Location: We especially welcome applicants from Cardiff and Glasgow.
Ofgem is Great Britain’s independent energy regulator. Our primary responsibility is to protect energy consumers, especially the most vulnerable, while at the same time working with government, industry and consumer groups to deliver a clean, more affordable and secure net-zero energy system at the lowest cost to consumers and drive economic growth.
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 successful candidate will lead Ofgem through a period of significant system and regulatory evolution, ensuring the organisation is equipped to operate effectively in a more dynamic, investment-driven and consumer-focused energy system. This includes embedding the direction set by the government’s Review of Ofgem whilst strengthening Ofgem’s role as a forward-looking economic regulator.
Working closely with the Board and Executive team, the CEO will ensure Ofgem delivers against its statutory duties, maintains its independence and authority, and builds the capability, credibility and relationships required to support the future energy system.
The successful candidate will lead the evolution of Ofgem’s regulatory approach, ensuring it reflects a high-investment, delivery focused energy system, including the development of more outcome-based and incentivised regulatory frameworks, particularly across network companies. Whilst embedding the direction set by the government’s Review of Ofgem and the three statutory duties – protecting consumers, supporting net zero, and enabling economic growth – ensuring these are balanced effectively in regulatory decision-making.
Ofgem is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided on the basis of open and fair competition, merit and business need.
Job overview
We are seeking an outstanding economist to lead Ofgem’s economics function at a moment of unprecedented visibility and importance. You will lead Ofgem’s 50-strong economics and analysis team and provide professional leadership to Ofgem’s wider community of around 60 economists, ensuring that robust economic analysis sits at the heart of regulatory decision-making.
In addition to serving as Ofgem’s Chief Economist, the postholder will provide strategic leadership across Ofgem’s wider analytical capability, ensuring that economics, data, insight and analysis are deployed effectively to support regulatory decision-making and organisational priorities. As the most senior analytical leader in the organisation, they will champion analytical excellence and evidence-based decision making across Ofgem.
As Chief Economist, you will direct and assure economic advice across a diverse and high-profile portfolio, including retail market reforms, network price controls and competition issues. You will hold ultimate responsibility for the quality, coherence and influence of that advice supporting decisions that balance affordability for consumers with the investment needed to deliver net zero at least cost. You will be a recognised expert in the economics of energy markets, or in regulatory/competition economics. You will provide authoritative advice to the Board (GEMA) and Executive Committee and be able to explain and defend Ofgem’s economic analysis in adversarial settings where required. You will report to the CEO and be part of the Executive Committee and represent Ofgem to senior leaders across industry, government and the economics profession.
A core part of the role is professional leadership: developing capability, setting standards, and ensuring Ofgem’s economists are supported to do impactful, policy-shaping work. You will be a strong people leader, committed to inclusive, high-performing teams. Working at Ofgem provides an opportunity to influence and make decisions affecting every household and business in Great Britain and ultimately supports our economic growth and international competitiveness.
As Chief Economist, you will play a pivotal role in protecting consumers, enabling net zero and supporting growth when the contribution Ofgem makes has never been more visible or more important.
Key skills / capabilities required
- Demonstrate visible commitment as a senior leader that fosters and supports diversity and inclusion.
- Effective resource management including the ability to identify priorities and flex resources to meet them.
- To have, or be able to develop quickly, a strong network amongst the government and regulatory economic community.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Strong track record of applying economic analysis in energy or to other complex regulatory, market and public policy challenges.
- Senior and credible leader with experience building and leading high performing multidisciplinary analytical teams, including economists, statisticians and data scientists, within complex, large-scale, highly regulated environments.
- Deep expertise in the use of economic modelling, econometrics, data analysis, and advanced analytical techniques to evaluate markets, assess regulatory interventions, forecast outcomes, and support evidence-based decision making.
- Highly credible advisor to very senior decision-makers with the ability to build trust and influence e.g. with Boards, Chief Executives, ministers, and other senior stakeholders.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £163,000, OFGEM contributes £47,221 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes:
- SCS holiday entitlement;
- Excellent training and development opportunities;
- The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits;
- Hybrid working (currently 20% attendance in the office but this is kept under review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies.
Plus, lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050.
This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience.
Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
To apply for this post, please submit via the Saxton Bampfylde website (roles.saxbam.com) using code GOREF.
A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years;
A Statement of Suitability (no longer than two pages) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.
For further details on the application and selection processes, please see the attached candidate pack.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by.
It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
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
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should email The Head of Talent Acquisition at: [email protected] in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission. More detailed information can be found on the Civil Service Commission website.
Attachments
Chief Economist (463898)- candidate pack - Opens in new window (pdf - 1,475kB)
