Economic Appraisal Specialist

This is the Internal Only Recruitment Site for UK Research and Innovation Staff for roles within Innovate UK (UKRI). Please apply for jobs via this site only if you are employed by UK Research and Innovation. If you wish to apply for the position below, please ensure that you comply with the requirements of the recruitment process by submitting both a full CV and application letter. Ideally, you should also advise your manager of your application. Applications must be submitted by 06-06-2026.

Innovate UK is undergoing a pivotal strategic realignment to the government’s new industrial strategy with a commitment to back the businesses with the greatest potential to scale and grow into the industry leaders of tomorrow. This role will provide hands-on economic case support to programme teams across Innovate UK as they develop business cases for submission to UKRI, DSIT and HM Treasury, including one large portfolio business case for investment in innovation infrastructure.

The Economic Appraisal and Evaluation (EA&E) team is part of the Strategy directorate in Innovate UK. Innovation is a key component of economic growth, and it is the team’s role to ensure that appropriate evidence is collected and interpreted through economic appraisal and evaluation to inform Innovate UK’s decision making.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Author the economic case component of Innovate UK business cases, including the development of options appraisal, benefits and costs modelling, BCR and VfM analysis, and sensitivity and risk analysis, in line with Green Book and Aqua Book standards.
• Build bespoke economic models to support programme business cases, ensuring they are proportionate, transparent, well-documented, and robust to scrutiny from UKRI, DSIT and HM Treasury.
• Work directly with programme teams as their economic business partner, providing hands-on support, interpreting programme logic and evidence into economic analysis, and drafting economic case narrative that clearly communicates value for money.
• Support programme teams to develop and articulate theories of change and logic models that underpin the economic case, ensuring benefits pathways are credible and evidenced.
• Respond to feedback from internal stakeholders and external assurers at UKRI, DSIT and HMT, iterating economic analysis to secure approval.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of Innovate UK's economic appraisal templates, guidance and tools, sharing insights from live cases to improve consistency and quality across the portfolio.
• Share expertise with programme teams and non-specialist colleagues, helping to build Innovate UK's longer-term economic capability.
• Collaborate with evaluation colleagues within the EA&E team to ensure economic analysis aligns with evaluation plans and that benefits articulated in the economic case are measurable and evaluable.
• Communicate technical economic evidence clearly and accessibly to a range of audiences, including senior leadership, programme teams, and external approvers, highlighting key findings, implications, and limitations.
• Maintain awareness of current and emerging good practice in economic appraisal, particularly as it applies to R&D and innovation policy, and apply this knowledge to strengthen Innovate UK's cases.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with programme teams, analytical colleagues, and external stakeholders including UKRI and DSIT economist counterparts.

Person Specification:

• Essential – Applicants must have a degree-level (or higher) qualification in a course which contained at least 50% Economics content, or have considerable equivalent experience applying these skills in a professional work environment.
• Demonstrable ability/experience authoring Green Book-compliant economic appraisals, including for business cases structured under HM Treasury's Five Case Model.
• Demonstrable ability/experience of authoring the economic case component of business cases for submission to central government, UKRI, or equivalent approval bodies.
• Ability/experience building bespoke economic models from scratch, including options appraisal, cost-benefit analysis, BCR calculations, and sensitivity analysis.
• Ability/experience of managing multiple complex analysis projects simultaneously, delivering to tight deadlines and responding to iterative feedback from reviewers and approvers.
• Evidence of strong written and oral communications skills, including explaining technical economic concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability/Experience of working with and influencing internal stakeholders, including programme teams and senior decision-makers, and building credibility quickly in new organisational settings.

Travel Requirements: Field-based: There will be a requirement to travel, mostly national, and there is some flexibility in this.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met.

Employee Benefits: We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.