Research Economist - 12 Months FTC

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) mission is to serve the public interest by setting high standards of corporate governance, reporting and audit and holding to account those responsible for delivering them. We are the UK Competent Authority for audit. We also set the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes as well as UK standards for accounting, auditing and actuarial work, and monitor and take action to promote the quality of corporate reporting and operate independent enforcement arrangements for accountants and actuaries. Further information about our role can be found at www.frc.org.uk. The FRC provides operational support to the UK Endorsement Board, including a dedicated Secretariat function.

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) (www.endorsement-board.uk ) was established by the UK Government to take forward the work of influencing the development of international accounting standards. Key aspects of the work of the UKEB are to influence and contribute to the development of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Accounting Standards, assessing them for adoption in the UK and ensuring that they are fit for purpose for use by UK companies. This role provides an exciting opportunity to be part of the team that supports the work of the UKEB to assess IFRS accounting standard for application by UK entities, influence their development and undertake thought-leadership activities to contribute to the international development of financial reporting.

The UKEB adheres to the guiding principles of transparency, accountability, independence and thought leadership in all its activities.

The Role

The role will contribute to:

• Assessments of costs and benefits to business and wider economic effects associated with the adoption of international accounting standards in the UK.
• Research on the economics of financial reporting.

Key accountabilities for the role involve supporting the Economics Team Leader in conducting:

• Costs and benefits analysis associated with the adoption of accounting standards in line with project timelines. This would entail:
• Conducting desk-based research
• Applying an in-house methodology to calculate capital market effects associated with the adoption of accounting standards
• Drafting questionnaires, distributing surveys, and conducting 1-2-1 interviews aimed at collecting data for costs/benefits assessments
• Analysing the data and applying in-house models to monetise implementation costs
• Research on topics in financial economics associated with financial reporting. This would entail:
• Conducting desk-based research
• Drafting questionnaires and conducting interviews aimed at collecting data
• Develop simple economic modelling

The Person

The post holder is required to have a master’s degree in economics or finance.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Expertise in financial economics, with a thorough understanding of capital markets. Knowledge of financial reporting would be considered an advantage.
• Good written and verbal communication skills. Well-developed writing skills (such as papers, research reports) are an essential skill. Non-academic writing skills (such as briefings, board papers, reports written in plain English) would be considered an advantage.
• Ability to work as part of a team and deliver to tight deadlines (essential).
• Experience with, or at least an understanding of, cost and benefits analysis.
• Research experience in industry (consulting, government, NGOs) or academia
• Experience conducting qualitative interviews would be considered an advantage
• Experience conducting surveys and administering questionnaires would be considered an advantage

Please apply by following the link our website https://www.frc.org.uk/frc-for-you/careers and uploading a copy of your CV and covering letter as a single document upload. In the covering letter, please set out, by reference to the person specification above how you meet the required skillset.

• How you meet the required skillset
• Tell us where you heard about this job

Rewards and benefits

• The FRC offers remuneration packages, including 30 days annual leave, ability to buy extra leave.
• Generous employer pension contribution of 10%.
• Staff Employee Assistance Programme including confidential counselling and work life services.
• The FRC offers staff the opportunity to save at least 25% on the purchase of a new bike through the Cycle to work scheme.
• The FRC has a strong work/life balance ethos.

The FRC believes that equality of opportunity and diversity is important in the work that we do and we are strongly committed to being an inclusive employer. Our values of being fair and independent supports this commitment. We're a signatory to the Government's Disability Confident scheme, which means that we guarantee an interview to any disabled candidates entering under the scheme, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.

Equal opportunities monitoring is an important means of demonstrating and implementing our commitment to promoting equality of opportunity and diversity. Completing our diversity form will assist the FRC to identify any barriers that prevent access to employment and career development for certain groups of people, and to develop solutions, such as action plans, new policies and practices.

The role is based in our central Birmingham office. The post holder should be able to work flexibly to support the team’s activities and also provide cover within the FRC as necessary. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement with its workforce. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement, with a expectation that 40% of a person's working time will be located at one of our offices per week, with precise arrangements to be agreed between the employee and the line manager.