VACANCY ADVERTISING FORM

VACANCY REFERENCE NUMBER:REC/

POST TITLE:Senior Statistical Officer; Workforce Statistics and Analysis

PAYBAND:Band B2+ (SStO equivalent)

UNIT/DIVISION:Analysis and Insight team, Civil Service Group

LOCATION: 1 Horse Guards Road, London

TYPE OF POSTING: Permanent

VACANCY ADVERT AND JOB DESCRIPTION - MAIN DUTIES OF THE POST

The team

The post isin the Workforce Statistics and Analysis team, part ofAnalysis & Insight (A&I), Cabinet Office’s central analytical hub. A&I undertakes analysis, research and data collection across a wide range of policy areas at the very heart of government. It is a multidisciplinary team mostly made up of professional analysts including Statisticians, Economists, Social Researchers and Operational Researchers. The Cabinet Office Chief Economist along with the Heads of Profession for Social Research and for Statistics are all in A&I.

The Workforce Statistics and Analysis teamhouses the operational centre for the collection and analysis of a range of critical workforce management informationon the Civil Service. Reporting to the Head of Workforce Analysis, you’ll build yourunderstanding of the data sets available in order to deliver impactful analysis.You will have line management responsibility for a Statistical Officer.

You’ll be supported bya friendly, flexible team committed to quality management and your professional development. You can take a look at Analysis & Insight’s blog for more information on what we do:

Analysis in the Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office is home to around 40 analysts from the various analytical professions, working on a wide range of policy issues. The Analysis & Insight Team is at the centre of exploring innovative new approaches to conducting analysis and supporting policy makers – such as data visualisation, social media analysis, unstructured text analysis and other data science techniques. Cabinet Office provides a comprehensive learning and development offer for our analysts, ranging from core skills through to the latest techniques.

Whilst a relatively small department in terms of analytical resource, we are a close-knit analytical community, hosting regular events and peer-to-peer learning sessions. We also provide all our analysts with a “development manager” from within our community to help you develop further in your career.

Your role

You will be responsible for providing wide-ranging specialist statistical analysis and cross-cutting analytical support to a number of key Cabinet Office policy areas: Civil Service Group - realisation of theCivil Service Vision, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy – making the Civil Service the UK’s most inclusive employer,Civil Service HR - providing and building Civil Service wide HR capability and services and developing the evidence base for the Workforce Plan, and directly to senior officials in Cabinet Office including the Cabinet Secretary and the Chief Executive of Civil Service.

You will directly support the Head of Workforce Analysisinleading and managing a number the team’s critical data collections and statistical activities. The role requires you to take a confident and proactive approach to engagement with stakeholders and to work autonomously.

You will have a wide range of statistical and analytical skills, ideally complemented bya good knowledge of data collection, presentation, and data-visualisation skills. These qualities are key to delivering on some of your key priorities: ensuring the highest standards of analysis and data collection are maintained for the team’s business as usual activities and developing innovative and informative analytical slide-packs and briefing for senior policy officials and Civil Service leaders.And in order to achieve really effective outcomes, you will be confident in collaborating and negotiating directly with senior officials from a range of different policy areas and also with your colleagues fromthe different analytical disciplines.

This business critical role requires you to be able to draw on a wide-range of expert statistical skills up to Government Statistician Group (GSG) level 3 professional standards, including:

  • Extensive knowledge and experience of a number of sophisticated statistical and econometric techniques, including in multivariable regression analysis;
  • Wide and extensive experience in designing, implementing and delivering large data collections;
  • High competency and experience of statistical software not limited to but including STATA, SPSS with advanced Excel skills and knowledge of VBA;
  • A proven track record in the delivery of high quality data visualisation techniques and applications.

And these will be complemented by broader skills, including;

  • An ability to work at pace across a number of different work strands concurrently whilst meeting demanding deadlines;
  • Experience of presenting analysis to a range of customers and stakeholders including at a very senior level;
  • Skilled at developing and maintaining key stakeholder and customer relationships.

With your ability to work at pace, you will be able to produce impactful analysis and evidence whilst also having great attention to detail. You will possess determination and drive in order to meet the needs of a set of very demanding senior stakeholders. This role will suit an experienced statistician, who wants to actively draw on their deep technical expertise whilst demonstrating and developing their leadership and management skills, applying them to a range of high-profile policy areas at the centre of government.

You will have line management responsibility for one Statistical Officer, with responsibility for their ongoing management and continuing professional development, helping them fulfil their potential and longer-term career aspirations.

Key responsibilities include:

Leading the collection and development of key workforce data and management information (MI), including:

  • Civil Service Workforce Projections – Managing and developing this high-profile collection, ensuring that it provides reliable and robust data and evidence in support of the workforce reform agenda. Acting as the key analytical, statistical and data lead, you will engage directly with senior Cabinet Office policy officials and the Civil Service HR Strategic Workforce Planning Expert Service, as well as with important external stakeholders, including the Office of Budget Responsibility and the National Audit Office to develop this collection in line with the workforce agenda, ensuring it meets customer’s and stakeholder’s immediate and future strategic needs.
  • Civil Service Board Packs– Maintaining and developing this key information source containing critical measures of delivery and progress against the workforce agenda and other policy initiatives. You will proactively work with the Cabinet Secretary's private office and with other senior policy customers and co-ordinate a range of additional activities across the Cabinet Office and with other key partners. Using your judgement and knowledge of data sources along with your statistical skills in order to meet Civil Service Board’s wide-ranging agenda,you’ll develop innovative data visualisations and impactful analysis clearly showing the impact of the full range of Civil Service workforce initiatives.

Maintaining and developing a range of critical analyses, including:

  • Workforce efficiency savings – Leading the production of the evidence and analysis of government efficiency savings from the Civil Service workforce reform programme. Through your knowledge of the data landscape and using your analytical skills, you will collate and summarise the extent of paybill savings derived from the workforce reductions taking place across the Civil Service and central government organisations more generally. You will oversee the validation and quality assurance of returns, managing the process and dealing directly with organisations as necessary to ensure comprehensive and reliable information is provided and milestones for delivery met.
  • Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) – Lead the delivery of the analytical and data element of the Government’s evidence. In collaboration with policy colleagues and working closely with expert colleagues in the Office of Manpower Economics (OME), you will ensure statistical rigour in developing this critical annual piece of evidence, providing key statistical insights to establish the impact of pay reforms in the Senior Civil Service (SCS).
  • Socio-Economic Background – Supporting the Head of Workforce Analysis on this priority area, helping to develop the evidence base for this key diversity agenda, you will provide support to the Civil Service Permanent Secretary Social Mobility Champion, and in establishing more routine capturing of the socio-economic background composition of the Civil Service.
CONTACT DETAILS

FOR INFORMATION REGARDING RECRUITMENT PROCESS, ELIGIBILITY, TERMS & CONDITIONS:

FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THESE POSTS: Please contact James Murphy Corkhill on 0207 271 1393or

APPLICATIONS ARE WELCOME FROM PART TIMERS ANDJOB SHARERS

SALARY SCALE:£36,202-£43,780

NOTE:

  • SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WILL TRANSFER ONTO CABINET OFFICE TERMS AND CONDITIONS INCLUDING SALARY.
  • ALLOWANCES WILL NOT BE CARRIED OVER UNLESS APPLICABLE TO THE JOB.
  • EXCESS COSTS WILL BE PAYABLE ONLY IF THERE IS A PROVEN BUSINESS CASE.
PERSON SPECIFICATION-COMPETENCES/SKILLS REQUIRED

SETTING DIRECTION

Seeing the Big Picture

Essential

· Develop an understanding of own area’s strategy and how this contributes to Departmental priorities.

· Seek to understand how the services, activities and strategies in the area work together to create value for the customer/end user.

DELIVERING RESULTS

Delivering at Pace

Essential

· Successfully manage, support and stretch self and team to deliver agreed goals and objectives.

· Plan ahead but reassess workloads and priorities if situations change or people are facing conflicting demands.

ENGAGING PEOPLE

Leading and Communicating

Essential

· Take opportunities to regularly communicate and interact with staff, helping to clarify goals and activities and the links between these and Departmental strategy.

· Communicate in a succinct, engaging manner and stand ground when needed.

Collaborating and Partnering

Essential

· Establish relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.

· Encourage collaborative team working within own team and across the Department.

The following additional professional competencies, drawn from the GSG competency framework, will also be assessed:

Data analysis

  • Proactively engages early and often with the customer to share analytical results, and to discuss findings, taking datalimitations into account. Influences the debate and the decision making process.
  • Selects analytical techniques and conducts analysis in such a way as to strengthen customer trust in the evidencebase.

Presenting and disseminating data effectively

  • Evaluates products to ensure that they are meeting the needs of different users, and uses information to feedcontinuous improvement.
  • Draws out the key/headline messages for the customer and provides insight to inform debate and influence decisionmaking.

Specialist skills and requirements

Applicants must be a member of the Government Statistical Service. The post is open on level transfer and on promotion. All candidates invited to interview will be asked to deliver a presentation to the panel.

Essential

  • Membership of the GSS.
  • Strong quantitative analysis skills, including experience in descriptive data analysis, interrogation of data sources, and regression techniques, using statistical packages such as Stata/SPSS/SAS.
  • Experience of presenting complex analysis clearly to non-analytical customers.
  • Strong data visualisation skills.

Desirable

  • Experience of presenting analysis to very senior customers such as Ministers and senior civil servants.