Senior Economist Skills and Employment

Interview date: Week commencing 27th January 2025

Job purpose

This role has been created to support the delivery of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) (previously known as the Adult Education Budget (AEB) and related programmes in London. It will require considerable cross team working to deliver the Mayor’s vision for adult education in London. In particular, the Senior Economist will:

• Provide high quality economic information, analysis and advice to inform the GLA’s skills strategy and policy development, with a focus on supporting the GLA’s on-going responsibility of skills provision and funding under the Adult Skills Fund.
• Help the GLA identify its needs for data and other information to re-shape post-16 skills provision in London, and to support the work of the wider Skills and Employment Unit to ensure these needs are met. Also, help develop a more ‘open data’ approach to skills, qualifications, progression and earnings that would bring benefits to and improve choices for learners and employers, while acknowledging and protecting data privacy where relevant.
• Access and analyse large administrative datasets, including the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and Longitudinal Education Outcomes datasets.
• Help maintain the GLA as an authoritative and well-regarded source of reliable data, information and analysis about London’s skills supply and labour market, its drivers and trends, helping in the dissemination of data and insights to policy makers and broader stakeholders.
• Contribute to special projects and initiatives commissioned by the GLA. These are likely to involve joint working with other organisations and sectors.

Principal accountabilities

• Provide high quality analysis, evaluation, and appraisal to help the team’s role in advising on the direction of education and skills policies and funding, with a focus on informing the on-going development of priorities for the ASF in London.
• Manage the provision of data and commentary as required to support the approach to post-16 skills reforms and future commissioning of adult skills funding by the GLA. This will include the access and analysis of the ILR dataset.
• Support the external publication of the ASF’s programme data, ensuring that this is presented in informative, transparent, and statistically robust releases.
• Manage, direct and conduct objective analysis and meta-analysis (e.g. lessons learnt on what works, performance, value for money, impact) of evidence from evaluations and other performance-related data /information. Also, to undertake cost benefit analysis, return on investment and unit cost calculations as well as providing information on comparators where applicable.
• Help the Supervisory Economist and other staff members in reviewing and analysing economic data and information in order to identify key issues and trends of relevance to education and skills policy development and service delivery.
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of London’s skills and labour market and the forces and trends at regional, national and international levels that affect it, ensuring that the GLA is seen as an authoritative source of data, analysis and commentary in these areas.
• Present data and commentary to colleagues and other stakeholders through written material, verbal presentations and help with the organisation of seminars, conferences, and similar events.
• Manage staff and resources allocated to the job in accordance with the Authority’s policies and Code of Ethics and Standards.
• Realise the benefits of London’s diversity by promoting and enabling equality of opportunities and promoting the diverse needs and aspirations of London’s communities.
• Realise the benefits of a flexible approach to work in undertaking the duties and responsibilities of this job, and participating in multi-disciplinary, cross-department and cross-organisational groups and project teams.

If you have a question about the role or would like to discuss it informally, please feel free to contact Kathryn Petrie at to arrange a call.

Please note all applications for this vacancy must be submitted via our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs alone for this role. Please upload a personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words to the ‘Additional Documents’ section of the form, ensuring you address the following technical requirements and competencies in your personal statement. Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images.

The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA competency framework

Key contacts

Accountable for: Resources allocated to the job, including potential line management of staff.

Principal contacts: Staff and senior managers within the GLA and related organisations.
Matrix working with the Skills and Employment Unit (S&E) teams, GLA Economics (GLAE), GLA Open Project System team (OPS) and third-party system developers, and the GLA Information Governance team.
Key external stakeholders, including representatives of academic institutions, borough councils, government and its agencies, libraries and information services, private and voluntary sector organisations.

Person Specification

Technical Requirements/ Experience/ Qualifications

• A degree or professional qualification in economics or a related subject, preferably to post-graduate level, or an ability to demonstrate the equivalent level of knowledge through professional experience in economics or a related field.
• Successful track record of conducting research and / or complex analysis to inform policy and strategy development. Experience of working with the Individualised Learner Record or similar datasets (e.g. National Pupil Database, Higher Statistics Agency Data, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs data or the London Learner Survey) is desirable.
• Strong evidence of computer literacy including proficiency in using project management, spreadsheet, database and presentation software. Demonstrated capacity to use specialised statistical software packages (e.g. R, Stata or Python) for statistical and econometric analysis.
• Evidence of clear personal, verbal and written communication skills, and of ability to communicate complex issues to a range of audiences effectively, including using data visualisation techniques.
• Knowledge of the technical requirements of project appraisal, impact analysis, cost-benefit analysis and evaluation in the public sector (e.g. HM Treasury Green Book).
• Broad knowledge and understanding of national, regional and London economic issues and trends and how these might affect policy and service delivery options for the GLA Group.
• Broad knowledge about labour markets and education policy in London, or demonstrated capacity to acquire expertise and provide economic advice in policy areas relevant to the work of the GLA Group.
• Evidence of ability to work on and, where appropriate, lead on multi-disciplinary, multi-agency projects.
• Awareness of and evidence of ability to operate in, a complex political or policy environment.

1. Stakeholder Focus

… is consulting with, listening to and understanding the needs of those our work impacts and using this knowledge to shape what we do and manage others’ expectations.

Level 2 indicators of effective performance

• Seeks to understand requirements, gathering extra information when needs are not clear
• Presents the GLA positively by interacting effectively with stakeholders
• Delivers a timely and accurate service
• Understands the differing needs of stakeholders and adapts own service accordingly
• Seeks and uses feedback from a variety of sources to improve the GLA’s service to Londoners

2. Communicating and Influencing

…is presenting information and arguments clearly and convincingly so that others see us as credible and articulate, and engage with us.

Level 2 indicators of effective performance

• Communicates openly and inclusively with internal and external stakeholders
• Clearly articulates the key points of an argument, both in verbal and written communication
• Persuades others, using evidence based knowledge, modifying approach to deliver message effectively
• Challenges the views of others in an open and constructive way
• Presents a credible and positive image both internally and externally

3. Managing and Developing Performance

… is setting high standards for oneself and others, guiding, motivating and developing them, to achieve high performance and meet the GLA’s objectives and statutory obligations.

Level 2 indicators of effective performance

• Seeks opportunities to develop professional skills and knowledge and encourages team to do so.
• Ensures own and others’ workloads are realistic and achievable
• Provides staff with clear direction and objectives, ensuring they understand expectations
• Recognises achievements and provides constructive feedback and guidance
• Gives staff autonomy and confidence to perform well and to their potential

4. Problem Solving

… is analysing and interpreting situations from a variety of viewpoints and finding creative, workable and timely solutions.

Level 3 indicators of effective performance

• Clarifies ambiguous problems, questioning assumptions to reach a fuller understanding
• Actively challenges the status quo to find new ways of doing things, looking for good practice
• Seeks and incorporates diverse perspectives to help produce workable strategies to address complex issues
• Initiates consultation on opportunities to improve work processes
• Supports the organisation to implement innovative suggestions

5. Research and Analysis

… is gathering intelligence (information, opinion and data) from varied sources, making sense of it, testing its validity and drawing conclusions that can lead to practical benefits.

Level 3 indicators of effective performance

• Expands networks to gain new information sources for research and policy development
• Identifies and implements methods to ensure intelligence is of a high quality
• Encourages others to analyse data from different angles, using multiple perspectives to identify connections and new insights
• Tailors research investment in line with likely impact for Londoners and policy priorities
• Retains a bigger picture view, ensuring research recommendations are appropriate and practical for the GLA and its stakeholders

This role is based at London Fire Brigade’s Head Office Union Street SE1 0LL

Equality, diversity and inclusion

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

London’s diversity is its biggest asset and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share.

In addition to a good salary package, we offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Application closing date: 5 th January 2025 at 23:59

Additional Information

Please note, all candidates will need to confirm that the information provided in this application form is true and correct. Should a candidate deliberately give false information, including the use of AI software, they understand that this would disqualify them from consideration.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record (DBS) check but some roles may require additional security screening.

The GLA is proud to be a Level 2: Disability Confident employer. We are committed to becoming a more inclusive and accessible organisation, and creating a truly inclusive and accessible workplace and culture for our disabled staff. We have named Disability Equality as a key corporate priority within our EDI Strategy. We welcome and encourage applications from disabled applicants. Should you wish to opt into the scheme, please let us know during your application.

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