Senior Specialist: Behavioural Economics, Pretoria

Our client, the SA Revenue Service (SARS), seeks to appoint the Senior Specialist: Behavioural Economics to be based at its head office in Brooklyn, Pretoria. THIS IS A PERMANENT POSITION ABOUT THE POSITION She / He will report to Head: Taxpayer Trader Education with the National Ops Scheduling & Enabling Division. JOB PURPOSE The main purpose of the role is to lead the development of behavioural insights Unit to understand why people behave the way they do, how they make decisions and how they can be motivated or nudged to "do the right thing". Another aim is to address policy, regulatory (e.g., taxpayer and trader legislation) and/or organization-wide issues from a behavioural insights lens; gaining buy in for behavioural work from others, designing behavioural change interventions, producing behavioural analysis of problems, and advising where appropriate on the behavioural design of actionable solutions. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE Relevant Master’s degree in Mathematics, Behavioural Economics, Economic Psychology, Economics, and Computer Science, Quantitative Social Science, Decision science, Data Science or related field with a strong emphasis on sophisticated mathematical algorithm design, AI and Machine Learning, 10-12 years' experience in a behavioural economics environment of a large public or private organisation, of which 3 - 4 years at specialist level. JOB OUTPUTS: **Process** Use evaluative frameworks, behavioural experimentation methodologies, theory construction and model building skills to facilitate evidence-based product and design decisions. Design, launch, and analyses experiments to uncover user needs & behaviour with a cross functional team consisting of user researchers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and engineers. Deliver fresh, business relevant insights that are brought to life through engaging storytelling in continuous dialogue, presentations, and workshops. Contribute actively to company-wide research practice and community. Lead and execute complex multi-stream research design projects for products and experiences independently and as part of a team. Collect, analyse, and synthesize responses through surveys, benchmark studies, and online experiments Provide additional perspective on qualitative findings in lab studies, field visits, and ethnography. Lead in the development of a Behavioural Economics Laboratory Embedding Behavioural Economic principles in various SARS operations Monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions to compliance and revenue collection Develop behavioural, systems and process models Maximise the use of technology, AI and Machine learning for impactful solutions Review of communication messages to identify and amend in order to include Behavioural Economic principles Influence/drive implementation of behavioural economic recommendations Develop unit’s governance documents Develop and implement the unit’s short - and long-term strategic plan Development of Capacity and resources planning Analyse and make recommendations about improvements to specialist systems, procedures, policies, and practices. Contribute to the optimum utilisation of org. resources, advising on effective planning and development of area of specialisation resource plans. Develop multiple practices in alignment with operational policy and procedural frameworks, supporting tactical development and excellence. Draw on own technical or professional expertise, knowledge & experience to identify & recommend tactical solutions to defined problems in practices. Influence and communicate across business areas impacted by practice area to minimise resistance and ensure on-boarding of new thinking. Integrate business information, compare, analyse & produce reports to identify trends, discrepancies & inconsistencies for decision making purposes. Optimise goal achievement through tactical strategy development and optimisation of practises, processes & systems across an internal value chain. Collaborate with stakeholders in the field at national and international level. Disseminate behavioural change insights and outcome to promote knowledge sharing within the organisation, locally and internationally. **Governance** Develop and/or align governance and compliance policies for own practice area. **People** Engagement with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective management of interdependencies. Network and build relationships to enable the effective Resolution of a difficult conflict Integrate new knowledge and transfer skills attained through formal and informal learning opportunities in the execution of the job Provide specialist know-how, support, advice, and practice thought leadership in area of expertise. **Finance** Implement and monitor financial control, management of costs and corporate governance in area of specialisation. **Client** Provide authoritative, specialist expertise and advice to internal and exte