Economist - ADR Wales

The Welsh Government operates name-free recruitment. The recruiting panel will not see personal information such as a candidate’s name and address during the sifting process. This policy is in line with our commitment to end bias and promote equality and diversity.

A starting salary between £61,098-73,057 will be offered to the successful candidate based on their skills, knowledge, experience and performance at interview. This range is not negotiable.

Work pattern: Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time).

Location(s): Pan Wales. ‘Pan Wales’ means the post holder can be based in any Welsh Government office, subject to business needs. Roles based outside Wales, including London, are not available unless explicitly stated in the advert.

Purpose of post: We are recruiting a Grade 7 Economist to lead and deliver high-quality economic analysis using linked administrative data, working closely with Administrative Data Research (ADR) Wales. The role has a primary focus on health research, supporting policy development, evaluation, and strategic decision-making across health and social care, while retaining the flexibility to contribute to other priority Welsh Government analytical areas (e.g., education, labour markets, local government, equality and inclusion, justice, economy and climate).

The postholder will provide authoritative economic advice, lead analytical projects from scoping to publication, and help strengthen the Welsh Government’s capability to use administrative and linked data to answer complex policy questions.

Key tasks:

• Lead economic analysis and research using administrative/linked data.
• Design and deliver robust analytical projects, including evaluation, causal inference, cost and impact analysis, distributional analysis, and scenario appraisal.
• Apply appropriate economic frameworks (e.g., welfare economics, public finance, labour economics, health economics) to real-world policy problems.
• Develop and assure methods and quality.
• Set analytical standards for projects (methods, assumptions, reproducibility, peer review, documentation).
• Quality-assure outputs and coach others to improve technical practice and analytical writing.
• Collaborate with ADR Wales partners and data owners to scope projects, access data through secure environments, and navigate information governance appropriately.
• Translate policy questions into feasible research designs and data specifications; manage analytical risks and limitations transparently.
• Deliver analyses that align with the strategic direction of the Welsh Government.
• Provide clear, decision-ready advice to senior officials and policy teams, explaining trade-offs, uncertainty, and implications.
• Communicate complex findings in accessible formats for varied audiences (policy, operational, technical, external).
• Lead multi-disciplinary project teams (economists, statisticians, social researchers, data scientists) as required.
• Manage stakeholders and expectations, prioritise workload, and deliver at pace without compromising quality.
• Contribute to the wider analytical community and support capability-building in administrative data methods.

In this role, the postholder will:

• Build deep expertise in applied health economics and the economics of public services, with opportunities to work on other cross-government priorities as needs evolve.
• Develop advanced skills in evaluation and impact analysis using administrative and linked data, including counterfactual thinking, sensitivity analysis, and communicating uncertainty.
• Gain end-to-end experience of delivering research in the ADR Wales ecosystem, scoping policy questions into research designs, working in secure data environments, and producing publishable, reproducible outputs.
• Strengthen Grade 7 technical leadership: setting analytical standards, leading peer review and quality assurance, and advising on methodological choices to meet decision-maker needs.
• Enhance your ability to influence senior stakeholders through clear, decision-ready briefings that set out options, trade-offs, distributional impacts and risks.
• Broaden your portfolio by applying the same methods across themes such as education, labour markets, poverty, local government, equality and place-based policy.
• Join an active professional community with access to GES learning, networks and mentoring, and opportunities to coach others and build capability across the Welsh Government analytical system.
• Have the opportunity to learn Welsh.

Welsh Government offers a learning prospectus and has resources and assistance to help people learning through an array of reasonable adjustments.

This is a Government Economic Service (GES) badged post. It is open to existing GES members (level transfer or promotion) and to applicants who meet the GES eligibility requirements and are willing to join the GES on appointment.

Applicants must have a first or upper second-class honours degree in economics, or a joint degree with at least 50% economics modules, or a postgraduate degree in economics (or equivalent that meets GES membership requirements).

Selection will assess candidates against the relevant GES technical standards and Civil Service Success Profile requirements for Grade 7, as set out in the GES Technical Framework 2022.

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted against the lead assessment criterion: Experience 1 - Analysis of data. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview. A reserve list may be held for this opportunity.

Any candidate who is successful in being offered a reserve status will remain on the reserve list for 12 months. A written exercise and presentation will be used at the interview stage to test Technical 1 and 2 - Application of knowledge and Effective communication.

More information will be provided in the invitations to that stage.

The following qualities are desirable and will only be considered if two or more candidates receive the same score at the application or interview stage:

Vetting level: Basic

Number of posts: 1

Contact point for further information regarding the post: economistrecruitment@gov.wales

Welsh language requirements: Welsh language skills are not essential for this opportunity; you do not need Welsh language skills to apply. However, as the Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation, Welsh language skills are desirable and will be considered if two or more candidates receive the same score at the application or interview stage.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application; however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our AI candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection Process and Stages: Welsh Government, like all other Government Departments, use Success Profiles when we recruit. For each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. It raises performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

The selection process and stages are:

• Number of Stages: 2 stage process
• Stage 1: Application Form
• Stage 2: Interview

Behaviours: We’ll assess you against these Behaviour criteria during the selection process.

• Behaviour 1: Working Together
• Behaviour 2: Delivering at Pace

Experience: We'll assess you against the following Experience criteria during the assessment process.

• Experience 1: Analysis of data - Strong experience analysing complex microdata (ideally administrative and/or linked datasets) to generate policy-relevant insight.

Strengths: This will be tested at Interview stage only.

• Strength 1: Adaptable

Technical: We'll assess the following Technical skills during the selection process.

• Technical 1: Application of knowledge - Ability to synthesise evidence from multiple sources (including research literature and administrative evidence), articulate limitations/uncertainty, and draw defensible conclusions for decision-makers (including distributional/inequality considerations where relevant).
• Technical 2: Effective communication - Able to communicate complex findings clearly (written and verbal), tailoring content to the audience and ensuring implications, caveats and uncertainty are understood.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria your application will not progress. If it becomes clear at a later stage in the process that you are not eligible to apply, your application may be withdrawn, or the offer retracted.

Nationality requirements: 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), 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.

Social Model of Disability: Welsh Government has adopted the social model of disability, which recognises that barriers in society act to disable people who have impairments, or health conditions, who are neurodivergent or who use British Sign Language. We are committed to removing barriers in the recruitment process so that all (or potential new) staff can perform at their best.

Recruitment adjustments can be made at any part of the recruitment process for candidates with an impairment or health condition, who are neurodivergent or who use British Sign Language. We are committed to inclusive recruitment and offer interviews to eligible candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role through the following schemes: Disability Confident, A Great Place to Work for Veterans, Redeployment Interview Scheme.

By ‘minimum criteria’ we mean that candidates must provide us with evidence in their application (and/or test) that they meet the minimum level of competence for the role - usually defined as a minimum score of 4 per criterion.

Social Partnership: In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together. Our 3 recognised trade unions are: PCS, Prospect, FDA.

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as pay, terms and conditions, HR strategy, policies and procedures, health, safety and well-being, organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. We encourage you to learn more about our trade unions, partnership working and to get involved in their work.

31 days annual leave (pro-rated for part time), training and development opportunities, Cycle2Work Scheme, Smart Working flexible working arrangement, Green Car Scheme (subject to availability).

If you are an active Civil Service Pension member you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and wish to make a complaint please email complaints@gov.wales. Please ensure that you refer to the vacancy reference number.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Welsh Government, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: info@csc.gov.uk.