About the job

Job summary

The Competition and Markets Authority is undergoing an exciting expansion with the establishment of new offices and a Microeconomics Unit in Darlington. We are seeking Assistant Economists to join our growing team.

The Microeconomics Unit leads the CMA’s economic research programme, set out in its Economic Research Strategy. The Unit provides analysis and expertise on the issues of UK competition, consumer rights, supply-side reforms, innovation and productivity. The ambition is for the Unit to become a microeconomic sibling for the Bank of England’s well-established public macroeconomic role.

Job description

What you will do

You will be responsible for carrying out quantitative analysis and research, under the supervision of more senior economists. This includes identifying key issues, designing and conducting analysis, drawing conclusions and presenting them to colleagues and decision makers.

Projects that you may work on in the Microeconomics Unit include:

• Assessing how well competition is working in the UK, through the regular State of Competition report.
• Empirical research into live issues in competition policy and structural reforms aimed at improving UK productivity – such as the nature and extent of employer market power in labour markets.
• Quantifying benefits the CMA generates for consumers in the annual Positive Impact report and looking for ways to improve how we measure the CMA’s impact.
• The CMA’s ongoing programme of ex-post studies into past competition policy interventions.

You will join a committed community of economists and econometricians, working in a collaborative, collegiate atmosphere. We are a very diverse team; our economists and econometricians have a range of backgrounds and nationalities. You will work in agile, dedicated teams undertaking quantitative analysis and research on key issues in microeconomics.

You will be ideally placed to identify and benefit from opportunities for career progression within the Microeconomics Unit and across the organisation and you will discover a working environment where there is real emphasis on working together and developing each other to deliver to high standards.

Our structured training programme, as well as the wider Civil Service training programme, provides a range of opportunities for continuous improvement and learning to develop your economic and econometric expertise. We will also support and encourage you to develop your wider skills – including communication, drafting, management skills and project management.

We welcome applications from candidates that have or are in their final year working towards at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree (on track to graduate with the required qualification by September 2024) with a microeconomic or quantitative focus, or a postgraduate economics qualification.

CMA prides itself on being a great place to work and strives to ensure that staff have the opportunity to grow and expand their skills portfolio. As well as being a hugely rewarding, diverse and stimulating place to work, you will have an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself while doing so.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please see below and click on the APPLY button.

Further details on the CMA can be found on the CMA’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter pages. 

Please also have a read of our blog to learn more about being an Economist at the CMA.

Application closing date: 11.55pm on Tuesday 6th February 2024.

Person specification

Key responsibilities will include the following:

• Working with Microeconomics Unit colleagues to carry out economic and quantitative analysis as part of research projects. This includes helping to scope the key questions which will inform the direction of the project; deciding on and gathering appropriate data; and identifying how the analysis contributes to the overall state of knowledge on issues of competition, innovation and productivity.
• Deliver high quality and timely quantitative analysis under the guidance of more senior economists, across several long-term and short-term research projects. Manage own time effectively to ensure analysis is delivered to the agreed timescale, ensuring managers are kept informed of progress, findings and potential risks or limitations.
• Communicate clearly and accurately, both orally and in writing, in particular by drafting substantial sections of technical papers and published reports and presenting analysis to both technical and non-technical audiences (economists and non-economists).
• Manage own time effectively to ensure analysis is delivered to the agreed timescale, ensuring managers are kept informed of progress, findings and potential risks or limitations.
• Establish effective working relationships within the research team, with others across the CMA (including senior management) and external stakeholders (including academics and the rest of government).
• Proactively develop own skills, knowledge and career in the CMA in conjunction with their line manager. The CMA provides a structured training programme covering technical, economic and econometric training, as well as more general skills.
• Whilst the role holder will typically not have staff or work management responsibility, they may, on occasion, line manage Economic Interns.
• Contribute to the development of the CMA’s economic and analytical capability, presenting at staff seminars/workshops and providing feedback from conferences or courses attended.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,133, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £9,210 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation sent when you schedule your interview slot.

Interviews will he held at the CMA office in Darlington. If you are unable to attend in-person, a virtual interview via MS Teams can be made available on request, however we would like to signal a preference for an in-person interview in Darlington where possible.

An initial sift based on lead criteria 1 and 2 may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application then progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification of the role profile will then be considered.

Please note that it is essential that your personal statement is aligned to provide evidence that you have the knowledge and recent practical experience for each of the following selection criteria in your application:

1)  Post-graduate degree, or at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree in economics with a focus on microeconomics or quantitative analysis – or be in the final year of your studies and on track to graduate with the required qualification by September 2024 (Lead Criteria).

2)  Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of microeconomics and analytical techniques and the ability to communicate technical economic research or analysis to non-technical audiences (Lead Criteria).

#2 To be answered and scored using your answer to the technical economics question within the application.

3)  Experience or demonstrated ability to design, develop and deliver economic research or analysis to tight deadlines, with experience of gathering, summarising and presenting data to a high standard.

4)  Sound verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to produce documents describing quantitative economic analysis.

5)  Experience or demonstrated ability to establish and manage working relationships and to work in teams to deliver successful outcomes.

The sifting dates are Wednesday 7th February – Thursday 15th February 2024.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview. 
You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account to book your interview slot. You will then be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held from Friday 23rd / Monday 26th February onward.

As part of the interview process you will be be asked to give a short presentation based on a subject sent to you. This presentation will be at the beginning of the interview. You will then start your Panel interview. The panel interview will be approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour in length where you will be asked questions based on Behaviours, Technical skills and Experience outlined in the role profile.

If you have any inquiries relating to your application, you can email recruitment@cma.gov.uk.

Reasonable adjustments:

In order for a person with disabilities not to be put at a disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.
For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.