Economists (x2) - Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC)

Permanent Appointment based in Aberdeen or London
£44,400 - £54,570 (Aberdeen)
£48,400 - £57,735 plus a pensionable pay enhancement of £3,559 per annum (London)

On 1 April 2015, the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) became an Executive Agency of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with headquarters in Aberdeen. In 2016, the OGA will become a Government-owned company.  Establishing the OGA is a once in a generation opportunity for supporting a step change in the stewardship of the UK’s oil and gas resources.  The OGA “Call to Action” document set out key tasks for the new organisation and committed the OGA to “Build significant additional capacity in economics within the organisation”.

As a new regulatory body comprising of circa 180 staff, the OGA is seeking to recruit two Economists to become key members of the emerging team of analysts.  These two roles will focus on economic analysis that supports crucial decision making.  One position will be based in Aberdeen and the other in London.  Both jobs will report to a Head of Economics and the team will also have two Assistant Economists. Their combined duties will include the following:

• Identifying analytical and data gaps for OGA purposes and working on wider data, analysis and modelling issues; developing economic models and establishing key economic indicators relevant to the UKCS; analysing economic data, research and policy
• Undertaking rigorous economic assessments of key production hubs to explore the drivers of continued investment
• Providing economic appraisals of Field Development Plans and economic analysis of requests from oil and gas operators for cessation of production
• Providing economic evaluation and advice on decommissioning (including abandonment programmes)
• Producing official UK Government projections of UK oil and gas production
• Providing Quality Assurance of data on drilling activity and passing data to DECC statisticians
• Where relevant: respond to requests for data, and other external requests from industry, civil society and academia; present ad-hoc and standard economic research, analysis, forecasts, and recommendations in formats effective for various internal and external stakeholders

The successful candidate will have:

• Degree in Economics, Statistics or related discipline
• Ability to develop/advance strong business cases based on sound economic analysis
• Experience and understanding of oil & gas economics; or work experience/good understanding of, corporate finance; competition economics; and/ or regulatory economics

For further information and to apply, please visit Civil Service Jobs.  The closing date is 4^th September 2015.

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