Senior Economist/Assistant Director

We are looking for highly capable experienced economists to join us in the newly established Office of the Chief Economist. The Office plays an In-House Consulting role, undertakes a range of Own-Initiated Research, along with other economic related responsibilities. As such it works on the most economically interesting and complex parts of the department’s responsibilities.

We are looking for more experienced economists with interest and expertise in the analysis of microdata, its application to policy, and the communication of economic ideas. While an interest in the area of labour economics is required, experience in labour economics will be well regarded, but is not required.

You will have the opportunity to utilise your economic expertise to work on a wide range of interesting economic work related to the Australian labour market and labour market policy. Your work will influence Government and the department’s executive, be frequently at the forefront of Government policy debates, and will help to drive high quality policy and program outcomes for the Australian public.

Responsibilities of the position, under the guidance of a Principal Economist/Director may include utilising your economic expertise to:

• Undertake quantitative analysis, including econometric analysis, on a range of data sets related to labour market issues. For example, the department utilises the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), and other data assets, to consider the impact of policies and programs.
• Provide verbal and written economic advice to the workplace relations, skills and employment program groups of the department on matters of policy interest. This may include providing line areas of the department with economic frameworks for consideration policy issues.
• Undertake detailed longer term economic research on issues of strategic importance to the department and government. 
• Lead, manage, mentor, develop and support more junior economists within the Office.

Please note, under section 22(8) of the Public Service Act 1999, employees must be Australian citizens to be employed in the APS unless the Agency delegate has agreed, in writing.

This is a designated security assessed position. The successful candidate will have the ability to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance.

This selection process may be used to establish a merit pool. The pool might be accessed to fill ongoing and non-ongoing vacancies for similar roles in the Department over the next 18 months.

Qualifications and education

A degree in economics, preferably with an honours year. A post graduate qualification in economics will be highly regarded but is not required. The ability to use statistical software (such as R or Python) is also required.

We are the department that helps job seeking Australians find safe, secure, and well-paid work while we ourselves strive to be a model employer. We provide the framework for fair and productive relationships between employers and employees. We also oversee skills development and training initiatives to support those entering the workforce or retraining to take advantage of emerging employment opportunities. Secure jobs are vital—driving future economic growth and providing people with the certainty. We focus on connecting Australians who are starting, advancing or changing their career with the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to gain or regain employment. Our work directly contributes to shaping the employment landscape. It is our unique purpose to help people realise their potential and we want you to be part of it. Underpinning our important work is our focus on culture. We recognise that how we do things is equally important as what we achieve. Our workplace is one where different perspective are encouraged, people feel a sense of belonging and draw on the expertise of their peers. Our people demonstrate the APS Values, which includes being open, thoughtful, curious and candid. We also value employee wellbeing and developing leadership through investment in capability.