Principal Analyst - Economics

Ministry of Social Development; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 153,000 - 216,000; Full time

Job summary

The Social Investment Agency in Wellington is seeking a Principal Analyst to provide senior economic thought leadership and hands-on analytical advice for the Community-Led Commissioning System Enablement programme.

Your work will help shape how government understands social sector spending, investment value and outcomes, and turn complex evidence into practical decisions. You will lead and quality-assure economic analyses and develop decision-ready insights to support senior decisions.

Qualifications

• Strong applied economics, investment analysis, modelling, forecasting or cost-benefit/value-for-money expertise.
• Experience leading or quality-assuring complex analysis and working confidently with complex datasets.
• Ability to explain technical findings to senior leaders and non-technical audiences.
• Sound judgement about data quality, privacy, ethics and responsible use of evidence.
• Strong collaboration, prioritisation and delivery skills in a fast-moving environment.
• A relevant qualification in economics or related discipline, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and quality-assure economic analysis, investment advice, forecasting and value-for-money assessments.
• Develop decision-ready insights and reusable tools, including regional evidence, spend visibility, fiscal and demand outlooks, and return-on-investment approaches.
• Work across economics, data, evaluation, policy and commissioning teams to test assumptions, strengthen evidence and support senior decisions.
• You are an experienced economist or principal-level analyst who combines technical depth with sound judgement and a practical, collaborative approach.
• You can make complex analysis useful to people who need to make decisions.

Job description

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Shape how government understands social investment, spending and outcomes.

Lead high-impact economic analysis and influence senior investment decisions.

Wellington-based role with flexible working arrangements.

• Fixed term until 25 June 2027

It's an exciting time to join us as we lead change across the public service to implement social investment and support Government to achieve better outcomes from social sector spending.

Bring your economics expertise to work that matters.

As Principal Analyst, you will provide senior economic thought leadership and hands-on analytical advice for the Community-Led Commissioning System Enablement programme.

Your work will help shape how government understands social sector spending, investment value and outcomes, and turn complex evidence into practical decisions.

You will

Lead and quality-assure economic analysis, investment advice, forecasting and value-for-money assessments.

Develop decision-ready insights and reusable tools, including regional evidence, spend visibility, fiscal and demand outlooks, and return-on-investment approaches.

Work across economics, data, evaluation, policy and commissioning teams to test assumptions, strengthen evidence and support senior decisions.

You are an experienced economist or principal-level analyst who combines technical depth with sound judgement and a practical, collaborative approach.

You can make complex analysis useful to people who need to make decisions.

You will bring

• Strong applied economics, investment analysis, modelling, forecasting or cost-benefit/value-for-money expertise.
• Experience leading or quality-assuring complex analysis and working confidently with complex datasets.
• The ability to explain technical findings clearly to senior leaders and non-technical audiences.
• Sound judgement about data quality, assumptions, privacy, ethics and responsible use of evidence.
• Strong collaboration, prioritisation and delivery skills in a fast-moving, evolving environment.
• A relevant qualification in economics or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

The salary range for this role is $153,344 to $216,485.Starting salaries reflect skills and experience relevant to the role.

The Social Investment Agency is a central agency, set up to lead the social investment approach to improve people's lives and to support the Government to achieve better outcomes from social service expenditure.

Social investment involves using data to understand people's needs and the best prevention points, implementing evidence-based approaches to improving outcomes, and testing that they've been successful. The Agency has a particular focus on cross-sector work to address the most pervasive social sector challenges.

We are committed to have a safe and inclusive workplace and we value the diversity everyone brings. We welcome applications from everyone, regardless of gender identity, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or religion.

If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to tell us when you apply so we can assist you through the recruitment process.

Applications close at midnight Sunday 22 November however, we will review applications as they come in and may invite people to interview before the close date. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if an ideal person is found before the close date.

We look forward to receiving your application.