Economist and Strategy Lead Government Economic Service

We seek a proactive economist who demonstrates leadership, strong analytical skills, and effective communication to advance the Government Economic Service profession vision. This vision is “to champion economics in government, and to promote the use of high-impact, high-quality economic analysis provided by excellent economists.”

The Government Economic and Social Research Team (GESR) is a friendly, dynamic group that supports the Government Social Research (GSR) and Government Economic Service (GES) professions. They help attract, develop, connect, and keep skilled analysts throughout the government.

We work across government to make sure social researchers and economists have the resources required to deliver high-quality analysis and evidence for policy makers across all UK Government and public service functions. We also partner with external organisations (e.g. Royal Economics Society, Society for Professional Economists, Discover Economics) to improve evidence use in policy making, keep GES members updated with the latest analysis techniques, and promote diversity in perspectives and analyst hiring.

The team is divided into Strategy and Operations groups. Together, they deliver all policies and commitments in the GSR and GES Strategies. They work closely with senior leaders. This is a high-profile team in both areas, offering many chances to engage with senior collaborators, develop leadership skills, and grow professionally inside and outside HMT.

Diversity and inclusion of people and ideas are central to our mission. You must be committed to role modelling the positive and inclusive behaviour we expect of our membership.

The team works across two locations, London and Darlington, and occasional travel is encouraged between the two. If long-distance travel between sites is difficult for you, a range of reasonable adjustments can be arranged.

In this role, you will:

As the role holder, you will coordinate delivery and reporting for the current GES Strategy. This strategy outlines priorities for a profession with 3,700 members across more than 50 departments. You will use your position to improve economics capability throughout the Civil Service and increase its impact on public sector delivery and government policy.

You will deliver clear and decisive advice to GES leaders and departments across the Civil Service. Your role ensures governance, technical assessment, recruitment, professional development, and member engagement are efficient and consistent with the GES Strategy and the GES Technical Framework.

You will be at the very centre of delivering and crafting guidelines on behalf of senior leaders. You will build direct working relationships with Departmental Chief Economists, Directors of Analysis, and other senior economists across the Civil Service.

This role offers a great opportunity for an economist who thinks strategically and seeks to develop experience working alongside senior leaders and managing efforts throughout government.