Finance Regulatory or Competition Financial Services Economist - Manager - Associate Director

Every day our teams help people in businesses and communities to do what is right and achieve their goals. Grant Thornton's Economic Consulting division comprises 30 postgraduate economists who provide specialist regulatory, competition and economic valuation services on an advisory and independent expert basis to economic regulators, government, corporates and their legal advisors. Often working with others at Grant Thornton, we advise on high profile issues in all major sectors of the economy with a particular focus on the regulated industries e.g. energy, water, financial services, telecoms and transport. Examples of our projects include:

• Delivery partner to Ofwat and Ofgem on price controls and cost modelling
• Advisor to PSR and FCA on market investigations including developing proposals for remedies
• Advisor to CAA on cost assessment matters
• Independent expert on competition damages matters in the CAT and High Court, including assessment of profitability and quantum
• Working with high street banks and asset managers to develop and review regulatory costing models for assessing fair value under consumer duty regulations
• Independent expert on a judicial review against a decision by a regulator to impose a price control, on grounds of financial sustainability and lack of cost orientation
• Calculating climate risk exposure for corporates looking to comply with TCFD reporting requirements
• Independent expert on ESG and securities litigation matters
• Advising PSR with regards to the future direction of Openbanking
We're happy to talk flexible working and consider reduced hours and job shares, we'll support you to balance your work and life. A look into the role The Economic Consulting team provides regulatory finance and competition finance services to clients - often as part of broader client engagements. This may be in the context of cost modelling, regulatory audits, designing and implementing remedies, competition investigations and estimating competition damages. The bulk of this is to clients (regulators and corporates) in the regulated sectors but increasingly this involves working on competition investigations and disputes that cover a broader set of industries. We are looking for individuals at Manager to Assistant Director grade with experience in regulatory finance and / or competition finance gained in any sector of the economy to join our team. This will involve providing economic consulting services to our clients as well as supporting on business development and writing proposals - very often working alongside others from across Grant Thornton's 2500 strong advisory practice and, at times, with Grant Thornton's international network of member firms. You will be responsible for "holding the pen" and managing both clients and consultants providing necessary support and direction to team members and upward management. Your experience may have been gained at a regulator, corporate or another consultancy, but you will be keen to develop your career within regulatory and competition finance (potentially also working on broader regulatory economics or competition economics matters if that's your preference). You may have a preference for working on an advisory or independent expert basis and will enjoy working as a part of a cross-disciplinary team, keen to bring regulatory / competition finance skills to bear as part of larger projects. As a Finance Regulatory or Competition Financial Services Economist - Manager - Associate Director within our Economic Consulting team, you will be:
• Responsible for regulatory / competition finance projects for clients, leading analysis on large cases or a portfolio off cases.
• Producing quality analysis, insights and arguments (including ability to source data from multiple sources, manipulate large data sets and work with complex Excel models).
• Comfortable producing, reviewing and / or overseeing the development of cost models for use in regulatory finance and competition finance matters e.g. to set price controls, competition investigations.
• Able to assess and review regulatory accounts including using information to assess profitability and whether this is in line with required standards e.g. represents fair value, normal economic profit, a specific return on capital employed etc.
• Preparing PowerPoint slides, memorandums and formal written reports and presenting the results, alongside other members of the team, and directly with clients.
• Liaising with clients including project updates and presentation of analysis
• Identifying opportunities for business development including drafting thought leadership material
Those who join at Senior Manager / Assistant Director will be automatic members of Economic Consulting's senior management team. This affords the opportunity to take on people management and other practice management roles and to develop and implement the team strategy in order to support the growth and development of the Economic Consulting team.

Joining us as a Finance Regulatory or Competition Financial Services Economist - Manager - Associate Director within our Economic Consulting, the minimum criteria you'll need is an MSc in Economics or a BSc Economics with relevant work experience. It would be great if you had some of the following skills, but don't worry if you don't tick every box, we'll help you develop along the way.
• Experience in regulatory finance and / or competition finance gained in consultancy, industry or at an economic regulator
• Experience in developing cost models in one or more regulated sectors
• Experience in assessing profitability e.g. in the context of price controls, competition investigations, monitoring
• Expertise in the calculation of cost of capital (WACC)
• Strong understanding of one or more regulated sectors
• Experience in developing, implementing or auditing against regulatory accounting guidelines
• Experience of working with legal advisors on competition investigations
• Experienced using Microsoft Office including Excel
• Good oral and written communication skills
• Experience of presenting complex arguments to a range of stakeholders
  
  Grant Thornton UK LLP is part of a global network of independent audit, tax and advisory firms, made up of some 73,000 people in over 150 countries. We're a team of independent thinkers who put quality, inclusion and integrity first. All around the world we bring a different experience to our clients. A better experience. One that delivers the expertise they need in a way that goes beyond. Personal, proactive, and agile. That's Grant Thornton., Embracing uniqueness, the culture at Grant Thornton thrives on the contributions of all our people, we never settle for what is easy, we look beyond to deliver the right thing, for everyone. Building an inclusive culture, where we value difference and respect our colleagues helps our people to perform at the best of their ability and realise their potential.
Our open and accessible culture means you'll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That's why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work. Beyond the job Life is more than work. The things you do, and the people you're with outside of work matter, that's why we're happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we'll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance. The impact you can make here will go far beyond your day job. From secondments, to fundraising for local charities, or investing in entrepreneurs in the developing world, you'll be giving back to society. It's that drive to do the right thing that runs through our every move, grounded in our firm's values - purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind. We're looking for people who want to contribute, spark fresh ideas and go beyond expectations. People who want to be able to proudly do what's right, for the firm, our clients, our people and themselves. It's how it should be.

The things you do, and the people you're with outside of work matter, that's why we're happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we'll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance. Whether that's working reduced contracted hours, working your hours over a shorter period or utilising our 'how we work' framework. Everyone has an immediate right to request a flexible arrangement through our flexible working policy.