Senior Performance Analyst (GOV.UK)

Job description

As a Senior Performance Analyst in GDS, you’ll be a leading voice for data analysis, and evidence informed decision-making across multidisciplinary and agile teams. You'll focus on digital (e.g. web) analytics but also work with data from other sources such as third-parties, surveys, and user feedback. 

As a Senior Performance Analyst for GOV.UK you’ll join the GOV.UK Policy & Strategy team, a multidisciplinary team responsible for strategy, engagement, policy, and evaluation for GOV.UK channels and capabilities. We are a friendly team that prioritises kindness, openness and collaboration. You will be part of the evaluation stream, working on projects within and across the directorate to help answer evaluation questions including on impact and value for money. 

• you will be comfortable building rapport and effective working relationships quickly
• you will provide leadership to product teams and work collaboratively with other PAs to identify what needs to be measured, develop hypotheses, and test what success looks like
• you will both 1) own the management and development of analytical instrumentation and be responsible for accurate data collection implementation and 2) work in collaboration with other PAs on their data collection processes to influence evidence-based decisions, support business cases and strategic prioritisation. 
• you will be proactive in working with other disciplines and datasets to enrich stories, for example: working closely with user researchers to combine the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of user behaviour and/ or data scientists to monitor system performance.
• you will lead the production of accurate, engaging and actionable analysis, using judgement to tell engaging stories with data, relevant to the appropriate audience (from ministers to junior colleagues) and departmental and external stakeholders.
• you will own and manage strategic work - e.g. community building and training; or analytics implementation policies for GOV.UK content and products; benchmarking and agreeing common performance indicators

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

• strong proficiency with digital analytics platforms, such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager working with high volumes of data and using appropriate tools such as Google BigQuery, Dataform and APIs
• knowledge and/or experience applying the Performance Analyst skillset to broader evaluation questions which may involve methods or techniques such as process evaluation, impact evaluation, ‘theory of change’, experimentation and/or economic evaluation
• detailed understanding and practical experience of using different data tools to transform, analyse, and visualise different data sets e.g. Data Studio, Power BI or Tableau or experience in either python or R
• experience of working in an agile, project-based environment, focused on delivering user needs
• demonstrable success in developing implementation strategy, measurement frameworks, data collection instruments, quality assurance, and analysis
• deep understanding of business objectives with the ability to translate these into clear, actionable performance metrics that drive results
• strong data storytelling skills - discovering and sharing analytical insight with stakeholders with various levels of analytical expertise and at all levels of seniority
• proven capability of coaching and mentoring others with an ability to upskill non-technical team members; helping them to better understand data and analytics, and ensuring they can contribute effectively to the broader goals of the team

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.5%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days 
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave 
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - we only ask for a CV, responses to 2 knockout questions and a security check question Important tip - please ensure that your responses include how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• stage 1: initial video screening for 20 minutes
• stage 2: 60-minute interview, including a 10-minute presentation, conducted via video conferencing, details about the presentation will be shared in advance

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which are: 

• strong proficiency with digital analytics platforms, such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager working with high volumes of data and using appropriate tools such as Google BigQuery, Dataform and APIs 
• knowledge and/or experience applying the Performance Analyst skillset to broader evaluation questions which may involve methods or techniques such as process evaluation, impact evaluation, ‘theory of change’, experimentation and/or economic evaluation

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• communicating and influencing
• delivering at pace
• working together
• making effective decisions
• leadership

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Senior Performance Analyst role:

• performance measurement
• analysis and insight
• communicating analysis and insight
• technical understanding (performance analyst)

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here 

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 24th July 2026

Panel interviews: w/c 3rd August 2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Security: 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible. 

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.