Assistant Economist

Assistant Economist
Salary:
National: £34,820 - £40,000. If the successful candidate is a current Civil Servant joining on level transfer, HM Treasury will honour their current substantive salary if higher.
Contract Type:
Permanent
Working Pattern:
This post is available on a full time, part time or job share basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated.

Location:

Darlington (Feethams House)
We are recruiting an Assistant Economist to join the Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions team. This is an exciting role with analysis having a direct impact on policy work.
About the Team

The Person al Tax team covers a very broad range of exciting policies with sustained ministerial, parliamentary and media interest. The team leads on core elements of the UK tax system, including income tax, National Insurance contributions and inheritance tax, and plays a critical role in shaping policy at fiscal events.

The Person al Tax team is responsible for income tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs), the apprenticeship levy, inheritance tax and other aspects of the personal tax system. Total personal tax receipts exceed £400bn, so our policies are fundamental in fiscal and economic importance to the Treasury and of significant interest to the Chancellor and other ministers. For example, over the past few years the team’s work has included changes to employer and employee National Insurance contributions rates and thresholds, changes to the taxation of non-UK domiciled individuals, changes to inheritance tax and more.
We are a collaborative and open team. We work with other teams on the impact of tax policy on the labour market, economic growth, and on the interaction of tax with welfare and pensions.
About the Job
The postholder is one of a few economists embedded in the tax teams, and working on crosscutting projects. You will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with policy professionals to ensure that economic theory and analysis is embedded in their policy work, and that real time data (notably tax receipts) is understood and incorporated into their work.
The key responsibilities of the post-holder will be:
Conducting economic research, modelling and analysis for leads and ministers. These will encompass longer term research projects and rapid modelling to support policy making.  Previous examples have included work on the differential between income and capital gains tax, wealth tax and pensions tax.
Working with teams across HMT at Budgets to provide data and analysis that informs policy decisions and is then used appropriately when those policies are announced. Use economic analysis to understand likely behavioural response to our announcements.
Maintaining and improving the modelling capability of the branch.
Monitoring and analysis of personal tax receipts, ensure regular updates are provided to seniors and ensuring policies teams fully understand movements in the data. Identify and analyse the potential fiscal impacts of trends and behaviours e.g. the changing nature of the labour market to help shape policy development in both the short and medium term.
Working in close collaboration with HMRC (especially the Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence team), specialists across the Department and external partners; building effective relationships in multiple teams and at various grades.
Work flexibly across team to support urgent priorities as they emerge. We encourage applications from candidates who may have less experience in some of the required criteria but are curious and willing to develop their understanding. Training and support can be provided on-the-job.
Leading on managing the student loan book.  Given the scale of the loan book, it is vital that HM Treasury maintains effective control over spending across England and the Devolved Administrations. Through the bi‑annual Estimates process, you will work closely with DfE and other HM Treasury teams to use analysis to set targets - such as the level of student loan debt that can be written off - to support effective monitoring of this spending.

You will also lead on providing advice to senior officials and ministers on novel, contentious,…