Senior Associate Economists – Cost Assessment

Ofwat; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension contributions 29%

25 days annual leave + 5 bank holidays

Volunteer days (up to 3)

Discounts on goods/services

Professional body fees

Parental leave

Job summary

Ofwat is hiring Senior Associate Economists to join the Cost Assessment Team in Price Review. The role focuses on econometric modelling, policy development, and data management to shape expenditure allowances and incentive tools for water sector regulation.

You will work with senior colleagues to develop robust regulatory analyses, engage stakeholders, and help deliver the PR24 agenda in a hybrid London or Birmingham setting.

Qualifications

• Experience applying economics in a regulator, competition authority, consultancy or regulated company, with a strong interest in and aptitude for economic regulation and quantitative modelling (including econometrics).
• An undergraduate degree in economics and/or a discipline with significant economic/numerate content or equivalent experience including data science.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Professional experience of developing, managing and implementing policy.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
• Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver multiple projects with conflicting deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Develop econometric models and related policy development for different segments of the water sector value chain.
• Manage cross-cutting data that supports regulatory reporting and informs cost assessment.
• Design and review incentive tools to encourage delivery and hold companies to account at the next price review.
• Collaborate with principals and teams across portfolios to drive policy development and regulatory insight.
• Support policy work on incentive design, cost benchmarking and enhancements to the regulatory framework.
• Contribute to reviews of price control deliverables (PCDs) and IWC recommendations.
• Ensure data quality and robust, evidence-based recommendations for expenditure allowances.
• Engage with water companies, regulators and internal teams to share findings and align on outcomes.

Skills

Economics in regulation

Econometrics

Policy development

Data science / data handling

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Project planning

Education

Economics degree or equivalent

Job description

Senior Associate Economists – Cost Assessment

*Office Location: London (E14 4HD) or Birmingham (B5 4UA) with hybrid working*

About Us

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. The government has set out a bold new direction, bringing together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. We are collaborating with fellow regulators to respond to recommendations in The Independent Water Commission Report, the Welsh Government’s response to the Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Water Governance in Wales, and the Government’s White Paper, A new vision for water.

Ofwat is working with the government and other regulators to help create a new body for England, bringing together our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. We are also continuing to work with the Welsh Government to support decisions on the future arrangements for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

The Roles

We have 2 excellent opportunities for Economists to join our Cost Assessment Team in Price Review at Senior Associate level.

These roles are full of influence and exciting challenges.

The cost assessment team plays a pivotal part in shaping price reviews, setting expenditure allowances, and developing policy in areas such as incentive design and improvements to the regulatory framework.

As a Senior Associate Economist, you will lead one of several workstreams within our cost assessment team:

• Developing econometric models and related policy development for different segments of the water sector value chain.
• Managing cross-cutting data that supports high-quality regulatory reporting to inform cost assessment and delivery of funded activities.
• Designing and reviewing incentive tools to encourage delivery and hold companies to account at the next price review.

You will work closely with principals, other senior associates, and graduate associates, and collaborate across teams. Depending on your specialism you will:

• Contribute to policy development in areas such as incentive design, cost benchmarking, and wider improvements to the regulatory framework.
• Support our work to review the price control deliverables (PCDs) framework to address the Independent Water Commission (IWC) recommendations on this subject.
• Contribute to policy development on our supervisory approach and how PCDs and wider delivery incentives will feed into this.
• Work with colleagues to improve our monitoring regime to continue supporting our ability to hold companies to account in a targeted and proportionate way.
• Support the development of our approach to setting expenditure allowances at the next price review, drawing on lessons from PR24 and the recommendations of the IWC.
• Work with colleagues to ensure robust, evidence-based recommendations for expenditure allowances.
• Engage with stakeholders across the sector, including water companies, other regulators, and internal teams.
• Contribute to the robust use of data across the cost assessment team, supporting the entire team with quality assurance, expert knowledge of Ofwat's databases and best-practice modelling tools.
• Providing expert advice to ensure data quality and mitigate risks of error.

This is an exciting time to join the team, with many opportunities to learn, develop, and shape the future of economic regulation, ultimately improving outcomes for customers and the environment. You will work in a supportive, collaborative team with opportunities for professional growth.

If you have previous experience of assessing costs and identifying cost savings for companies (not necessarily water companies), or you have a data science background, this may the perfect opportunity for you.

About You

Below are some of the key essential experience, skills & knowledge required for this post:

• Experience of applying economics in a regulator, competition authority, consultancy or regulated company, with a strong interest in and aptitude for economic regulation and quantitative modelling (including econometrics).
• An undergraduate degree in economics and/or a discipline with significant economic/numerate content or equivalent experience including data science.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Professional experience of developing, managing and implementing policy.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
• Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver multiple projects with conflicting deadlines.

Why You Should Join Us

• People Centric: Our people are at the heart of Ofwat and everything we do - we ensure all voices are heard and treat each other with respect; you'll be given the autonomy and the support to do your role in the best way.
• Innovative Work Environment: We embrace agile and new ways of working and have a culture build on trust, flexibility, and collaboration.
• Development Opportunities: Gain valuable experience and develop your skills in a supportive and dynamic setting.
• Work-Life Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of working from home combined with the benefits of in person collaboration in our Birmingham and London offices.
• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 25 days’ annual leave, increasing to 30 with each year of service, plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave.
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay supporting your family life.