Data Analyst - Government Digital Service - SEO

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

The GDS IDEA (Insight, Data Science, Economics, and Analysis) Unit is looking for talented data analysts to join our dynamic, high-impact, multidisciplinary team. We combine cutting-edge AI, advanced data science, and analytical expertise to deliver powerful insights, automation efficiency, and build the evidence base that drives smarter, more impactful decisions across DSIT.

We are responsible for: 

• Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by: 
• Joining up public sector services 
• Harnessing the power of AI for the public good 
• Strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure 
• Elevating leadership and investing in talent 
• Funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation 
• Committing to transparency and driving accountability

Job description

As a Data Analyst, you will make sure data is collected, prepared and used in a way that supports clear decision-making and aligns to GDS priorities. You will ingest data from multiple sources and formats, and apply robust validation, cleansing and quality assurance so stakeholders can trust what they are seeing. You will turn analysis into practical outputs, including well-designed reports and interactive dashboards, that help teams understand what is happening, why it matters and what to do next.

As a Data Analyst you’ll:

1. Deliver analytical support and insight - Lead the provision of analytical support across the GDS IDEA Unit, providing timely insight that helps teams make decisions and improve outcomes.
2. Manage data-to-insight delivery - Ingest, validate and quality assure data from a range of sources, and apply appropriate analytical methods to generate reliable findings.
3. Own workforce/pay framework analysis - Lead ongoing analysis of the Government Digital and Data Pay and Capability Frameworks (delegated and SCS), working with content designers, user researchers and policy/subject matter leads to identify evidence-based improvements using internal and external data.
4. Develop reporting and visualisation products - Design, build and iterate interactive dashboards and reports that communicate complex insights clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, aligned to user needs.
5. Explore and evaluate AI opportunities - Identify, scope and deliver AI proof-of-concepts, assessing feasibility, business value and practical application, and supporting the transition from concept to use where appropriate.
6. Communicate findings for action - Present and communicate insights to senior decision-makers in a clear, accessible and actionable way, setting out implications, limitations and recommended next steps.
7. Enable adoption through collaboration and governance - Work with programme leads and stakeholders to ensure analysis is proportionate, methodologically sound and meets end-user expectations, including appropriate documentation and quality controls.

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

• the ability to build interactive dashboards and reports using tools such as Plotly, Dash, Matplotlib or Streamlit
• strong experience with core libraries (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn) and writing clear, modular, reusable code with error handling and logging
• experience on how to apply techniques for analysis of research data and synthesis of findings. You know how to involve your team in analysis and synthesis.
• are able to recognise and identify appropriate ways to collect, collate and prepare data. You can decide if data is accurate and fit for purpose. You know how to do your own data preparation and cleansing with limited guidance
• the ability to translate and communicate accurate information to technical and non-technical stakeholders. You know how to facilitate discussions within a multidisciplinary team, with potentially difficult dynamics
• the ability to produce data models and understand where to use different types of data models. You know how to reverse-engineer a data model from a live system. You understand industry-recognised data-modelling patterns and standards
• knowledge and experience of project management methodologies, including tools and techniques. You know how to adopt those most appropriate for the environment
• experience working with cloud tools such AWS ( S3, Lambda, Bedrock, Athena, or SNS.),  or other cloud services Azure, or GCP;  and familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub), command line, and IDEs

We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Applications from candidates who have previously worked as a Data analyst, Performance analyst or Data science type role should feel welcome to apply.