Senior Associate Economists - Cost Assessment

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for two Senior Associate Economists to join our Cost Assessment Team in Price Review.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. The government has set out a bold new direction, bringing together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. We are collaborating with fellow regulators to respond to recommendations in The Independent Water Commission Report, the Welsh Government’s response to the Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Water Governance in Wales, and the Government’s White Paper, A new vision for water.

Ofwat is working with the government and other regulators to help create a new body for England, bringing together our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. We are also continuing to work with the Welsh Government to support decisions on the future arrangements for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

Job description

We're looking for two Senior Associate Economists to join our Cost Assessment team. These roles are full of influence and exciting challenges.

The cost assessment team plays a pivotal part in shaping price reviews, setting expenditure allowances, and developing policy in areas such as incentive design and improvements to the regulatory framework.

As a Senior Associate Economist, you will lead one of several workstreams within our cost assessment team:

• Developing econometric models and related policy development for different segments of the water sector value chain.
• Managing cross-cutting data that supports high-quality regulatory reporting to inform cost assessment and delivery of funded activities.
• Designing and reviewing incentive tools to encourage delivery and hold companies to account at the next price review.

You will work closely with principals, other senior associates, and graduate associates, and collaborate across teams. Depending on your specialism you will:

• Contribute to policy development in areas such as incentive design, cost benchmarking, and wider improvements to the regulatory framework.
• Support our work to review the price control deliverables (PCDs) framework to address the Independent Water Commission (IWC) recommendations on this subject.
• Contribute to policy development on our supervisory approach and how PCDs and wider delivery incentives will feed into this.
• Work with colleagues to improve our monitoring regime to continue supporting our ability to hold companies to account in a targeted and proportionate way.
• Support the development of our approach to setting expenditure allowances at the next price review, drawing on lessons from PR24 and the recommendations of the IWC.
• Work with colleagues to ensure robust, evidence-based recommendations for expenditure allowances.
• Engage with stakeholders across the sector, including water companies, other regulators, and internal teams.
• Contribute to the robust use of data across the cost assessment team, supporting the entire team with quality assurance, expert knowledge of Ofwat's databases and best-practice modelling tools.
• Providing expert advice to ensure data quality and mitigate risks of error.

Key deliverables:

Depending on the role, you can be expected to:

• Develop policy options to address Independent Water Commission (IWC recommendations) on price control deliverables (PCD) framework, cost assessment modelling and related policy issues.
• Provide robust quantitative and qualitative analysis in developing the approach to setting expenditure allowances for our price reviews, including related policy development.
• Present clear, evidence-based policy recommendations on complex issues to senior leaders, ensuring robust and transparent decision making.
• Draft and review reports, publications, discussion papers and consultation documents to a high standard.
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to shape and test new approaches and ensure successful delivery of objectives.
• Present policy papers at internal meetings and senior policy forums to develop different elements of Ofwat's cost assessment and PCD frameworks.
• Contribute to external stakeholder engagement including organising and lead workshops with external stakeholders to support development of policy options.
• Contribute to the professional development of team members and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Develop the cost assessment Excel feeder model suite for the price review, ensuring it remains robust, transparent, and fit for purpose. Provide advice on cost assessment data and modelling including defining data requirements.

Person specification

To be successful in these roles you will need the below essential experience, skills, knowledge, and attributes:

• Experience of applying economics in a regulator, competition authority, consultancy or regulated company, with a strong interest in and aptitude for economic regulation and quantitative modelling (including econometrics).
• An undergraduate degree in economics and/or a discipline with significant economic/numerate content or equivalent experience including data science.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Professional experience of developing, managing and implementing policy.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
• Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver multiple projects with conflicting deadlines.

Benefits

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 25 days’ annual leave (increasing to 30 with each year of service) plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave.
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.