Senior Economist

Office for budget responsibility
London - United Kingdom
S: £48,000 to £59,552

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was established by the Chancellor in May 2010 to provide independent assessments of the economy, public finances and fiscal sustainability. We provide independent forecasts of the economy and public finances to inform the Government's fiscal policy decisions, examine the impact of the Government's policy decisions on the public finances, and assess the prospects for achieving the Government's fiscal targets and welfare cap. Each year, we make an independent assessment of long-term fiscal sustainability and of trends in welfare spending, and run a wider work programme of research and analysis into economic and fiscal issues.

The OBR is comprised of the Budget Responsibility Committee (BRC) – Robert Chote (Chairman), Professor Charlie Bean and Graham Parker – supported by a staff of 27 civil servants including economists, public finance analysts and business support staff.

We are recruiting a senior economist to work in our economics team on a twelve-month secondment or fixed-term appointment. The work will be primarily related to the OBR's core forecasting responsibilities, but has the potential to range widely across the OBR's analytical and research agenda.

The OBR is a small team, so the post holder will have the opportunity to work flexibly across the full range of OBR outputs. The core role will be focused on the twice-yearly Economic and fiscal outlooks (EFO), but there would be scope to feed into the Forecast evaluation report (FER), Fiscal sustainability report (FSR), and Welfare trends report (WTR), as well as our ad hoc publications.

The OBR is committed to having a diverse workforce that brings together the best people across Government. If you have any concerns we are happy to discuss any potential obstacles you think you face. This post is available on a full time or part time basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated. We have a number of staff working flexible hours as well as managing childcare responsibilities and/or other commitments throughout the year, including fiscal events.

If you are interested in discussing the post further, please contact Tom Pybus (Line Manager 0203 334 6325).

Key accountabilities
We are recruiting a senior economist to join our macroeconomic forecasting and analysis team. The post offers a high level of personal responsibility for producing our forecasts and analysis across a wide range of economic issues.

1. Lead responsibility for the OBR's programme of work on all expenditure components of GDP and short-term growth assessment.

2. Lead responsibility for the maintenance and development of the OBR's small model of the UK economy and related analysis, including the production of alternative forecast scenarios.

3. Together with the economy team, draft relevant sections of OBR documentation and contribute to the editorial process of the economy chapters.

4. Sharing responsibility for presentations, representing the OBR effectively at forecast-related meetings with external organisations including the Bank of England.

5. Monitoring external comments and publications and liaising with external stakeholders as appropriate to keep abreast of relevant views and research.

6. Line management of one assistant economist, and oversight of their work programme on housing and credit

7. Contributing to the OBR's wider analytical programme and ad hoc publications.

Person specification
1. A strong and broad understanding of macroeconomics as well as statistical or econometric techniques, ideally with experience of applying these skills in analytical roles in the public or private sector.
2. Proven ability to combine rigour with effective and clear communication, including to both non-economist and economist audiences.
3. A proven track record of delivering high quality work to deadline.

Application details
To apply for this post, you should request and return an application to our HR service providers at hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk, quoting the job reference number in your e-mail.

Current Civil Servants should submit the following:
• A completed application form
• Two most recent appraisal reports
• A Promotion to Post assessment where applying on promotion

In addition to the above all candidates will also need to complete a Diversity Questionnaire and return this to diversityquestionnaire@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk. (not applicable to current OBR employees)

Should you not hear from us within 4 weeks of the closing date please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion.

As part of our pre-employment security checks, if you are invited to interview and are not a current OBR member of staff, we will require a copy of your passport confirming proof of both your nationality and your identity, and a copy of a utility bill confirming your proof of address. Please note, your passport must be in date and valid, and the utility bill must have been issued within the last six months. We will also need to see your original notification from DWP of your National Insurance number.

Please let us know if your contact details change at any time during the selection process.

Eligibility
Individuals appointed to the OBR will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessary a bar to security clearance but the Department will need to consider on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application.

Job summary