong understanding of labour market economics and the factors affecting low-paid workers and employers. You will be able to apply economic theory and evidence to real-world policy questions and understand the wider economic, social and political context in which minimum wage decisions are made.
• Effective decision maker and analyst – you must have strong technical and analytical skills and be able to grasp and make sense of complex and contradictory evidence, use sound judgement and provide clear advice. You must have a good understanding of econometric techniques and approaches.
• Communicating and influencing – You must be able to explain complex issues clearly and with high impact and credibility and create coherent narratives. Importantly, you must be able to adapt your approach to different audiences, levels of expertise and knowledge.
• Leadership – You must be able to effectively lead a high performing group of analysts. This includes strategic oversight of their work as well as motivating them, stretching them to develop their own skills and encouraging collaboration.

Desirable Criteria:

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates;

• Knowledge and experience of datasets pertaining to the UK labour market such as the Labour Force Survey (LFS) or the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
• Experience of designing and commissioning policy related research and evaluation projects from academics or other external contractors.
• Experience of software for statistical analysis, including R, SPSS or Stata.

To discuss the role, please contact [email removed]

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Economics

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £72,970, Department for Business and Trade contributes £21,139 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experi