Financial Economist / Corporate Finance Specialist

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.
We are at the source of everyday life. We help the sector build trust and confidence with customers, the environment and wider society: keeping water flowing, bills affordable and helping ensure the health of our rivers and waterways.
We have an opportunity for an experienced Financial Economist or Corporate Finance Specialist to join our Risk & Return team within the Price Review Directorate, at Senior Associate level.
Our work is high-profile and fast-moving, within a dynamic and agile environment. The work that you’ll be involved in every day will help us to deliver our strategy, to make us the regulator we want to be and help the sector to deliver for customers and society.
You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack., Our aim for PR24 is to align the interests of companies and investors with those of customers,
so that the sector is attractive to investors - but companies can only earn high returns from
great performance.
Companies will in early 2025 decide whether to accept our final determinations or appeal to
the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a redetermination. As a member of the Risk
& Return team, the successful candidate will play a key role in assisting Ofwat in responding
to the CMA panel's enquiries. This will involve explaining Ofwat's judgments and policy
decisions, and scrutinising disputing companies' alternative proposals.
Once the PR24 appeals process is concluded there are several workstreams to which financial issues are highly relevant, and which we expect would be a good match for the successful
candidate:
+ Major Projects: Providing support on financing issues for new delivery models to
commission large infrastructure projects outside of the price review process.
+ Financial Resilience: Supporting Ofwat's ongoing programme to monitor companies'
financial health; identifying and seeking to resolve areas of fragility.
+ PR29: Shaping policy around financing issues for the forthcoming price review
governing the 2030-35 period.
Key Deliverables
We expect the successful candidate to initially focus within a particular area within the Risk
& Return workstream (i.e. allowed return estimation for CMA appeals). There are however
likely to be opportunities to contribute to other areas of the team, particularly where unanticipated pressures call for redeployment of resources.
In this role you will be expected to:
+ Plan and prioritise your time - working to team-level and directorate-level
milestones, and where new developments may require a change of course.
+ Interpret and summarise financial arguments and analysis – for instance from
company consultant reports and papers they reference.
+ Conduct and commission financial analysis – for instance drawing on data to
calculate ranges and point estimates for components of the Capital Asset Pricing
Model (CAPM), drawing on support from Ofwat's consultants and other stakeholders
where appropriate.
+ Draft slide packs and documents – for instance drafting a chapter for publication
covering a policy area for submissions to the CMA panel for appeals, or an internal
slide pack/note explaining options for addressing a particular financial issue.
+ Verbally present findings – for instance briefing the team's Director on the key
findings of review work or analysis.
+ Develop and interrogate Excel-based models – while not primarily a modelling role, it
will likely involve some scrutiny of non-Ofwat models and may involve having a hand in
developing in-house models to support our policy areas.
+ Oversee junior staff time – while not primarily a management role, it may at points
involve managing the time of a more junior colleague or consultant.
+ Build relationships – in particular with Risk & Return team members, and other Ofwat
teams where there is thematic overlap, and external stakeholders such as
counterparts in other regulators.
+ Develop skills – to build on your existing base of financial knowledge and skills
through taking on structured or unstructured learning opportunities., Please see the candidate guidance on our website for more detail and tips on how to best make your application.
Selection timetable
+ Closing date: 23.55 on 20 October 2024
+ Sifting: week commencing on 21 October 2024
+ Interview date(s): week commencing on 28 October 2024
Assessment process
Sift Stage
At sift stage we assess your application (CV and personal statement) against criteria 1, 2, 3, & 4 listed in the 'Person Specification' section above.
Use your personal statement to address the Lead criterion and tell us about your understanding of financial economics and/or corporate finance theory and its application to economic regulation.
In the CV section of your application, please state clearly how your skills, experience, and
knowledge meet essential criteria 1, 3, & 4.
In the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift will take place on just the
lead criterion.
Ensure that anything submitted as part of your application is factually accurate, and you are
not presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by AI, as your own.
Interview Stage
Our transparent interview process involves candidates receiving a list of attribute-based questions in advance. This has been proven to help neurodiverse candidates and others to perform better at interview and is part of our inclusive culture.
We will assess your Experience, Skills and Knowledge as well as Attributes (set out in the professional requirements section) at Interview Stage.
You can read more about Attributes in Ofwat’s Framework for Success.
As part of the interview process, we will require a short presentation. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates upon invitation to interview.
Please note that the interviews will be conducted via video conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams.
If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.
Please read the attached "Candidate Information Pack" for details on terms and conditions.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
+ UK nationals
+ nationals of the Republic of Ireland
+ nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
+ individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
+ Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

1. Undergraduate (or higher) degree in economics or a numerate discipline (e.g. STEM
subjects, Accountancy, etc.).
2. Lead criterion: Understanding of financial economics and/or corporate finance theory
and its application to economic regulation.
3. Experience in applying economics and/or financial analysis in a public sector setting
(e.g. regulator or competition authority), or a commercial one (e.g. consultancy or
regulated firm).
4. Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
5. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying,
analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
6. Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand
and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
7. Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with
internal and external stakeholders, by understanding their needs, expectations, and
priorities, and evidence of ability to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver
desired outcomes.
Attributes
+ Committed Learner
+ Makes Relationships Count
+ Delivers Outcomes
+ Creates Clarity
Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for Senior Associate Band. You can read more about Attributes here., Undergraduate (or higher) degree in economics or a numerate discipline (e.g. STEM
subjects, Accountancy, etc.).

Why You Should Join Us:
We’re forward-thinking, creative, innovative, and ambitious. We constantly push the boundaries and embrace new ways of working.
With us, your work matters, your voice is heard, and your impact is felt. Ours is a culture of trust, flexibility, autonomy, collaboration, and innovation. We all want positive change for water customers, the environment, and the future of water.
But for us, change is more than what happens on the outside – we’ve always pushed boundaries internally, too. From becoming the first Civil Service organisation to achieve ‘Smarter Working’ status, to gaining our prestigious ‘Smarter Working Maturity’ award, we’ve consistently demonstrated our commitment to embracing innovative ways of working. Our people do their best work when given freedom over where, when, and how they work. Which is why we trust our teams to balance meaningful collaboration in the office with the flexibility of working from home.
You will also benefit from:
+ Excellent employer pension contributions of 28.97% (around £10,695 to £15,064 per annum for this role). You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
+ 27.5 days leave (25 days annual leave + 2.5 days privilege leave) increasing to max 32.5 days with each year of service, plus bank holidays
+ Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail
outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
+ Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
+ Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
+ Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
+ Generous shared parental leave and pay.
+ Enhanced sick pay.
+ Regular development opportunities.
+ Health and wellbeing initiatives.
+ Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
+ Cycle-to-work scheme.