Economic Adviser


Apply Now
 

Details

Reference number

320146

Salary

£54,404
G7: £54,404 (National) £58,646 (London) Pension contribution G7: 15179 Salary will be pro rata if working as part of a job share partnership. If applying on a job-share basis, the expectation is that you are already in an established job-share partnership. Applicants who wish to work compressed hours are welcome to apply – however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
A
Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Temporary

Length of employment

Temporary 12 months

Business area

FSA – Information and Science – Analytics Unit

Type of role

Analytical
Economist

Working pattern

Full-time, Homeworking, Job share, Compressed Hours

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

Multi-location from one of our FSA Offices (Belfast, Cardiff or York), or home based in the UK. Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas. Travel across the UK will be required on an occasional basis, possibly with overnight stays.

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a small government department with a big mission: to keep food safe, ensuring that it is what it says it is, and that it is increasingly healthy and more sustainable. In carrying out this remit, it’s vital that we are driven by analytical, evidence-led thinking. Through independent research and the work of our advisers across the FSA, we can help guide Britain’s food systems and create a robust, safe environment that will protect the nation for decades to come.

Economic Advisers play a big role in the endeavour, using their analytical skills and wider understanding to help us shape both food and regulatory policy, and the way we operate at the FSA.

This role will see you lead our team offering expert economic analysis that supports major change programmes across the FSA. Commissioning and delivering high-profile research projects, you will ensure that our teams seeking to improve the FSA’s delivery of its services are informed by high quality analysis.

Job description

You’ll be able to communicate findings in a way that promotes the understanding of our work, and of the application of economics across the FSA, strengthening our approach and ensuring we make the best decisions possible.

You will need to be a strong communicator, capable of forming conclusions based on high-quality analysis, and sharing these conclusions with stakeholders from across the FSA and beyond. Strong organisational skills will help you juggle the responsibilities of the roles, and an ability to work collaboratively as part of a wider team will be vital to drawing the best out of your colleagues, guiding the policies and decision-making of the FSA. You’ll be a role model to the wider team, including an economist and apprentice economist that you will provide line management to.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help make a real difference to our work at the FSA, powering our teams to make the right decisions. If you are excited to use your skills to help inform our work and protect the nation’s food, apply today to join us as an Economic Adviser.

This post is advertised as a 12-month Fixed Term/Loan appointment.  Candidates that are already established Civil Servants or from non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will come to the FSA on a Loan basis and will need to request permission from their Home Department for the Loan prior to applying for this job. 

Note for FSA employees:

You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy, this includes applying for a new post during an existing temporary posting.  Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion – you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent).

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

• Member of the Government Economic Service (GES) or eligible to join on appointment (first or 2:1 in economics or joint degree with at least 50% in economics, or master’s in economics and/or equivalent relevant work experience).

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

  • • Government Economic Service Technical Framework – Effective Communication (Level G7)
Alongside your salary of £54,404, Food Standards Agency contributes
£15,179 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.  

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role. 

  • Member of the Government Economic Service (GES) or eligible to join on appointment (first or 2:1 in economics or joint degree with at least 50% in economics, or master’s in economics and/or equivalent relevant work experience).

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

 

Experience

  • Experience in applying economics techniques such as cost-benefit analysis to solve complex problems and influence evidence-policy in government.
  • Experience in managing resources, including research and analytical projects, balancing competing demands to support evidence-based policy.
  • Experience of building relationships with stakeholders to achieve corporate priorities.

Technical

  • Government Economic Service Technical Framework – Effective Communication (Level G7)
  • Government Economic Service Technical Framework – Analysis of data (Level G7)

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Technical requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 4

Behaviours

Technical:

  • Government Economic Service Technical Framework – Effective Communication (Level G7)
  • Government Economic Service Technical Framework – Analysis of data (Level G7)

 As part of the interview process, you will be asked to deliver a seen presentation. Further information will be provided to you on the invite to interview email.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 5th November

Sift: Expected to take place From 7th November

Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 20th November

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application.)

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all.

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.

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.
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available.
You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

  • Name : Willem Roelofs
  • Email : willem.roelofs@food.gov.uk

Recruitment team

  • Email : hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk

Further information

If you wish to raise a complaint then please email hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk in the first instance.

Attachments

Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 951kB)
Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 Opens in new window (pdf, 60kB)

Share this page

 
 

Apply Now

Posted

in

,