Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

Locations: Manchester, London

Number of positions available: 1

Salary: National £32,005, London £36,237

About Office of Rail and Road

The Office of Rail and Road is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain's railways and the monitor of performance and efficiency for England's strategic road network. We hold Network Rail and High Speed One to account and we make sure that the rail industry is competitive and fair.

We protect the interests of passengers and have other economic regulatory functions. We regulate health and safety for the entire mainline rail network in Britain, as well as London Underground, light rail, trams, and the heritage sector. We hold Network Rail to account for delivering performance and service, as well as value for money for passengers, the freight industry, and taxpayers. We set the standards that rail companies have to meet in key areas to make sure that passengers can travel with confidence.

Overview of work area

ORR is recruiting one Assistant Economist to the Regulatory Economics team.

ORR’s Regulatory Economics team is a mixed-discipline team working on a diverse range of economic and policy issues, concerned both with leading development of rail policy and providing specialist advice.

The Regulatory Economics team provides rigorous analysis to underpin the development of policy and support decision-making. Much of our work is directed at the regulation of the mainline railway, including oversight of the regimes for financial incentive payments and access charges; and conducting cost analysis, benchmarking it against comparator companies and analysing its efficiency. We also advise teams across ORR on economic matters relating to track, station or depot access, such as the impact new rail services may have on relevant markets. It is an exciting time to join the team as your work is likely to contribute to the design of the emerging regulatory framework for a reformed rail industry in which Great British Railways will bring together infrastructure and many train services in a new body.

In your role, you will:

• Work with senior economists to develop analysis and/or an evidence base to underpin policy decisions on the projects you are assigned to. This may include designing options for changes to charging and incentive regimes; conducting statistical analysis as part of our cost analysis workstream; and/or applying economic principles to support case teams on track access decisions or access disputes. You may be expected to specialise in one or more of these areas, with some opportunities to work in the others.
• Deliver high quality and timely economic analysis. This may include gathering evidence from industry or academic sources, and/or compiling datasets; and critically assessing the evidence in the form of impact assessments or applying analytical methods to those datasets (such as regressions) to draw conclusions with which to support policy decisions.
• Disseminate your analysis and policy work clearly, verbally and in writing. This includes briefing ORR colleagues, contributing to working papers and reports for publication, and producing presentations for internal and external stakeholders.

You will be encouraged to develop your economic and other professional skills: ORR is committed to personal development, and you will have attractive training opportunities to help you develop your career.

This job description provides an overview of key duties and responsibilities and is not exhaustive. You may be expected to undertake other duties and responsibilities within the scope of your role and as appropriate for your grade.

Security Vetting

Candidates will need to hold the right to work in the UK and meet Civil Service Nationality Rules.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (BPSS) checks.

Contact point for further details

For further information please contact Kim Taylor kim.taylor@orr.gov.uk