Economist

ZipRecruiter; England; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is searching for an Economist to join their dynamic team. In this pivotal role, you'll leverage your analytical expertise to provide valuable insights into London's skills system and labor market. Your work will directly influence policy decisions that impact the lives of Londoners, making this an exciting opportunity to contribute to meaningful change. Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team, you'll tackle complex issues, develop clear communication materials, and promote data-driven strategies. If you're passionate about using data to drive policy development and improve educational outcomes, this role is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Degree in economics or related field required, preferably at post-graduate level.
• Strong analytical skills with experience in data analysis and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Gather and analyze data from various labor market datasets.
• Communicate findings through reports, presentations, and dashboards.

Skills

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Quantitative Modelling

Data Analysis

Problem-Solving

Education

Degree in Economics

Post-Graduate Qualification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

R

Stata

Python

Job description

Job Description

Strategy and Communications

Strategy and Communications sits at the centre of the organisation, bringing together several teams with organisation-wide remits and mutual collaboration opportunities. The work of the directorate’s teams includes delivery of major events, designing and leading public affairs or marketing campaigns, providing data, evidence and analysis, leading cross-organisational programmes, to making sure we plan for and can respond to emerging events or emergencies in our city.

About the team

GLA Economics’ analysis and advice inform key decisions at the Greater London Authority (GLA). Located within the multidisciplinary City Intelligence Unit, we collaborate with specialist teams in areas including demography, social policy, opinion research, and spatial analysis. We also work closely with policy colleagues from across the GLA Group, in particular the team responsible for delivering the objectives of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF).

You can find out more about the work we carry out on our publications page and on the London Datastore including our team’s analysis of the London Learner Survey and Apprenticeship Statistics for London.

About the role

The devolution of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) to the Mayor of London since 2019 and a policy landscape dominated by major challenges and profound changes (e.g. local skills planning, devolution and the transition to net zero) have generated additional analytical demands for the GLA and its stakeholders.

As part of GLA Economics, you'll contribute towards our strategic focus: delivering robust analysis of London's skills system and labour market to support the GLA’s skills policy and delivery. This work has real impact, underpinning decisions that affect the lives of people who live and study in London.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop expertise and provide high quality analysis with a focus on the ASF and skills related issues in London. They will be expected to support the GLA to identify and meet its needs for data and other information to re-shape post-18 skills provision in London. This includes promoting a more ‘open data’ approach to education and skills-related data, while acknowledging and protecting data privacy.

As an Economist in this role, you will:

• Gather data and develop insights from labour market and skills datasets such as the Labour Force Survey, Employer Skills Survey, and those produced by the Department for Education (DFE).
• Generate a range of materials to communicate findings to internal and external audiences, including presentations, dashboards, blogs, briefings, and reports.
• Help to deepen our understanding of how London’s skills system, including the Adult Skills Fund, meets the economic and social needs of Londoners and London employers.
• Build evidence around the skills needs of the mayor’s priority sectors as well as how under-represented Londoners and people engage and experience the skills and labour market system in London.

You will be expected to work flexibly across a variety of other topics reflecting emerging issues facing the London economy and skills system. This could include work related to London’s growth plan and other strategies which are aimed at supporting skills development in London. The role will also combine long-term analytical projects with short-term demands for information and data.

What your day will look like

We’re looking for people who are enthusiastic about using data and evidence to support policy development for Londoners around the skills and education system, work effectively both independently and within a team, and who want to use their skills to make a real difference to the future success of London and the lives of its residents. You will:

1. Cultivate a deep understanding of London's labour market and skills system and provide high-quality analysis that informs GLA activities. Work with others to find creative and workable solutions to analytical problems where necessary.
2. Assist the Supervisory and Senior Economists in identifying their requirements for economic data and analysis, challenging, and informing policy development and delivery effectively.
3. Combine data from a variety of sources, including large-scale surveys, to develop insightful secondary analysis and produce policy relevant outputs on London’s skills system and labour market.
4. Ensure outputs are produced to high professional standards, which may include briefings, literature reviews, data mapping, visualisation, dashboards, descriptive and econometric analyses.
5. Provide clear, evidence-based communication to internal and external stakeholders, informing decision-making in the GLA Group and providing a valuable, credible resource to external stakeholders.
6. Understand and communicate the strengths and limitations of different data sources to stakeholders in the GLA Group.
7. Help realise the benefits of London’s skills system by promoting equality of opportunities and addressing the diverse needs and aspirations of London’s communities.
8. Embrace a flexible approach to work, participating in multidisciplinary groups and project teams within GLA Economics, across the GLA Group, and with relevant external organisations. Adapt to changing priorities and workloads as necessary.

Skills, knowledge and experience

To be considered for the role you must meet the following essential criteria:

• A degree or equivalent qualification in economics or a related subject, preferably to post-graduate level.
• Evidence of success in undertaking analytical projects, designing and preparing clear and concise reports, presentations, dashboards and briefings on complex issues.
• Evidence of knowledge and understanding of national and London labour market, skills and education trends and issues, and how these might affect policy and service delivery options for the GLA Group.
• Knowledge and understanding of the main sources of official statistics on the labour market and skills within the UK.
• Strong numeracy and quantitative modelling skills, including experience of technical/economic modelling, and an ability to find creative and workable solution to analytical problems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and an ability to use specialised statistical software packages for carrying out economic analysis (such as R, Stata, or Python).