View Vacancy - Senior Economic Advisor and Deputy Head of Economics, C5, New Delhi

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Economic and Prosperity

Note : All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, motivational segment and the competency based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Main purpose of job:

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is responsible for promoting British interests overseas and for supporting British citizens and businesses around the globe. The British High Commission, New Delhi, is part of the FCO and is responsible for managing all aspects of the United Kingdom’s relationship with India.

The Economics and Prosperity team sits at the heart of the British High Commission, New Delhi. The team leads on developing the UK-India bilateral economic relationship, providing direction, analysis and reporting, and engaging with key stakeholders in business, the UK government and the Government of India. The jobholder will be a crucial part of this friendly team at a critical time for the UK and India’s economic relationship.

The jobholder is expected to be the British High Commission’s foremost expert on the Indian economy, leading high-quality analysis and reporting of economic developments and longer-term trends. This will be for a cross-government audience including Cabinet Ministers in London, the UK’s High Commissioner to India and senior UK and Indian business leaders. This economic analysis is crucial to informing the wider economic objectives of the UK government’s work in India, and the jobholder will play a key role in shaping those objectives.

The jobholder will be expected to build a strong network of leading Indian economic thinkers to inform this analysis with diverse perspectives. They will also build strong relationships with India’s Ministry of Finance – and work with the Ministry – as well as Her Majesty’s Treasury, the UK’s Ministry of Finance – to deliver major bilateral events, including the annual Economic and Financial Dialogue between UK Chancellor and India’s Minister of Finance.

The jobholder will manage a team that delivers this analysis within the British High Commission’s Economics Section.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

Economic analysis and reporting:

  • Lead on all economic reporting for the UK government’s India network.
  • Devise and deliver an annual strategy for economic reporting, ensuring coverage of immediate .
  • Developments, and medium-term trends, through a range of formats including weekly flash alerts and diplomatic cables
  • Provide analysis of macro-economic trends and data e.g. growth, fiscal policy and inflation, political economy and Government policy e.g. 15th Finance Commission, fiscal developments, and longer-term trends e.g. developments in the services sector
  • Develop a strong network of leading Indian economic thinkers to gain expert insights and intelligence that contributes to the UK government’s understanding of India’s economy
  • Conduct regular economic briefing sessions, in person, for UK businesses in India and visiting stakeholders from Government and business
  • Ensure that reporting is effectively tailored to the audience, from visiting UK Ministers, senior officials, UK’s High Commissioner to India, Government departments in London, UK and Indian business groups, and the staff of the UK’s India network
  • Work with the UK’s India network across the country - including Deputy High Commissions in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata - to identify and analyse longer-term trends at a national and state level, and provide analysis on these.
  • Ensure that the Economic Section’s written output and presentation is sharp, concise, punchy and opinionated – drawing in stakeholders who are not experts in economics.

Economic policy:

  • Act as the India network’s expert on India’s Ministry of Finance, building a network of contacts across the different parts of the Ministry, including Bilateral Cooperation Division and Chief Economic Advisor’s Office
  • Develop an excellent relationship with key UK Government departments in London including Her Majesty’s Treasury (the UK Ministry of Finance), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of International Trade – to ensure a strong understanding of UK goals and priorities in India
  • Drawing on this knowledge, be proactive in identifying proposals for greater collaboration between HM Treasury and the Ministry of Finance – pitch these to UK and Indian colleagues, and deliver through regular bilateral events, including the annual Economic and Financial Dialogue between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and India’s Finance Minister
  • In particular, work with DFID to support the UK-India Economic Policy & Prosperity Partnership, including the annual exchange programme between the UK’s Government Economic Service & the Indian Economic Service
  • Lead on the delivery of key events as part of the annual Economic and Financial Dialogue. In the past, this has included the organisation such as an economic roundtable with the Governor of the Bank of England, or lunch with Finance Ministers and the India-UK Financial Partnership.

Management:

  • The candidate will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Economics Section in the British High Commission, including direct line management of one Economic Analyst.
  • As the overall lead on economic reporting across the India network, they will be responsible for co-ordinating input from a range of people across the network, from financial services experts and the Economic Section in Mumbai, Prosperity Advisors in Deputy High Commissions and trade policy experts in Delhi

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

1 x B3 Economic Analyst based in the Economics Section in New Delhi 

Qualifications:

Essential: Postgraduate degree in Economics. Candidates without the required educational qualifications but with exceptional practical experience will be considered.

Experience required:

  • Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working on economics in government or the private sector
  • Expert knowledge of the Indian economy
  • Existing network of contacts with Indian economic policymakers, academia, the private sector, and think tanks
  • Exceptional written and oral communication skills
  • Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills
  • Strong analytical and problem solving skills

Experience of working in the UK or an international organisation


29 November 2019
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Permanent
40
South Asia & Afghanistan
India
New Delhi
British High Commission
1
INR
INR 138,068 per month together with a 12% Provident Fund and 6% Superannuation Fund
15 January 2020

For BHC candidates, the Local BHC Terms & Conditions will apply. For other than BHC candidates, Basic Salary will be INR 138,068 per month together with a 12% provident fund and 6% Superannuation Fund.

The BHC is recognised as a good employer, with a robust, fair and transparent performance management & appraisal system linked to increments and staff bonuses. We have a 5-day working week, plus annual leave, public holidays, maternity leave provision, special leave, paid sick leave provision; ample development opportunities, travel opportunities, a good organisational culture, and excellent work/life balance. 

Around half of our work forces are women.  We treat people with respect and equality and have a policy of zero tolerance for any form of discrimination, bullying, or harassment. 

This is a good opportunity to be part of a strong, diverse team, working in the biggest network that FCO has anywhere across the globe.  We are aiming to make it the best. 

Learning and development opportunities:

We place a strong emphasis on learning and development. You will be encouraged to undertake developmental training and get involved in corporate activities. Training and development opportunities will be made available to the candidate. There will be opportunities for L&D through formal training courses offered internally through Regional Training Centre, visits to the UK and on-the-job interaction with trade policy professionals. The candidate will need to travel within India and internationally, including the UK for sector related events and training courses.

To Apply: 

Please note applications without (a) and (b) will not be considered.

A.    Complete the Online Application Form

B.    Complete the Motivation and Competency Segment in the Online Application Form

Internal candidates applying for this position need to upload their appraisal forms for the previous 2 years (if applicable) and also inform their current line managers, else the applications will not be considered.

We will accept only online applications by 29th November 2019 midnight.

Please Note:
All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, motivational segment and the competency based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Applicants who do not have the required qualification & experience should kindly abstain from applying, as their applications will not be considered.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and no telephone enquires will be dealt with.

The appointment will be subject to Police Verification and other checks including references, medical, educational and professional.

We welcome all applications irrespective of age, race, colour, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or creed. We are also open to applications from people who want to work flexibly.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.