About us

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Pro Bono Economics (PBE), an organisation that prides itself on its flexible working environment, culture of learning, focus on employee wellbeing and the strength of our employee relationships. PBE offers a strong benefits package, opportunities for development and a team working at the top of their game.

PBE’s mission is to end low personal wellbeing in the UK. We do this by helping charities and social enterprises understand their economic and social impact, so they can improve their overall effectiveness. We enable professional economists from the private and public sectors as well as academia to volunteer their skills to tackle some of the most pressing issues in society. We have worked with over 500 charities since our inception in 2009.

Having successfully delivered a major programme of ground-breaking work on the condition of the charity sector in the form of the Law Family Commission on Civil Society at the start of 2023, PBE is entering a new phase in its development. Building on its growing research and policy expertise and its strong association with the social sector, the organisation is taking a bottom-up and top-down approach to exploring, understanding, and tackling the causes and consequences of low personal wellbeing in the UK that uses the insights and perspectives of charities and community groups as a unique jumping off point. PBE is focused on delivering high quality research that both translates into real policy and practice impacts for people with low wellbeing and supports a more effective social sector to help deliver that change.

About the role

Reporting directly to Pro Bono Economics’ Director of Research, Policy and Communications, the Head of Analysis is responsible for the management, delivery and development of all of PBE’s analytical output. They are a source of advice and leadership for members of the Research, Policy & Communications team, serving as the organisation’s data quality assurance backstop and driving analytical skills development across PBE. They will also play a key role in supporting the expansion of PBE’s research work into new areas, helping with the exploration of new data sources and the establishment of new networks across academia and the research community.

The Head of Analysis provides deep experience and expertise in relation to secondary quantitative analysis. They are proficient in a wide range of statistical methods and modelling and fluent in Stata (or similar). They have good familiarity with large UK microdata sets such as Understanding Society and the Labour Force Survey.

They work alongside the Chief Economist and the Director of Research, Policy & Communications to oversee PBE’s overall research programme, and they provide direct line management to several of the organisation’s Economists and Research & Policy Analysts.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Work with the Chief Economist to oversee the analytical work undertaken by PBE’s in-house and volunteer economists designed to help charities across the UK better measure and understand their impact.

• Work with the Director of Research, Policy & Communications and the Chief Economist to establish and deliver an overall research programme that helps PBE to understand the causes and consequences of low personal wellbeing in the UK.

• Work with the Director of Research, Policy & Communications to project manage workstreams within this overall programme. Take full responsibility for the delivery of selected analysis and reports and additionally provide support, leadership and quality assurance for colleagues in their work. 

• Establish, manage and develop a PBE data ‘library’ of secondary data sources to provide insight on the low wellbeing challenge facing the UK. This includes: identifying relevant sources; accessing and cleaning microdata as appropriate (including within the Office for National Statistics secure zone); overseeing in-house coding in Stata (or similar) to support repeat analysis; interpreting findings; and communicating results to expert and non-expert audiences.

• Work with the Chief Economist and external partners to provide expertise and advice on econometric and statistical modelling. Additionally manage analytical training and development for the wider Research, Policy & Communications team.

• Manage several economists and analysts within PBE’s Research, Policy & Communications team, supporting them with day-to-day priorities and broader professional development.

• Lead on the exploration and development of innovate approaches to generating insight on low wellbeing in the UK, including the use of administrative data and the opportunities provided by AI and data science approaches.

• Work with the Director of Research, Policy & Communications to complete and win bids for multi-year research funding that provide PBE with the opportunity to take a strategic approach to fulfilling its mission.

• Propose, design and test policy solutions that promote PBE’s aims of using evidence to support social change.

• Where appropriate, communicate PBE’s work in print and broadcast media and represent PBE at our own seminars and at events run by others.

• Work with PBE’s Head of Communications to produce press notices and media campaigns and to organise events

• Any other duties as deemed reasonable by the line manager

Post type: Full-time, permanent, hybrid working.

Benefits working at PBE include:

• 28 day annual leave per year (excluding bank holidays)

• 7% employer pension contributions

• Group life assurance scheme and sickness cover

• Employee assistance programme

• Enhanced parental leave policy

• Generous personal development budget

• Discounted university gym membership

• A flexible work environment committed to employee wellbeing

 About you

We are looking for experienced candidates with a high level of proficiency in quantitative analysis.

The role would suit someone with

• Formal analytical training and ideally some knowledge of the key government and administrative datasets relating to wellbeing, living standards and civil society in the UK. Candidates should be able to point to a strong track record of delivering research, the ability to organise complex projects, and interest in developing policy recommendations.

• A passion for using evidence to drive better decisions and how this can contribute to improvements across wider society. You should have practical experience of using analytical techniques such as regression analysis, matching approaches and predictive analytics to analyse real world situations, and of communicating conclusions effectively to a wide range of audiences.

Ideal characteristics

• Deep expertise in statistical analysis and the use of statistical software packages (ideally Stata) and using large datasets.

• Ability to develop a research strategy and manage a programme of projects, with clear evidence of designing, managing and delivering high quality projects on time.

• An eye for detail and a strong dedication to quality.

• Proven ability to work independently and manage priorities and deadlines, alongside an ability to work collaboratively in a small team.

• Experience with managing analytical teams, including developing and motivating teams, setting objectives and supporting prioritisation/resourcing decisions.

• Demonstrable writing and presentational skills in a range of contexts and to a range of audiences, including published reports and press articles.

• Interest in influencing policy change and a commitment to PBE’s focus on using economics to drive wellbeing improvements in the UK.

A strong commitment to PBE’s internal culture of inquisitiveness, generosity, honesty and respect.

Desirable characteristics include:

• Specific understanding of and experience in working with key large-scale UK microdata sets such as the Labour Force Survey, Wealth and Assets Survey or Understanding Society.

• Understanding of and experience in working with administrative data to generate research insight.

• Understanding of and experience in using AI and data science techniques to generate innovative research insight.

• A track record of securing significant research funding from research councils and/or grant making trusts and foundations.

• A well-established network among the UK’s research, analytical and policy communities.

• Experience in survey design and establishing sampling frameworks.

PBE is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We encourage applications from all parts of the community, and we give all applicants and employees fair and equal treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality. We also guarantee an invitation to interview for all applicants with disabilities who show evidence that they can meet the role’s ideal criteria.

Please note that PBE does not hold a sponsorship licence and is therefore unable to provide work sponsorship visas for this role. All candidates must hold the requisite work permit/right to work in the UK.

For details of our applicant’s privacy policy, please see https://www.probonoeconomics.com/policies