Data Partnerships Officer (Contract)

New Start; Chelmsford; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Essex County Council is seeking a Data Partnerships Officer to support and manage partnership data initiatives across councils, police, fire services, and universities. You will engage with internal and external partners, plan events, and coordinate communications to deliver the Essex Centre for Data Analytics strategy.

You will coordinate activities, develop reports, and ensure deadlines are met while maintaining strong working relationships and a proactive approach to data partnerships.

Qualifications

• Minimum of GCSE passes in English and Maths.
• Experience in partnership settings.
• Experience in communication and engagement activities within an organisation.
• Experience of working with a wide range of partners and managing competing demands.
• Excellent written and verbal skills, ability to draft content clearly.
• Ability to deliver to deadlines and manage multiple tasks.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate partnership data projects and programmes, engaging with leads to solve problems, develop action plans, manage deadlines, and brief on progress.
• Build effective relationships with internal and external partners.
• Undertake desktop research, develop and deliver reports and briefs.
• Contribute ideas for continuous service improvement and high customer satisfaction.
• Support event organisation: venues, invoices, budgets, content for events.
• Produce copy for Essex Centre for Data Analytics platforms, newsletters, and portals.
• Provide administrative support for strategic data partnership groups, manage inboxes and meeting logistics.
• Provide engagement reports and contribute to monitoring and evaluation.
• Maintain knowledge of council functions and processes.

Skills

Partnerships

Communication

Event management

Stakeholder engagement

Project coordination

Attention to detail

Teamwork

Education

GCSE English & Maths

Job description

Data Partnerships Officer

Salary: £27869.0000 - £32787.0000 per annum

Expires: 18/09/2026

Location: Chelmsford, Essex

Job type: Contract

Fixed Term, Full Time

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 18th September 2026

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This is a fixed term contract / secondment opportunity for a period of up to 12 months. You will be required to attend County Hall, Chelmsford 2-3 days per month.

Working as part of the Essex Centre for Data Analytics the Partnerships Officer will work with data teams across Essex County Council, Essex Police, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, Southend City Council, Thurrock Council and the University of Essex and with our partners to support and at times manage, a range of exciting partnership data initiatives that deliver the aims set out within the Essex Centre for Data Analytics' strategy.

The role will focus on ensuring that partnership data initiatives run smoothly and that they support the delivery of programmes aligned to the Essex Centre for Data Analytics ambitions.

The role will support the delivery of a partnership engagement programme for data communities, working with internal and external stakeholders to plan and co-ordinate events, and manage established communications and engagement channels.

Accountabilities

• To co-ordinate partnership data projects and programmes, engaging with project leads to problem solve and overcome any barriers to delivery, developing shared action plans, managing deadlines and supporting briefings on progress.
• To build effective, collaborative relationships with key internal and external partners.
• To undertake desktop research, develop and deliver reports, briefings and products aligned to the role.
• To contribute ideas and solutions for continuous service improvement ensuring high customer satisfaction.
• To support in the organisation of key events, seminars and briefings that advance the work of the team, promoting the work of Essex Centre for Data Analytics and data communities; including sourcing and booking venues, processing invoices, and managing budgets for events, and working with stakeholders to produce content for the events.
• Assist creating, updating, sourcing, and producing copy for relevant online platforms relating to the Essex Centre for Data Analytics such as social media, website, Insight Matters newsletter, Data Talks events portal and contributing towards other key communication documents for the wider team.
• Provide business administrative support for key strategic data partnership groups. This includes managing shared inboxes, arranging meetings, producing, and distributing agendas, coordinating papers, and ensuring action items are captured, logged, and delivered.
• Provide timely engagement reports and feedback, evaluate the effectiveness of key activities and contribute to regular monitoring and evaluation reports.
• To maintain a good working knowledge of the council's functions and processes and keep up to date with changes.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Minimum of GCSE passes (or equivalent) in English and Maths.
• Experience of and interest in working in a partnership setting.
• Experience of and interest in communication and engagement activities within an organisation Experience of having worked in a political environment, skills in understanding and responding to different perspectives and taking a cross-organisational perspective.
• Experience of working with a wide range of partners and managing competing demands.
• An ability to work well with others in a team and partnership environment including networking and developing strong working relationships both internally and externally.
• Ability to think creatively, identify and develop ideas from a range of sources and translate ideas into actions.
• Ability to problem solve, troubleshoot, and facilitate the removal of barriers to success with partner organisations.
• Excellent written and verbal skills, ability to draft content and deal with matters in a sensitive way.
• Ability to deliver to deadlines and to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent communication skills and a high capacity for factual accuracy and attention to detail.
• An ability to work fairly, autonomously, be proactive and driven to get results.
• Experience of project/organisational and event management and interest in data is desirable.

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Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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