Junior Economist

Development Pathways Ltd
Sidcup - United Kingdom
S: £25,000 to £31,000 per annum

Position: Junior Economist
Team: Social and Economic Analysis Team
Location: Sidcup, Greater London, UK. Please note that due to the current COVID guidelines, staff are working remotely until further notice.
Contract: Permanent and full-time
Reporting to: Economist
Remuneration: £25,000 to £31,000 gross per annum with benefits. The salary will be commensurate with experience.

Do YOU want to be part of a team that loves working with data? Know how to apply economic tools and research methods to solve interesting challenges? We are looking for an enthusiastic junior economist to join a dynamic and growing team.

About the Position

The Junior Economist will provide technical and analytical support on consulting and other projects in the area of social protection, social policy and economics. He/she will conduct rigorous statistical analysis of national household surveys and other datasets and contribute to delivering innovative policy-relevant research, policy advice and other initiatives. She/he will collaborate closely with other staff members in the Social and Economic Analysis team, as well as other internal teams and external consultants, for the delivery of projects.

The successful candidate will be applying economic tools and research methods to solve interesting challenges and provide our clients with the solutions and advice they need. We also integrate qualitative methods into our work. Examples of our work include: poverty and inequality profiles; costing tools and micro-simulations of the impact of social protection schemes; multisectoral situation analyses of children, older people, and persons with disabilities; country baseline reports for the global Sustainable Development Goals; large-scale household surveys on food security in refugee settlements; and impact evaluation designs.

Main Responsibilities and Duties

• Conduct innovative quantitative analysis of national household surveys (such as Living Conditions Surveys, Household Income and Expenditure Surveys, and Demographic and Health Surveys) on issues related to poverty and vulnerability, income security, lifecycle analysis, disability, etc.

• Develop microsimulations to analyse existing social protection policies and estimate the coverage, potential impacts and costs of cash transfer schemes (e.g. child benefits and social pensions) and support the development of online dashboards (R Shiny).

• Prepare background research and literature reviews, draft and edit inputs into the preparation of reports, publications, training materials, courses and website materials.

• Support the development of expressions of interest and proposals for new project opportunities.

• Participate in regular team meetings to coordinate project workplans and activities.

Your Profile

We hire people from a range of backgrounds and experience, but some key things we look out for include:

• At least a Masters' degree in economics or a related discipline. Knowledge of one or more thematic or technical areas relevant for Development Pathways. Examples include poverty and welfare analysis, social protection, food security, gender, child well-being, public finance, monitoring and evaluation, causal inference, microsimulation and policy analysis, etc.

• Solid analytical skills with demonstrated ability to work with diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources. Attention to detail is a must.

• Proficiency in at least one statistical software (preferably Stata) or language (R, Python) and experience in analysing household survey micro datasets. Willingness to learn new packages, statistical and visualisation techniques.

• Fluency in written and spoken English. Able to communicate complex technical ideas and arguments in ways which non-specialist audiences can readily understand.

• Self-motivated, with an ability to work on own initiative, to accept responsibility and to respond with confidence to complex and evolving problems.

Terms of Employment and Benefits

Recruitment will be at the junior level and is a permanent and full-time post. Along with basic salary, the successful candidate would receive an attractive package of the following:
• Fulfilling work - work directly with end-users in some of the world's most underserved communities.
• Flexible work - Development Pathways offers employees flexible work hours and remote work options.
• Generous time off - recharge with 30-holiday entitlement plus standard bank holidays.
• Travel the World- we are committed to seeing our work in action, all around the world up to 4 weeks in a year. However, please note that due to the current COVID situation, no one in the company is travelling until further notice.
• Excellent health and well-being provision – access to the company private health care scheme (after the satisfactory completion of the probationary period, pension scheme and Employee Assistance Programme.
• Commitment to professional development opportunities - we encourage our staff to participate in professional learning and development.
• Provision of a company laptop and working at home benefit.

How to apply

We invite interested candidates who meet the requirements to email their application to recruitment@developmentpathways.co.uk.
Applications should include:
1. A cover letter explaining why you are applying for this position, and how your recent relevant experience and skills meet the requirements for this position;
2. A Curriculum Vitae (CV) specifying your qualifications, education and relevant work experience;
3. At least one sample of previous written work (for example, a research report or a policy paper);
4. At least one sample of data analysis (for example, a Stata do-file, R script, Python code, or Excel workbook).
Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and a successful candidate may be selected prior to the closing date. Candidates are encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible.
Due to the high number of applications expected, unfortunately, only successful candidates will be contacted.
Applicants should be aware of our privacy notice at this link:
http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DP_GDPR-Privacy-Notice-for-Job-Applicants.pdf

Closing date for this post will be 3rd November 2020.

Development Pathways is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate and support diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, family or parental status, or disability status.

Our staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

Job summary