JOB SUMMARY

Consumer Scotland is the statutory body for consumers in Scotland. Established by the Consumer Scotland Act 2020, it formally took on its statutory functions and powers on 1 April 2022. As a Non-Ministerial Office Consumer Scotland is independent and accountable to the Scottish Parliament. The staff of Consumer Scotland are civil servants.

Consumer Scotland has the general function of providing consumer advocacy and advice with a view to –

• reducing harm to consumers in Scotland
• increasing confidence among consumers in Scotland in dealing with businesses that supply goods and services to consumers
• increasing the extent to which consumer matters are taken into account by public authorities in Scotland
• promoting –
• sustainable consumption of natural resources, and
• other environmentally sustainable practices, in relation to the acquisition, use and disposal of goods by consumers in Scotland
• otherwise advancing inclusion, fairness, prosperity and other aspects of wellbeing in Scotland.

Consumer Scotland is committed to putting consumer rights and interests at the heart of markets, services and policy, taking an evidence-led approach to its advocacy. Consumer Scotland’s Research, Analysis and Investigations Directorate is central to this ethos, producing rigorous, high quality and policy relevant research and analysis in close collaboration with policy colleagues.
The Analytical Team primarily provides analytical research leadership and support to the policy teams in Energy, Water, Post and General Consumer Markets. The team currently contains a blend of skills including social research, statistics, economics, social science, and intelligence analysis. Our work involves both in-house analysis, and supporting the procurement and project management of commissioned projects.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

ROLE AND KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The post-holder will work as part of the Analysis Team within Consumer Scotland’s Research, Analysis and Investigations Directorate. This team primarily undertakes quantitative economic, statistical and data analysis of consumer issues, however also supports mixed method and qualitative research projects.
As Analysis Officer, the post-holder will be supported by Analysis Managers and the Head of Analysis to work with colleagues across the directorate and wider organisation to deliver high quality analysis and research on a wide range of consumer issues.

Recent projects the team have been involved in, include:

• Developing a quarterly dashboard to collate and present market monitoring data and emerging consumer issues
• Commissioning and analysing an annual tracker survey to understand consumer attitudes to energy affordability and its effects, views of regulated and unregulated energy markets, and perceptions of supplier performance over time
• Secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey to gather insight into consumer spending patterns
• Analysing consumer advice data to understand the issues being experienced by consumers making purchases in the home energy retrofit market
• Using a microsimulation model to analyse water poverty rates and forecasting how these will change depending on different policy scenarios

The role will involve both undertaking in-house analysis and supporting the commissioning and delivery of external research.

Supported and directed by Analysis Managers and the Head of Analysis, the post-holder will:

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across Consumer Scotland to deliver analysis and research that provides a strong evidence base to support policy advocacy.
• Provide insight on topical consumer issues through analysis of data, existing research and wider evidence.
• Contribute to the analysis of administrative and government survey datasets (for example, the Scottish Household Survey, the Living Costs and Food Survey, or data from consumer advice organisations) to provide rigorous insight into a wide variety of consumer-related issues
• Contribute to the procurement, management and analysis of externally commissioned research and analysis, including consumer surveys, ensuring that work is delivered to a high standard and contributes to Consumer Scotland’s evidence base.
• Disseminate analysis findings internally and externally through supporting the production of high-quality presentations, blogs and reports.