Job responsibilities
The successful candidates will:
- Support the delivery of strands of data science work to a high standard, sometimes being required to meeting challenging deadlines
- Build strong relationships both within and outside the team, encouraging joined up work both within own team and across groups
- Have good written and verbal communication skills, being able to tailor communications appropriately for a range of audiences including scoping projects and communicating the results of analysis to senior stakeholders and decision makers
- Experience of Python and/or R and SQL databases.
- Have an understanding of mathematical and statistical approaches that are applied to use cases to derive tangible insights and benefit for the organisation
- Demonstrate awareness of software best practice such as writing functions, modular code and using git-based version control systems
The following skills are advantageous for certain roles:
- Experience of producing analytical products (e.g., software packages, automated reports, dynamic visualizations/dashboards) for decision making
- Experience of testing code and code refactoring to reduce computational timing/required resources
- Experience in utilising a range of data sources (clinical, epidemiological environmental and socio-economic data) to support efficient management of public health incident response and for research purposes including engaging with data owners, automating bespoke pipelines, and querying and linking data
- Sound experience of a range of mathematical and statistical approaches including Generative Additive Models, Bayesian models and Agent-Based Models
It is expected that after a short period in post you be able to demonstrate the Data Scientist role in the Digital Data and technology (DDAT) framework. Please see more details at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-scientist#data-scientist
Qualifications required
Candidates will need at least one of the following:
- A first- or second-class honours degree in a numerate discipline, computer science or IT equivalent which demonstrates core statistical skills;A higher degree, e.g., an MSc or PhD, in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics (this is not a definitive list)Have worked in a statistical/data science field and are able to demonstrate continuous professional development in statistics/data science at the same level as a foundation degree/HND (Level 5)
Detailed job description
The roles are in the following areas:
Advanced Analytics - Harness interdisciplinary analytical methods, tools and products which can rapidly be deployed to deliver policy relevant insight to support health security, partnering effectively and flexibly with a diverse range of stakeholders. Example methods include regression techniques, visualisation, network modelling, and natural language processing.
Health Analytics and Automation - Leading on the delivery of key products to support incident response and the routine surveillance of health conditions and infectious diseases. Work across teams and directorates in identifying and developing opportunities for product automation and reproducible analyses (includes the automation of epidemiological and statistical models). A background of working with clinical or epidemiological data would be advantageous.
Security clearance level requirementSuccessful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.
People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard checks.
Working for our organisation
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
Selection Process
This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Technical Ability.
Stage 1: Application & Sift
We will be assessing 3 behaviours at sift plus technical skills. The behaviours to be assessed at sift are: Working Together, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace.
You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the advertised criteria.
You should provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria. It should also detail what you and your experience can bring to the role. We suggest using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method to demonstrate real-life examples for the specified essential criteria. Please note, only information provided within the stated word count will be considered.
You will also be asked to provide a Personal Statement / Statement of Suitability in no more than 750 words. This should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the experience criteria (outlined in the person specification section).
You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer / Activity history section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history. This will be used in the sifting process and will be scored.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to a technical assessment.
Stage 2 Technical Assessment
At this stage you will be provided with a representative data science task and data set and have 90 minutes to construct a code-based solution. You will then have an interactive discussion with a panel. Here you will present your outputs and respond to questions interactively. This session is expected to last around 15 minutes.
The assessment is predominately designed to test your coding and mathematical skills and the marking will align to the DDAT data science framework. If you pass this stage, you will proceed to the final interview stage.
Stage 3 - Panel Interview
All applicants that pass the sift and technical assessment will progress to interview and will be assessed on behaviours and technical ability through Success Profiles.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Working together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
It will also assess the following technical elements from the DDAT data science profile:
- Delivering business impact
- Developing data science capability
Reserve List
Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post will be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be contacted if similar roles become available.
If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.
DBS - People working with government systems must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which includes a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed for this role is BPSS however there may be a requirement for this role to be SC cleared and you should familiarise yourself with the criteria of security clearance.
This role is Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants). Appointments to roles within UKHSA will be made in accordance with the Civil Service nationality rules. These can be found athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of theEuropean Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Government baseline personnel security standard
Its important to note that there are currently exceptions to applications being considered if your conviction relates to any of the following:
- life sentences
- arson
- sexual offences
- hate and terror offences
Some departments will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role.
Contact Details Sophie.rigney@reed.com
