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Senior Research Assistant

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.

Monetary Analysis (MA) provides the core analytic support that underpins the setting of Bank Rate each month by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to meet the inflation target. We are closely linked to the MPC Unit, which supports the external members of the MPC.

Department Overview

The Monetary Policy Report (MPR) is the Bank’s flagship publication and a new opportunity has come up to join the small team who produce it. The MPR team comprises five economic advisors, led by the MPR editor. It sits in External Engagement Division (EED), Monetary Analysis’ key link to the outside world. We play a key public-facing role both in the external communication of monetary policy and in gathering intelligence for the Bank’s policy Committees via the Agency Network. We have introduced a role for a senior RA to help us produce the Report and improve our processes.

The MPR sets out the MPC’s view on the current state of the economy and its forecasts for the next three years. It is a key part of our commitment to clear and open communication. It allows the MPC to share its thinking and explain the reasons for its decisions.

Job description

Are you an enthusiastic Research Assistant with an interest in economics and strong data and IT skills? In this role, you could support the monetary policy communication process by, for example:

• Assisting a friendly and inclusive team of senior economists to produce the MPR. The role will involve helping to analyse and present data for the Report. There will also be opportunities to draft self-contained sections of the Report with support from the team.
• Helping to drive forward the division’s long-term data and analytics transformation goals. One of these goals is to automate and improve the robustness of the MPR production process, which is currently predominantly excel based. This is an area where an enterprising candidate could make a significant impact.
• Having opportunities to undertake analytical project work, as well as short secondments, outside of MPR rounds. This will build experience across the directorate and enhance the team’s contribution to wider work streams.
• As this is a new role, you will be able to shape your responsibilities to suit your current skills and to help you achieve your development goals.

Role Requirements

Minimum Essential Criteria

• Strong team-working skills – our team works closely together to deliver the MPR each round.
• Ability to deliver consistently accurate work, working independently, sometimes to tight deadlines.
• Strong numerical and data manipulation skills, including using Excel.
• Willingness to develop skills in other data analysis software, particularly R, if not already familiar with a programming language (training can be provided).
• Ability to communicate clearly verbally and in writing
• Have an interest in economics and using data to support and communicate monetary policy decisions.

The Bank values diversity and inclusion – we want to reflect the society we serve better, we want the best people to work for us and we want our workplace to be inclusive. We value all forms of diversity, including but not limited to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation. One way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks, which are summarised here.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment, and are open to considering how the role might be carried out with flexible working. This role is therefore open to flexible working patterns.

Where a role can be carried out from home, we are working towards colleagues spending at least half of their time in the office, so that we can all benefit from working together in person, while maintaining the flexibility offered by home working. From 6 June 2022, we expect colleagues to spend a minimum of 40% of their working time in the office per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them and their team.

We are also committed to making adjustments for candidates and employees where possible, and have partnered with external expert organisations to support us in this. We are a member of the Disability Confident scheme, summarised here, and people who wish to apply under this scheme should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

We anonymise applications so hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information when reviewing your submission, including your CV. Please fully complete the application form questions as requested, as any incomplete submissions may not be reviewed.

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.

This specific role offers a base salary range of £28,810 - £32,000 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis.

In addition we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below. We encourage flexible working & part time working , therefore both salary and associated benefits will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time colleagues

• 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 from April 2023 and 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. (Note: effective from April 2023)
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

Employment in this role will be subject to National Security Vetting clearance and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with Bank policy from time to time. Further information of vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant. Further 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 closing date for applications is 16 March 2023.