Senior Place Analyst

Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Manchester; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport is seeking a skilled analyst for its new Place Analysis team. This role focuses on enhancing geospatial analysis capabilities, supporting policy development through data insights, and collaborating across teams to drive improvements in regional growth and opportunity. Ideal candidates will have expertise in GIS and experience influencing policy with analytical insights.

Qualifications

• Expertise in GIS for geospatial analysis and data visualization.
• Experience in policy-making influence through analytical insights.
• Ability to communicate technical analysis to non-analysts.

Responsibilities

• Lead the analytical place agenda and establish geoanalysis standards.
• Collaborate with the Data Science team for insights using the Place Analysis Tool.
• Maximize place-based insights from existing data collections.

Skills

GIS

Geospatial analysis

Data visualization

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Undergraduate degree in data science, geography, or similar

Job description

Job summary

The Analysis Function in DCMS has a vital role in supporting and steering the development of policy. We are arranged into a ‘hub and spoke’ model:

• A Central Analysis Team (the ‘hub’) responsible for strategic and cross-cutting priorities, assurance processes and the production and publication of our statistics
• Sector Analytical Teams (‘spokes’) that are embedded in policy directorates and lead analysis on individual sectors

The Strategic Analysis and Data Science Unit sits within Central Analysis as the analytical counterpart to department’s Strategy and Policy Units. We undertake analysis on emergent and priority issues covering the breadth of the department, working closely with sector analysts to improve our collective understanding of DCMS policies and programmes and their impact.

As a multidisciplinary team of economists, statisticians and data scientists, we serve as a centre of expertise for the department across economic growth, data improvement and modelling. With the creation of a new Place Analysis team, where this role be, we are expanding that expertise to include spatial analysis, too.

Job description

Our Secretary of State has made ‘place’ one of her top priorities, with clear ambitions for improving growth and opportunity across every region and community. Data and analysis is at the forefront of how we do that, providing more granular insight into the issues that local areas face and the potential impact of DCMS interventions.

This role will sit in our newly established Place Analysis team, and will lead the department’s work to embed geoanalytical thinking and best practice across the analytical community, improving DCMS capability with respect to understanding and interrogating geographic data. For example, by:

• Supporting the Head of Place Analysis in leading the department’s analytical place agenda, establishing new standards and direction on geoanalysis in DCMS, and producing a Analytical Place Strategy for the department
• Working closely with the Data Science team, undertaking deep dives into our flagship Place Analysis Tool, using innovative techniques to discover new insights as we aim to collate all of the department’s data on spend and outcomes. For example, regression analysis, small area statistics and modelling to understand the factors that drive local differences in participation and outcomes
• Maximising our ability to extract place-based insight from our existing data collections, and working closely with statisticians to shape statistics and surveys to enable deeper geospatial insight

This is a stretching SEO role with opportunity to design and shape the geospatial tools, techniques and skills used by all analysts across DCMS, establishing best practice in a nascent area with high exposure to senior colleagues across analysis, strategy and policy.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential requirements:

• Expertise using GIS to produce geospatial analysis, maps, and other data visualisations.
• Experience deploying thought leadership to identify innovative solutions to policy and analytical problems.
• Experience using own and others’ analysis to inform and influence policy-making decisions and senior leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to align analysis to stakeholder needs, and confident in articulating the messages of technical analysis to non-analyst audiences with clarity and purpose.
• An ability to work across multiple teams and professions to produce analysis and impart geoanalytical skills and knowledge.
• Hold or be eligible for membership of one of the following government analytical professions:
  ○Government Statistical Service
  ○Government Economics Service
  ○Government Operational Research Service

Orcandidates should have an undergraduate degree at minimum 2:1 or equivalent in data science, geography, geospatial mapping & sciences, geospatial analysis or similar (eg. candidates with the required skills but applying from a DDaT rather than a badged analytical background).

If you are unsure about your eligibility, please contact the vacancy holder to discuss.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Thomas Warren and will take place on:

• 14:30 on Tuesday 27th May

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out thisRegistration formby13:00 on Tuesday 27th Mayand you will be sent an invitation.

Please note that the session will not be recordedand will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) [e-mail]