About the job

Job summary

The Competition and Markets Authority is undergoing an exciting expansion with the continued growth of new offices and our Microeconomics Unit in Darlington. We are seeking Economic Advisers to join our growing team.

About the CMA

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

You can read more about working at the CMA in our candidate pack.

Job description

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. It produces high quality and policy relevant research to build the UK evidence base on these important topics. The ambition is for the Unit to become a microeconomic sibling for the Bank of England’s well-established public macroeconomic role.

About you

You will be responsible for carrying out and supervising quantitative economic analysis and research. This will include identifying key open research questions, 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:

• 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.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Working with the Microeconomics Unit’s Assistant Directors to determine the key areas for investigation and the quantitative analysis required to assess them.
• Planning and managing the delivery of quantitative economic analysis across several long-term and short-term research projects.
• Contributing to the management and intellectual development of the team of professional economists and the CMA’s Darlington office.

We are looking for keen, enthusiastic economists with experience of carrying out economic research, ideally including empirical work and with a preference for experience in industrial organisation, competition, firm dynamics, or the economics of innovation, growth, and productivity. The ability to write clearly and to present to non-technical audiences in a way that engages, informs and influences, is essential.

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

Application closing date: 11.55pm on Wednesday 3rd July 2024.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. For tips on how to make the most your application, please have a look at our guidance document.

1) Post-graduate degree, or at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree in economics with a focus on quantitative analysis (lead criteria).

2) Proven experience of carrying out economic research – preferably including empirical work. Ideally, this research would be in either industrial organisation, competition, firm dynamics, or the economics of innovation, growth, and productivity. (lead criteria).

3) Experience in the design, development, management, and timely delivery of analytical projects to tight deadlines.

4) Proven ability to communicate and present technical and complex economic analysis to non-technical audiences, both orally and in writing.

5) Experience of forming and developing influencing relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external.

6) Ability to manage others’ work and support their development, and to contribute to the development of the CMA’s economics capability.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,100, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £15,957 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.

The selection process will comprise of the Sift (CV & application review), and an interview.

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.

The sifting dates are Thursday 4th - Monday 8th July 2024.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview.

Interviews will be held Tuesday 16th – Monday 22nd July 2024.

Those invited to interview will attend a panel interview lasting approximately 1 hour in length where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills outlined in the role profile. There maybe an assessment as part of the process, usually reviewing a case study and providing a summary. More details will be confirmed if you are invited to interview.

Interviews will be conducted in-person at the CMA office in Darlington. Virtual interviews, via Microsoft Teams, can be discussed if attending in-person is not possible.

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.

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

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 example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

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.