Senior Economist

UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research organization in Swindon is seeking an economist to support strategic economic appraisal work. The successful candidate will lead business case analysis, mentor junior analysts, and engage with evaluation and policy teams. Candidates should have a degree in Economics and be proficient in Excel. Benefits include a defined benefit pension scheme, 30 days of annual leave, and flexible working options. Hybrid working is available, encouraging a great work-life balance.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

30 days annual leave

Employee discounts

Flexible working options

Employee assistance program

Qualifications

• Degree in Economics (with at least 50% of course modules in Economics) or equivalent work experience.
• Knowledge of and experience in Applied Econometrics.
• Highly proficient in Excel.

Responsibilities

• Lead business case analysis focused on economic cases.
• Mentor junior analysts to deliver economic appraisal projects.
• Support evaluation, policy, and science teams in delivering economic evaluations.

Skills

Analytical skills

Proficient in Excel

Relationship building

Communication skills

Education

Degree in Economics or equivalent

Tools

R

Python

SQL

Job description

UKRI

Salary: £46,743 per annum

Band: UKRI Band E

Contract Type: Open-ended or fixed-term external secondment opportunity (two years)

Hours: Full-time/ Part-time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available)

Location: Swindon - Hybrid working available

Closing Date: 11th January 2026

This is an exciting opportunity to join a multi-disciplinary analytical team that works on areas at the heart of the UK research and innovation (R&I) system. Our work plays a key role in delivering the government’s ambition to strengthen the UK’s position as a global science and technology superpower, set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework.

The role sits within the Strategic Analysis team (within a wider Analysis team and the Investment Planning and Strategy directorate), which has a wide remit including analysis of the R&I system, Economic Appraisal, Data Science, and analysis for Investment Strategy.

The successful candidate will report to the Lead Analyst for Economic Appraisal and Business Cases. The successful applicant will work across directorate and organisational priorities, pivoting to new work areas as business needs evolve.

We are a team committed to diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from anyone with the skills needed. The team works across the London and Swindon offices. A good proportion of the work can be done from home and there will be opportunities to visit colleagues in London and Swindon offices and other UKRI sites.

We are committed to supporting each other’s personal and professional development and will support your learning and development ambitions in this role.

About the role

We aim to recruit an economist that would support our strategic economic appraisal work.

There are two key parts to this role, concerning both ex-ante and ex-post economic appraisal.

Ex-post economic appraisal: the successful candidate would have a leading role in the management of ex-post economic appraisal work within the team. This includes supporting evaluation teams, as well as science and policy teams, by reviewing and advising on the economic components of their evaluations. This role requires close collaboration with the UKRI Analysis Evaluation team.

Ex-ante economic appraisal: The successful candidate will support the Lead Analyst for Economic Appraisal in various ex-ante economic appraisal projects. A significant portion of this work involves supporting business case development, leading the economic component of economic cases, and reviewing the work of other analysts.

Although the role does not currently entail line management responsibilities, this may be subject to change in the future. In the meantime, the job holder will be expected to mentor and provide guidance to junior analysts and economists across the organisation.

Key responsibilities of the role will include, but are not limited to:

• Leading on business case analysis, with a focus on economic cases. This would usually require ex-ante value for money analysis with a quantitative component developed in Excel.
• Mentoring junior analysts to deliver economic appraisal projects.
• Supporting evaluation, policy, and science teams in the delivery of the economic component of their evaluation projects. This includes reviewing invitation to tender documents, bids, and early drafts.
• Supporting analysis for fiscal events and spending reviews.
• Engaging with internal and external analysts to develop robust methodologies and analysis for evaluation of UKRI investments.
• Developing guidance and training for both analytical and non-analytical audiences.
• Supporting the Lead Analyst on the conception and development of key ex-ante and ex-post economic appraisal projects. This would typically require modelling in Excel or R.
• Running literature and evidence reviews assessing their robustness and relevance. This would require finding and analysing relevant sources and data sets to fill knowledge gaps, summarising the key findings for users.

Personal Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential skills and experience:

• Degree in Economics (with at least 50% of course modules in Economics) or equivalent work experience. (S)
• Analytical skills and experience: Knowledge of and experience in Applied Econometrics. (S&I)
• Analytical skills and experience: Highly proficient in Excel. (S)
• Working together: experience in building strong relationships with technical and non-technical users of analysis at varying seniority levels. (S&I)
• Communicating and influencing: the ability to communicate your analysis to non-technical audiences. (S&I)

Other desirable experience:

• Experience carrying out public sector Green Book compliant value for money analysis. (S&I)
• Familiarity with the Magenta Book and experience in monitoring and evaluation, including identifying the strategic objectives and benefits of a project, and constructing a theory of change or logic model to link inputs to impacts. (S)
• Familiarity with the Aqua Book and knowledge of quality assurance best practices. (S)
• Experience coding in R, Python, and SQL. (S)
• Experience applying economics to science, research and innovation would be desirable, but it is not a requirement. (S&I)

This role is open to all analysts with the relevant skills and experience. Applicants do not need to be badged to a Government Analytical Profession such as the GES, GSR, GORS or GSS to apply for this role. However, badged analysts are welcome to apply.

Application Process and Shortlisting Criteria (how to apply)

Applicants are invited to submit a CV and a statement of experience (no longer than 1,000 words), covering the following three areas:

1. Analytical skills and experience: examples from previous experience that provide evidence to support your application for an analytical role as specified above. Please refer to the “Key responsibilities” and “Personal Specification” sections above. You might also like to refer to the GES Technical Framework.

2. Working together.

3. Communicating and influencing.

For guidance on Civil Service Behaviours, please see Success Profiles: Civil Service Behaviours (SEO grade).

In the event that we receive a high number of applications, we will shortlist based on the lead competency – analytical skills. You should consider using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for each of the skills and behaviours, including analytical skills.

We will hold a reserve list for 12 months of candidates who meet the criteria but who were unsuccessful at interview, from which further appointments may be made.

For more information, please contact Patrick Rigby, Head of Strategic Analysis ([e-mail]).

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days. (full time equivalent)
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.

Plus, many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact [e-mail].

Please note

if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact [e-mail].