Lead Economic Analyst - Macro Model Development

Location: Leeds and London

 

This is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of one of the Bank’s critical strategic initiatives to define, and support, an approach to monetary policy making that is fit for the future. This reflects the Bank’s commitment to respond fully to the recommendations of the Bernanke Review, and so help the Bank to: 

• Modernise and develop “close to the frontier” capabilities in terms of the Bank’s processes, expertise, modelling and data infrastructure
• Build effective mechanisms for continuous improvement, to help maintain our capabilities close to the frontier of monetary policymaking internationally.
• Leverage those capabilities, to deliver more transparent communications and support monetary policymaking in a wide range of circumstances, including heightened uncertainty, large shocks and structural change.

Macro Modelling and Economic Outlook Divisions

The Macro modelling division is tasked with coordinating and supercharging the Banks investment in existing and new modelling capabilities and toolkits. It owns the Bank’s overarching macro modelling strategy aiming to deliver continuous improvement which supports high-quality policy and strategy advice, as well as exploiting new, state-of-the-art approaches from data and AI advances. It provides robust governance and oversight of the Bank’s modelling investment and quality assurance to the Bank and its policy committees. This is supported by an effective communication and training programme on the investment to ensure it is engrained and fosters an environment of continuous improvement (leveraging external challenge). 

Economic Outlook Division 

The Economic Outlook Division produces the Bank’s quarterly central forecast and designs and delivers scenario analysis to explore the risks most relevant to monetary policy. It also maintains actively develops new processes, models and analytical toolkits to improve the central forecast and scenarios. 

Job Description 

This is a 12 month fixed-term contract role for an experienced economist to contribute to maturing and deploying our recently developed semi-structural macroeconomic model for forecasting and scenario analysis. 

Responsibilities could involve: 

• Working closely with the Banks forecasting and modelling experts to continue to design, estimate and implement the Bank’s macroeconomic models. This role has a particular focus on semi-structural modelling, but you may also contribute to time series, DSGE and model combination. 

• Feeding directly into the forecast/MPC process: advising on model specification; producing policy notes and technical briefings and communicating these clearly to our key stakeholders as the transformation progresses. 

• Leading and delivering analytic projects end-to-end – building new capabilities, exploiting emerging data (high-frequency, microdata, big data) or responding to policy questions in real time. 

• Working across boundaries – co-ordinating and building relationships with other policy areas of the Bank  and leveraging central bank networks. 

• Helping to set and embed high standards for model governance, maintenance, evaluation and documentation; propagating best practice in programming, version control and reproducible research. 

• Informal mentoring and contributing ideas to the wider community.  

Role Requirements: 

Minimum Criteria 

• Proven expertise in developing and estimating semi-structural macroeconomic models 

• Experience on forecasting or scenario analysis for macroeconomic policymakers: feeding modelling into high-stakes policy debates, designing scenarios, writing policy notes or providing real-time technical briefings. 

• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and work effectively across boundaries; synthesising complex information for non-technical audiences. 

• Demonstrable ability to lead projects or think strategically about programmes of work, with minimal oversight. 

• Strong programming skills in at least one major language (Python, R, MATLAB, Julia, etc.) and comfort with larger datasets. 

• Desirable Criteria 

• Experience of using AI tools in model development and deployment. 

• Experience managing and maintaining models within agreed risk standards, including version control and reproducibility. 

• Experience working on DataBricks or comparable alternatives. 

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve. 

 

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

 

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

 

From 1st October 2026, we expect all our colleagues to spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in the office per month. This is to capitalise on the benefits of working together in person across teams, while maintaining the flexibility offered by home working. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them and their team.

 

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.