Head of Economic Analysis

Requirements of the role

The economic regulation and competition policy team is a vital part of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Consumers and Markets Group (CMG). The focus of the team is to protect consumers by ensuring that airports and air traffic service (ATS) providers do not exploit their market position. Understanding the impact of policy options and our actions is essential in ensuring we protect the interests of consumers while allowing a fair investment opportunity for investors.

The team has responsibility for the economic regulation of Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL), Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) and the monopoly air traffic services provider for the UK, NATS (En Route) Plc (NERL). This includes the development, oversight and enforcement of price control arrangements and other licence obligations. The team is also responsible for discharging the CAA’s concurrent competition responsibilities relating to the provision of airport operation and air traffic services.

We are looking for a Head of Economic Analysis to play a key role and lead significant elements of our work in setting price controls and developing the regulatory frameworks for airports and air traffic services. This will include work on incentives, efficiency assessments, regulatory investigations, and mechanisms to set regulated charges. Reporting to the Programme Director, the Head of Economic Analysis will lead on the economic assessment of key policy issues and initiatives across the HAL, GAL and NERL price controls, and competition projects. This will involve working across the team to review and challenge submissions from the regulated companies (including the assessment of business plan information) and the work of external consultants. It will also involve work on new issues, driving forward key workstreams, the drafting of high-profile policy documents and working effectively with our own external advisors and consultants.

These issues will have a highly material impact on the price control proposals we will make in coming years and are central to our statutory duties to protect consumers. The decisions also have the potential to be highly contentious and are likely to be subject to legal challenge.

This role is a permanent position and offers the opportunity for professional development, through working within a highly experienced team, directly influencing and engaging with senior leaders, and working across a wide variety of high profile and interesting policy issues.

Core accountabilities

The Head of Economic Analysis will be responsible for:

• Overseeing and driving forward key elements of the economic analysis and assessment that supports our work on price controls and other aspects of the regulatory frameworks for airports and air traffic services.
• Ensuring that the analysis that supports the CAA’s decisions is robust to external challenge and scrutiny and supported by appropriate quality assurance processes.
• Ensuring that leading edge economic thinking is brought to the CAA’s approach to policy development and the analytical work that supports this policy.
• Actively engaging and leading key stakeholder relationships at senior level meetings on a wide range of issues.
• Commissioning and overseeing the work of our technical advisors and consultants and providing a critical review of the analysis provided.
• Reviewing and challenging regulatory business plans and submissions from other stakeholders.
• Ensuring key deliverables are provided on time and to high quality (including drafting consultations, working papers and other external documents such that they provide a clear exposition of technical issues and are prepared to a standard consistent with publication, as well as contributing to submissions to the CAA Board).
• Providing advice to the Programme Directors, Chief Economist, the CAA Executive Committee and the CAA Board as required.
• Translating technical economic and other issues into simple explanations, analysis and presentations that will be suitable for non-technical audiences.
• Development and empowering of team members, through opportunities to develop skills and training, as a senior leader in the team.
• Championing CAA values and D&I policy.

You will also be expected to support the delivery of other parts of the regulatory and price control framework as required and may need to work with other regulators and represent the CAA at external groups, such as the UK Regulator Network.

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