Senior Data Scientist - Statistics - ( Ref : 6298 )

Natural England; Folly Gate; On-site; GBP 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A governmental agency is seeking a Senior Data Scientist (Statistician) to lead statistical analyses and improve project quality. The ideal candidate should possess strong statistical knowledge and experience in data visualization. This role offers a salary of £37,950 and benefits including a Civil Service pension and a flexible working environment.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Civil Service pension

Tailored learning and development

Inclusive culture

Qualifications

• Experience of a range of statistical techniques and applications.
• Data extraction and preparation skills.
• Strong background in data visualization and reporting.
• Experience working with various data types.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex statistical analyses for various stakeholders.
• Establish project planning and resource allocation.
• Implement data standards and assurance processes.
• Communicate organizational objectives effectively.

Skills

Statistical techniques (e.g. SAS, SPSS, R)

Data extraction and preparation

Exploratory data analysis

Data visualization

Experience with biological and geographical data

Job description

Overview

Data Science Services (DSS) is part of the Analysis Directorate. We are a large, national team and have broad skills including data science, analysis and statistics. We are passionate about quality technical delivery and continuous improvement, using novel data science approaches to help everyone understand nature recovery. We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist (Statistician) who can lead delivery and drive improvement on a range of projects. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a passion for driving up quality standards and capability in statistics.

Responsibilities

• Lead small teams and programmes of work to carry out complex statistical analyses, improving efficiency and quality, in order to meet the evidence needs of a variety of Natural England, Defra group and other stakeholders.
• Liaise with project managers and teams to establish project planning and resourcing so that projects are delivered efficiently, with appropriate resource and capability, to a high standard, and progress, risks and issues are monitored.
• Put in place project data standards, assurance processes and systems to ensure outputs are high-quality and robust (including through good documentation and automation) so that customer decisions and advice can be based on sound evidence and outputs can be reproduced.
• Understand organisational objectives and be able to communicate them with project teams. Engage with business planning processes to provide intel, develop ideas, and assist with prioritisation and scoping of projects and programmes.
• Engage with customers and partners to identify and exploit opportunities for new or revised projects (including use of new technologies or approaches) which will improve the evidence base, improve efficiency / quality, build capability or generate funding.
• Build capability in others in the team and across NE (as appropriate) to enable effective delivery and support resilience to absence and change.
• Liaise with relevant partners/authorities/professional networks to understand and interpret advice, standards and best practice for relevant application in NE.

Competencies

• Technical Skills and Knowledge
  • Experience of a range of statistical techniques and applications (e.g. SAS, SPSS, R) for identifying relationships between data and for inference, parametric and non‑parametric analysis and methods for quantifying uncertainty.
  • Data extraction/ingestion and preparation, exploratory data analysis, and data visualisation including report writing and publication.
  • Experience working with (preferably combining) a range of biological, geographical and social data.
  • Understanding of good practice, ethics, and quality assurance for data analysis.
• Leading and Managing People
  • Set clear plans and expectations for your team, explain reasons behind decisions, be clear on the outcomes to be achieved, and make things happen by sharing and delegating work to the right people. (Practitioner)
  • Encourage, inspire and support people to be ambitious, creative and innovative, and to reflect, celebrate and learn lessons from their work. (Practitioner)
  • Identify, share and promote best practice and lessons learned to create a culture of learning that supports continuous improvement. (Expert)
• Work delivery
  • Understand and apply relevant policy, legislation, governance frameworks and strategies to your work.
  • See the big picture so you can set your team's work within the context of the organisation's vision, mission and aims, and help them understand how their work relates to and supports this.
• Personal Effectiveness
  • Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence. (Expert)

How to Apply

We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview. If you require a reasonable adjustment at interview, or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you should notify us of this at application stage where possible, or well in advance of your interview.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:

• Technical Skills and Knowledge.
• Leading and Managing People.
• Work delivery.
• Personal Effectiveness.

When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. Give us an example of how you have demonstrated the competency (which can be work related or from another area of your life) and tell us about the Situation, the specific Task you had to undertake, the specific Actions you took, and the Result (both immediate and in a wider context) of your doing so. Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency. Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.

Benefits

• Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.
• Identify, share and promote best practice and lessons learned to create a culture of learning that supports continuous improvement (Expert).
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Salary of £37,950 with a contribution of £10,994 towards the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.