The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.
The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.
Department Overview
Monetary Analysis (MA) provides the core analytic support that underpins the setting of Bank Rate by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to meet the inflation target.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Unit is a small team that works closely with the four external members of the MPC. Each external member has an Economist and a Monetary Policy Adviser working for them to produce analysis and research that underpins their policy decisions, and to support them in their public communications. We interact extensively with Monetary Analysis (MA), which provides analytic support to the entire MPC.
Two vacancies have arisen to work with (1) Swati Dhingra and (2) Jonathan Haskel.
Job description
There are two vacancies for permanent Economist positions. One vacancy is for Economist to Swati Dhingra and the other is for Economist to Jonathan Haskel. You will work at the heart of monetary policy, supporting either Swati or Jonathan with their policy decisions and public communications. The precise balance of responsibilities is very flexible and can be adapted to suit the successful candidate’s preferences and ability.
Policy work will involve analysis on a broad range of macroeconomic issues important to Swati’s and Jonathan’s policy interests and decisions respectively. It will include drawing on your own experience and expertise to carry out original analyses that offer new perspectives on the relevant economic data. You will discuss ideas and results directly with either Swati or Jonathan to help them formulate and explain their policy views.
Work on communications will support the MPC member’s accountability to the public by helping them explain their views to a variety of audiences. This could involve delivering material for their speeches, preparing presentations or helping them get ready for appearances before the Treasury Select Committee.
You will also work with colleagues across the Bank. Whether that be analysing the latest macroeconomic or financial market data, looking at firms’ price setting decisions or assessing how Bank Rate is passed through to the real economy, there will be opportunities to develop strong internal and external networks.
The post-holder will be able to contribute to a collegiate environment. You will be managed and supported by the Adviser, who will provide training and advice on the job and your career. You will also be seated with the other External MPC members’ Advisers and Economists. This group is comprised of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who take pride in creating a collaborative and supportive work environment.
We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment. This role can be done as part of a job-share and/or with flexible working.
Role Requirements
We expect the successful applicant to:
- A relevant postgraduate qualification, such as a Masters in economics or finance, or equivalent work experience.
- The ability to apply macroeconomic analysis to a wide range of conjunctural and policy questions.
- Experience of analysing data and applying econometric techniques.
- The ability to bring different strands together and make sense of sometimes conflicting evidence.
- Good oral and written communications skills including experience communicating economic material to technical and non-technical audiences
- Able to independently come up with and answer questions that are relevant to the monetary policy debate.
- The ability to work well in a small team while collaborating closely with colleagues elsewhere in the Bank.
- A willingness to constructively challenge the opinion of colleagues.
- Have experience in working on monetary policy issues and strategy.
- Be proficient in at least one econometric package (e.g. Matlab, R, Stata).
Our Approach to Inclusion
The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.
At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.
We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.
For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.
Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme. You can find more information on what this means here. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.
Salary and Benefits Information
This specific role offers a base salary of circa £48,000 - £51,000 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.
In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:
- A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
- A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
- A 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits. (Note that for the Benefits year 2023/24, this will increase to 8%)
- 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
- Private medical insurance and income protection.
National Security Vetting Process
Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice at Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.
The Application Process
Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.
The closing date for applications is 07 June 2023.
The initial stage of the assessment process will involve a sift, on the basis of the information provided by candidates. We will contact candidates successful after the initial stage to provide details of the next step of the process, which will include an interview.
Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.