Data science for the public good

You will lead or work within multi-disciplinary delivery teams and collaborate with others in government, industry, academia, and charities, both in the UK and internationally. You will research, design, build and improve digital and data products. You will also contribute to building capability in data science through research, mentoring and training.

The presently advertised roles will place candidates in a team using data science and analysis to deliver insights about population mobility and its interactions with economy, environment and society. However, we encourage applications from those interested to work in other areas of the Campus or wider ONS. A reserve list of applicants will be held for up to 12 months and may be used to fill any vacancies that arise in other teams.

Data Scientists / Analyst (appointed at the Civil Service grade of Senior Executive Officer) are proficient in data science and/or data modelling and analysis. They have recognised ability in a number of data science specialisms and provide detailed technical advice on their area of expertise. They draw on other technical and analytical standards from across government and industry. They promote and present data science work both within and outside of the organisation. They engage with stakeholders to demonstrate the value of data science and propagate data science skills in other teams. They line manage and mentor Junior Data Scientists.

As a Data Scientist/ Analyst with the Data Science Campus you will:

• Work as part of a cross-disciplinary team to deliver ground-breaking data science projects in population mobility; you also contribute in one or more of other core Campus themes: the economy, the environment, society.
• Deliver innovative data science for the public sector, exploring and applying new data sources, tools and techniques or approaches to meet our clients’ needs, and using your coding and analytical skills.
• Develop software tools, hardware infrastructure or data products that exploit state of the art research to place technology in the hands of the operational users.
• Use Agile project delivery methodology to deliver effectively and efficiently. Ensure work delivers value by understanding and addressing user needs.
• Write and publish code to quality standards. Contribute to technical reports, working papers, and journal articles.
• Develop and deliver regular statistical or analytical outputs.

There may be some line management associated with these posts. Some travel to other Campus and Government locations will be required at both grades.

Although remote workers will not be attached to an office location, there is an expectation that you will occasionally attend meetings or other activities on-site.

Responsibilities

Person Specification

Essential skills criteria and experience:

For each of the criteria below we will assess you for significant experience. Please ensure that you provide as much evidence as you can of your skills and experience in the following:

• Data wrangling skills and experience.
• Data analytics – such as supervised and un-supervised machine learning (including deep learning). Experience in at least some of the following areas: natural language processing, image processing, geospatial analysis, econometrics and regression, microdata, network analysis, agent-based modelling, time series analysis, causal inference, data fusion.
• Storytelling and data visualisation – including the visualisation of insights drawn from data and the building of data driven products.
• Good knowledge and experience of coding in Python and/or R.
• Scientific research methods – analytical, critical, and curious analysis of data or modelling, ability to master the scientific literature, a track record of high-quality publications.
• A track record of delivering data science projects on time, to meet user needs, and overcoming any challenges.
• A demonstrable commitment to developing your knowledge and expertise as well as that of others.
• Experience of delivering statistical or analytical outputs to quality standards
• Ability to read and write code in Python and/or R.

Desirable skills criteria:

Data Science is an intensely multidisciplinary practice with a continually evolving skill set. You should be able to demonstrate ability and experience in at least one of the following areas. We do not expect any one person to cover all the skills. Assessments will be based on the breadth and depth of your experience.

• Visualisation knowledge and experience with: dashboarding, some experience in D3 and other Javascript visualisation libraries, technologies for web app creation (HTML, CSS, React, Vue, Dash, Django Flask).
• Software knowledge: version Control, cloud programming experience (BigQuery, cloud functions etc.), additional experience with other programming languages (Julia, Matlab, Javascript and other low & high-level languages).
• Data management/curation – such as the manipulation and analysis of complex, high volume and high dimensionality data, distributed processing, relational and non-relational databases, cloud storage and data management, interoperability and standardisation for data, metadata management, knowledge of UK datasets.
• Data engineering – such as the design of algorithms, implementation of big data solutions, multi-core/distributed processing, SQL and NoSQL database systems, statistical analysis languages and tooling.

Qualifications:

• There are no strict qualification requirements.
• We encourage applications from people without formal qualifications, but with equivalent working experience.
• We also welcome applicants with a good degree, or equivalent, that includes components related to data science, computer science, or software engineering. This might include, but is not limited to, the following subjects: mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, geospatial science, physics, economics, econometrics, chemistry, biology, and ecology.
• We are also interested in applicants with a higher degree (for example, MSc or PhD) in a related subject.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others
• Delivering at Pace

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• A combination of technical questions and tests may be used at interview stage aligned to the person specification of the role. DDAT Profession