Local Growth Analyst

at  Department for Business and Trade

JOB SUMMARY

Growing the economy, improving the prosperity of the UK and the living standards of working people in every part of the country is a core mission of this Government and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
Compared to other OECD countries, the UK has large and persistent spatial differences in productivity. Reducing these disparities will be a vital component in ensuring that every part of our country is better off. This role, within the Local Growth Analysis (LGA) team, is responsible for providing spatial analysis to inform policy decisions that can help achieve this aim.
LGA is a team of over 40 multi-disciplinary analysts which sits across the Department or Business and Trade (DBT) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The team advises on the design, allocation, monitoring and evaluation of local growth funds and provides strategic insights to inform the Local Growth agenda.
We are seeking an Economist to join the Strategic Spatial Analysis team within LGA. The team acts as the government’s think tank on spatial issues. It is responsible for producing spatial analysis and thought leadership, advocating for a place-based perspective within government and acting as a critical facilitator between teams.
Through its analysis, the team has actively shaped the local growth agenda since its inception and the post-holder will continue to answer the government’s key analytical questions and inform policy design.
Given the strategic nature of this role, this post is guaranteed to be interesting and wide-ranging. The post-holder will work closely with analysts across DBT and MHCLG, policy colleagues and external stakeholders. They will be expected to work flexibly across the wider team to meet business priorities and develop a greater knowledge of spatial analysis, competences in analytical techniques, and written and oral communication skills.
We take the development of our people very seriously, equipping and enabling them to make an impact by ensuring high quality evidence and analysis is at the heart of the policy-making process. We are committed to good management and professional development of our staff.

JOB DESCRIPTION

This role will be responsible for developing analytical insights and building the strategic evidence base relating to local growth, as well as the broader role of ‘place’ in government policy. This includes producing analysis to inform the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.

With the help of a small team of analysts, the post-holder will have a key role to play in shaping a high-profile policy agenda. Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting analysis to identify clusters based on the sector priorities identified as part of DBT’s Industrial Strategy;
• Analysing the spatial impacts of economic transitions such as Net Zero and generative AI;
• Supporting DBT’s area-based teams with data and place specific insights;
• Representing the UK’s interests as the country’s delegate on the OECD’s Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC);
• Combining, interpreting, assuring, and presenting analysis in range of formats (written briefing, ministerial submissions, evidence packs, presentations) and through various media to inform policy-makers and senior colleagues across-Whitehall;
• Engaging with academics and think-tanks to build the evidence base for local growth and strategically deploying the analysis to inform fiscal events and policy development (including the forthcoming Spending Review);
• Line management of two junior analysts.

This role would suit someone looking to promote the importance of analysis in policy development through producing robust analytical insights and deploying them to a wide network of policy and analytical teams across Whitehall.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS

The successful applicant should demonstrate strong analytical skills and abilities within their profession – with a proven ability to organise and interpret data and analysis, excellent written and oral communication skills and have a good understanding of how analysts can work closely with policy colleagues to drive forward an evidence-based policy agenda. The successful candidate should have a proactive attitude and be committed to working in partnership with others to achieve results, often at pace. This will include working with other analytical and policy teams, local partners across the public sector, practitioners and the academic community.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants without a current GES membership will be considered for accreditation to the GES as part of the recruitment process. This means you must meet the academic entry requirements for the GES which are:

• Have a first or upper second-class honours degree in economics (or international equivalent), or a postgraduate degree in economics. If it is a joint degree, at least 50% of the course modules must be in economics.
• Have studied both macroeconomics and microeconomics.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Government Economic Service (GES) - Application of knowledge
• Government Economic Service (GES) - Analysis of Data
• Government Economic Service (GES) - Effective Communication

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,836, Department for Business and Trade contributes £16,175 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.
Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.
Things you need to know

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) (opens in a new window)
• 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 (opens in a new window)

With the help of a small team of analysts, the post-holder will have a key role to play in shaping a high-profile policy agenda. Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting analysis to identify clusters based on the sector priorities identified as part of DBT’s Industrial Strategy;
• Analysing the spatial impacts of economic transitions such as Net Zero and generative AI;
• Supporting DBT’s area-based teams with data and place specific insights;
• Representing the UK’s interests as the country’s delegate on the OECD’s Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC);
• Combining, interpreting, assuring, and presenting analysis in range of formats (written briefing, ministerial submissions, evidence packs, presentations) and through various media to inform policy-makers and senior colleagues across-Whitehall;
• Engaging with academics and think-tanks to build the evidence base for local growth and strategically deploying the analysis to inform fiscal events and policy development (including the forthcoming Spending Review);
• Line management of two junior analysts