Job Vacancy Senior Economist

Are you a skilled economist who can use your experience in modelling to help shape a brand-new regulatory regime, underpinning a key enabler for Net Zero? If so, Ofgem's Heat Networks team would love to hear from you. As Great Britain's regulator for the energy industry, Ofgem exists to ensure a safe, secure and sustainable energy supply to British households and businesses. 

As the Senior Economist, you will lead various outputs and deliverables within an expanding team, working collaboratively with the Heat Networks team, other Ofgem teams, and colleagues in the Department of Energy Security and Net-zero (DESNZ). 

Your role will include leading the development of our approach to price protection, gathering and analysing sector data and developing frameworks to identify and address consumer detriment. You will respond effectively to evolving government policies, considering pros and cons and drafting clear and concise documents for informed decision-making. 

You will play a crucial part in advising on policy feasibility and building collaborative working relationships with other government departments. You will have opportunities to present at events and conferences, engage with multiple sectors in the heat network market, and communicate policy benefits, challenges, and trade-offs to senior Ofgem colleagues. 

We are looking for a skilled economist with experience in analysis and cost modelling. Your exceptional ability to lead and influence discussions with colleagues and stakeholders will be invaluable in developing robust policies. As a pivotal member of our multi-disciplinary team, you will take the lead in conducting economic analysis and using your expertise to create practical solutions.  

Your proficiency in communicating complex issues with clarity to non-specialists will be instrumental in ensuring robust evidence-based decision-making and garnering support from stakeholders for our developing solutions. 

This is an exciting opportunity to work on high profile projects whilst shaping a brand-new regulatory regime. You will be joining a collaborative and supportive team who bring together wide-ranging experience and expertise. 

Ofgem has a culture of inclusion that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our colleagues. It fuels our innovation and helps ensure we can best represent the consumers and the communities we serve. Everyone is welcome - as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work. 

The Heat Networks team is responsible for shaping and implementing the future regulatory regime for heat networks. Ofgem will be responsible for regulating the heat networks market when the necessary legislation is in place. We provide advice and expertise to Government on the detailed design of the new regulatory arrangements. The Heat Networks team is also making preparations for Ofgem's future oversight role, including how we will monitor the market, work with stakeholders and deliver our new functions.

The scale of change needed as the market transitions to statutory regulation means that team members have exposure to unique regulatory challenges and must engage with a broad range of stakeholders to find solutions. The heat network industry has many players (large corporate entities, small privately run heat suppliers, local authorities, housing associations, billing and customer service providers), and the team will have to engage with all of them in order to develop a regulatory regime that meets the needs of customers, industry and the regulator. This particular role will take a lead role in developing our approach to consumer protection on pricing, including gathering and analysing data on practice within the sector. This role will also contribute to policy development and implementation on recovery of costs associated with implementing the new regulatory regime.

After the initial deployment, you will have the opportunity to work flexibly across Ofgem as a member of your Profession, working on cross-Ofgem projects, and/or in teams that require your skills and expertise.

Key Responsibilities and outputs

This position will be part of an expanding team dealing with a wide range of policy development and implementation challenges. The role will need to work collaboratively with staff across the wider Heat Networks team, other teams in Ofgem and colleagues in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The successful candidate will be leading the following outputs and deliverables.

Policy development and implementation

• Lead the development of our approach to price regulation, including the overall framework and requirements for heat networks. Collaborate closely with experts across Ofgem on price regulation.
• Work closely with the team's Consumer Protection lead to ensure a consistent approach across the workstreams.
• Gather and analyse data on costs across the sector to inform the approach to benchmarking. Develop the model for identifying and comparing costs and where required, support others to use this model.
• Develop the framework to identify and quantify consumer detriment in relation to pricing. Use benchmarking model to identify examples of disproportionate pricing and how we can address them.
• Ability to respond to changing priorities and evolving government policy when necessary. Be able to rapidly reflect and incorporate those changes in developing implementation options and assess evolving risks.
• Analytical skills to consider the pros and cons of various policy and implementation options, the ability to work with uncertainty and select the preferred solutions to meet Ofgem's and stakeholders' needs.
• Draft clear and concise documents. Provide recommendations to the team and Ofgem senior management on key elements of the authorisation and licencing process. Enable senior decision makers to reach an informed position on a proposed options.

Essential Criteria

• Lead: Ability to bring together and analyse a diverse evidence base and develop the best implementation solutions from this
• Lead: Demonstrable experience of cost modelling relevant to a regulated sector
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative working relationships with a diverse network of colleagues and stakeholders that can assist the development of deliverable policies and processes.
• Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills. Ability to manage your workload, direct the workload of others, and deliver multi stranded packages of work with high quality outputs to agreed standards and timelines
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills that effectively communicate complex issues to non-expert audiences