Senior Expert, Energy & Environment

Economist Enterprise combines the rigour of a think-tank with the creativity of a media brand to engage a globally influential audience. We believe that evidence-based insights can open debate, broaden perspectives and catalyse progress.

Economist Enterprise’s Policy & Insights team combines qualitative and quantitative research techniques to generate new insights to support the marketing and communications objectives of businesses, governments and international organisations.

The role of Senior Expert, Energy & Environment plays a key role in the delivery of Economist Enterprise’s independent thought leadership research programmes, ensuring the highest standards of editorial quality. Senior Experts typically oversee multiple research projects and serve as key points of contact with our funders and clients. They lead and direct content leads and analysts to undertake research tasks and content production, providing critical direction, oversight and challenge to research, analysis and outputs.

Based in Singapore, this role will sit within the Energy & Environment team, reporting to the Head of Asia, Policy & Insights, and will have a strong regional mandate focused on Asia. The Senior Expert will play an important role in shaping and delivering Economist Enterprise’s Energy & Environment research and thought leadership across Asia-Pacific, while also contributing to selected projects in EMEA and other regions, as well as other expertise areas where relevant. 

The Senior Expert will help shape and deliver high-quality research and thought leadership on the transition to more sustainable, secure and resilient energy and environmental systems. The role is primarily one of content and intellectual leadership: designing distinctive research programmes, ensuring analytical rigour, sharpening editorial quality and helping to develop compelling, policy-relevant insight for business, government and other senior audiences. The role will also support proposal development and broader business development efforts, though it does not carry direct commercial targets.

A successful Senior Expert will have demonstrated expertise in Energy & Environment, strong editorial sensibilities, analytical and critical thinking skills, and superior written and oral communication skills. They will ensure that Economist Enterprise thought leadership research and content reflects The Economist Group’s core values of independence and integrity while delivering value to clients by appealing to key target audiences.

How you will contribute

Project execution

• Serve as the Senior Expert for sponsored thought leadership programmes aligned with Energy & Environment, with a particular focus on Asia-Pacific, while also contributing to selected EMEA and global projects as needed
• Contribute to programmes across other expertise areas, including trade and geopolitics, technology and innovation, as needed
• Be responsible for designing and developing programmes, in addition to overseeing the production of thought leadership content outputs - including reports, briefing papers, articles and infographics - ensuring they reflect the latest trends and context and offer genuinely new insight
• Design, direct and leverage Economist Enterprise research teams to produce original insight and analysis
• Provide strong content leadership across projects, setting the intellectual direction of programmes and ensuring outputs are analytically rigorous, editorially sharp and relevant to target audiences
• Write and communicate in clear, Economist-style, jargon-free prose
• Direct external contributors and edit content outputs to ensure they meet quality standards and deliver value to clients and target audiences
• Manage multiple research projects and client relationships simultaneously
• Leverage both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to deliver high-quality content
• Undertake qualitative interviews with experts in order to inform and support the production of high-quality insight and content
• Take initial responsibility for final results, quality of content outputs and overall client satisfaction, working closely with Impact Partnership Leads who hold ultimate accountability for programme outcomes, and at times serving as Partnership Leads directly
• Present interim and final project deliverables to clients

Subject-matter expertise

• Serve as an expertise lead for core thematic areas and initiatives within Energy & Environment, staying on top of the latest regional and global trends and developing ideas for research and flagship initiatives
• Help strengthen Economist Enterprise’s Energy & Environment presence in Asia by identifying themes, debates and policy developments that can be translated into distinctive thought leadership and commercially relevant programme ideas
• Produce high-quality, compelling and insight-led editorial content in multiple formats, developing a clear editorial line and distinct Enterprise voice
• Moderate, present research and represent Economist Enterprise at external, high-profile events
• Contribute to the development of Economist Enterprise’s perspective on major energy and environmental issues, with a focus on practical, policy-relevant and commercially relevant insights for business and government audiences

Business development

• Actively support business development activities through the generation of compelling ideas and proposals, particularly in relation to Energy & Environment opportunities in Asia
• Partner effectively with commercial colleagues to shape client propositions, contribute to pitches and bring subject-matter authority to programme design
• Build and maintain relationships with key clients and external stakeholders to support the development and renewal of business
• Contribute to business development and proposal work as a senior content lead, without holding direct commercial or revenue targets

Management / capacity building

• Coach, train and mentor other team members in matters of career and personal development
• Work with other parts of The Economist Group to secure valuable input to Economist Enterprise research projects
• Manage Managers, Senior Analysts and Analysts, including planning and overseeing project resourcing and the career development of team member(s)
• Provide day-to-day direction and quality assurance across projects, while escalating broader team or strategic decisions to the Principal and Global Head as appropriate

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Priority topic areas (indicative)

The successful candidate will help define and evolve coverage, but expected areas may include:

Energy transition

• Power-sector decarbonisation, including renewable energy, grids, storage and system flexibility
• Energy security, affordability and resilience
• Electrification of industry, transport and buildings
• Hydrogen, low-carbon fuels and industrial decarbonisation
• The investment, financing and policy frameworks needed to accelerate the transition

Environment and sustainability

• Climate adaptation and resilience
• Nature, biodiversity and land use
• Water security and resource management
• Circular economy, waste and materials
• Environmental governance, disclosure and accountability

Regional and policy relevance

• Energy and environmental policy developments across Asia-Pacific
• The role of emerging markets in the global energy transition
• The intersection of sustainability, industrial strategy, trade and economic competitiveness
• Public-private collaboration to accelerate innovation and implementation

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The desirable skills, experience and qualifications for this role include:

• Ten years or more of research, consulting or journalist experience, with at least two years in a managerial position
• Demonstrated subject-matter expertise in Energy & Environment, including one or more of the following: energy transition, climate policy, sustainable finance, industrial decarbonisation, resilience, natural resource management or environmental governance
• Strong knowledge of policy, business and sustainability dynamics in Asia-Pacific; experience working on regional issues from Singapore or elsewhere in Asia would be an advantage
• External credibility as a subject-matter expert based on publications, public speaking, media appearances or related profile
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including demonstrated ability to translate complex research and analysis into clear and jargon-free prose highlighting key findings and policy implications
• Strong editorial sensibilities and demonstrated expertise on the relevant topic area, showing a clear understanding of target audience concerns and interest areas, key trends and the ability to identify unique insight that will resonate and stand out
• Strong data and policy analysis skills, with experience working with both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies; ability to resolve complex and unfamiliar problems in a timely manner
• Client management experience; comfort with client interaction and interest in building relationships
• Strong interpersonal skills to create effective working relationships with clients, partners and internal teams
• Proven ability to motivate and lead project teams and meet deadlines under pressure
• Experience contributing to proposal development and supporting business development activities
• Energy and desire to grow as part of a highly entrepreneurial team

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