Economist

To provide economic advice and analysis on all aspects of the FRC’s regulatory work, including how the FRC supports economic growth and investment. To provide high quality economic analysis, including impact assessment, appraisal and evaluation, to support our work across standards, codes and guidance to ensure that regulatory measures are designed, implemented, and reviewed, based on the best available evidence and economic thinking. The role holder will also undertake analysis on competition and trends in the statutory audit market.

The role holder will:

• Identify key economic issues on a variety of projects and undertake economic analyses to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of regulatory measures – standards, codes, and guidance – with sound evidence.
• Undertake cost benefit analyses including modelling impacts of regulatory measures and scenario/sensitivity-analysis.
• Undertake economic analysis to ensure that operational delivery of audit and corporate reporting supervision is informed by economic impact, sound methodology and evidence.
• Advise on the FRC’s overall impacts and outcomes, and how those might be measured and monitored, particularly in respect of our implementation of the Growth Duty.
• Present findings from analyses in a clear and non-technical manner in documents for publication and/or internal papers, communicating that advice to senior-decision-makers, including through papers to the FRC Board, Executive Committee, and other Committees as appropriate.
• Monitor and assess the level of, and trends in, competition in the statutory audit market and communicate the results to key stakeholders in the FRC and for external publication.
• Contribute to market studies and use economic advice and analysis to help develop and implement measures proposed to promote competition and choice in the statutory audit market.
• Engage with stakeholders, including audit firms and other regulators, on regulatory and competition economics issues.
• Assess how any changes in competition impact on the FRC’s objectives to support delivery of high-quality audit and greater resilience in the audit market.
• Help to implement any official data collection, analysis, and reporting, including market indicators.
• Project-manage more major projects e.g., impact assessments, on behalf of policy colleagues.
• Work within the FRC’s matrix-working approach, on priority projects and workstreams, forming and maintaining strong relationships across Market Intelligence & Insights and wider FRC teams.
• Raise awareness with colleagues of the importance of robust and proportionate economic analysis, including designing tools and templates to support as appropriate.

Essential:

• Educated to degree level in economics or another mathematical discipline, (preferably with a post-graduate qualification in economics, especially if first degree is not economics) with at least 2-3 years post-graduate experience in a relevant/related role or function.
• Excellent analytical skills, including the ability to understand different perspectives, to present to non-economist audiences and exercise judgment when articulating the costs and benefits of different policy positions.
• Excellent quantitative skills and experience of using Microsoft packages, in particular MS Excel.
• Ability to model complex impacts using a combination of real-world data and sector knowledge to build credible assumptions, logic chains and theories of change.
• Ability to understand and explain the validity, relevance, and limitations of different sources of data and assumptions used in economic work.
• Good knowledge of the government’s Better Regulation Framework and its requirements for impact assessment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including drafting high-quality advice and analysis and distilling complex issues into clear and succinct messages.
• Experience managing projects.

Desirable:

• Experience and/or a strong academic background in microeconomics, industrial organisation, competition economics or economic regulation.
• Ability to apply relevant economic concepts in real and novel situations.
• Knowledge of econometrics and statistical packages such as Stata.
• Understanding of the UK regulatory policy landscape, and competition policy landscape including concurrency regulation and the legal framework.

The role is based in our central Birmingham office. The post holder should be able to work flexibly to support the team’s activities and also provide cover within the FRC as necessary. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement with its workforce, with an expectation that 40% of a person’s working time will be located at one of our offices per week, with precise arrangements to be agreed between the employee and the line manager.