About the role

We are looking for an Economist to join the Pro Bono Economics (PBE) team.  This is an exciting opportunity for an economist to apply their knowledge and expertise to a range of interesting projects in the UK’s social sector.

Post type: Permanent, full-time.  The role will be hybrid with up to three days working from home and at least two days working from PBE’s office in London. Flexible arrangements will be considered, and we welcome people applying on secondment.

Other Benefits of 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

Reports to: Senior Economist

Main duties and tasks:

• Scope economic projects with charities to help them measure and understand their impact.

• Deliver insightful economic analysis to support charities and develop PBE’s evidence base about the social sector.

• Provide advice and support to charities to help them gather the right data to support economic evaluation of their impact in the future.

• Provide guidance, review, challenge and quality assurance to other project teams, including those with volunteers.

• Help develop PBE’s methodology for evaluating issues and interventions using economic analysis.

• Use analysis to help shape policy recommendations or evaluate policies that are under consideration in the UK.

• Support our Communications functions to present our analyses in an accessible, impactful way that is suitable for the audience.

• Support funding bid drafting to help shape and fund future economic research projects regarding the social sector.

About us

Pro Bono Economics (PBE) 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 you

We are looking for exceptional candidates with strong experience working as a professional economist or with a PhD in economics.  This role would suit a candidate with 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 economic techniques such as econometrics and Cost Benefit Analysis to analyse real world situations, and of communicating conclusions effectively to a wide range of audiences.

Ideal characteristics include:

• Undergraduate degree with at least 50% economics content, or postgraduate in economics

• Experience of scoping and guiding economic projects, with a strong track record of achievement

• Thorough understanding of the principles and methods of economic appraisal and evaluation, with hands on experience in their practical application

• Excellent communications skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to convey economic analysis effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences

• Strong stakeholder management skills and problem-solving skills

• An eye for detail and a strong dedication to quality

• Proven ability to work independently and manage priorities, deadlines and projects that may involve multiple contributors

• Ability to work collaboratively in small teams

• A commitment to PBE’s focus on using economics to drive wellbeing improvements in the UK

• Some experience analysing large datasets such as the Labour Force Survey, Wealth and Assets Survey or Understanding Society

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.

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