Junior Transport Economist

About CER

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) brings together railway undertakings, their national associations as well as infrastructure managers and vehicle leasing companies. The diverse and comprehensive membership made up of long-established bodies, new entrants and both private and public enterprises, covers the large majority of the rail infrastructure network, rail freight business and rail passenger operations in EU, EFTA and EU accession countries.

CER Mission

CER represents the interests of its members towards EU policy makers and transport stakeholders, advocating rail as the backbone of a resilient, competitive and sustainable transport system in Europe.

General Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of the Economics Unit, the Junior Transport Economist serves as the department's analytical engine. The role focuses on bridging technical microeconomic analysis with macroeconomic trends to provide quantitative evidence for CER’s advocacy. This position requires highly collaborative work, as analytical outputs serve as the foundation for the association.

Key responsibilities

• Analytical advocacy: Deliver robust economic analysis and quantitative evidence to reinforce CER policy papers and consultation responses; translate complex datasets into clear "facts and figures" that support rail's competitiveness, infrastructure investment and the wider economic value of rail;

• Regulatory scrutiny: Perform competent, critical reviews of European Commission Impact Assessments; assess their methodologies, evidence economic assumptions, and identify the costs, benefits and implications of legislative proposals for the rail sector;

• Strategic support: Contribute economic analysis and modelling to CER studies and priority policy files, including rail freight, high-speed rail and public procurement;

• Applied econometrics: Analyse and synthesise transport, trade, energy and infrastructure data to assess and, where appropriate, forecast the sectoral impacts of EU policies on rail competitiveness;

• Collaborative reporting: Produce concise analytical notes, presentations and technical contributions for policy audiences, while supporting consistent approaches to impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis across the policy files managed by the team.

Required skills and qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree in economics with a specialisation in market and policy analysis or applied microeconomics, complemented by strong quantitative and econometrics skills;

• Experience: 1–3 years of experience in economic research, impact assessment and business analysis including the ability to analyse companies’ publicly available profit and loss accounts, ideally within the transport, infrastructure or energy sectors;

• Technical toolkit: Proficiency in Excel and at least one statistical software package, such as Stata, R or Python, for quantitative analysis, economic modelling or forecasting;

• Teamwork: Proven ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary and international environment and to collaborate with policy colleagues and sector experts;

• Communication: Full professional proficiency in English with the ability to synthesize complex economic analysis into clear and persuasive policy messages for non-technical policy audiences.

What we offer

• We offer a multi-cultural, dynamic and professionally enriching working environment;

• Terms and conditions are competitive, depending on the experience and qualifications of the candidate;

• This is a full-time position based in Brussels, Belgium.

How to apply

Interested candidates should send a cover letter and a CV in English to jobs@cer.be in a file using the format FirstName_LastName_CV.pdf.

Applications will be treated in confidence and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an in-person or online interview.

The closing date for applications is 27 September 2026.