Senior Analyst - Analytics and Data Science

About the role

Senior Analyst - Analytics and Data Science

Fixed Term (12 months), Full Time (37 hours per week)

£42,165 to £49,606 per annum

Location: Chelmsford (Hybrid)

Closing Date: 16th October 2024

Please note this role will be offered on a fixed-term contract or secondment basis for 12 months.

Essex County Council’s award-winning Data & Analytics service has been growing and evolving for some time now; and we’re not done yet!

We're seeking a highly skilled and experienced senior analyst to support the team in advancing our data science initiatives in Essex. The ability to harness data science skills is paramount for this position. Utilising data science methodologies and statistical techniques, we aim to provide invaluable insights to our organisation, facilitating evidence-based decision-making processes. Our mission is to ensure that every decision undertaken by Essex County Council is underpinned by robust evidence.

Through the application of data science and statistical methodologies, we confront challenges head-on, unlocking the transformative potential of data to enhance our understanding of the county and drive meaningful change throughout our communities. If you're enthusiastic about joining a dynamic network comprising data scientists, analysts, engineers, designers, and more, then this opportunity is tailor-made for you.

Watch Katy Bennett, one of ECC’s Senior Analysts, speak about this opportunity and the team in a video on our YouTube channel.

You can also learn more about the team by reading our insight blog or visiting our open data website.

The Job

The role of senior analyst offers a varied set of responsibilities and accountabilities, that you can read more about in the job profile below.

Senior Analysts in the Data & Analytics team are expected to work across a range of portfolio areas depending on organisational need, but this role will be primarily supporting the Place Analytics portfolio. Place Analytics is a term used for a broad portfolio, which encompasses both our Climate, Environment and Customer, and our People, Policy, Economy and Public Health functional areas.

Recent analytics projects with Place colleagues include: forecasting demand for school transport, partnership working with district councils to create dashboards with open source data on the local economy and demographics, and using historic data to identify areas at potential risk of flooding in Essex.

Core Skills

We are looking for an enthusiastic, experienced data scientist who can hit the ground running in our dynamic team.

It is important to us that senior analysts possess a range of skills, including the ability to:

Work at pace: Lead on scoping, analysis and creating required deliverables for projects, whilst meeting agreed deadlines;
Embed quality assurance across own work and that of the team throughout the project life cycle, including supporting junior analysts and analysts;
Identify optimal range of analytical methods and products to suit business need,
Transform data to enable the successful delivery of analytics and data science projects,
Use statistical and data science methods to derive insight from data,
Create replicable analytical pipelines from source data,
Communicate effectively and engage customers with insight stories from data analysis,
Manage relationships with key customers, understanding the needs of their service(s) and supporting managers with portfolio management,
Represent the team, advocating the use of analytics in decision making,
Educated to degree level or with equivalent experience in coding and automation (R, Python, SQL)

Recruitment Process

As part of the application process, please ensure that you provide a supporting statement when prompted, telling us:

- What skills you possess that make you suitable for the role, and

- What experience you have gained that can support our team’s mission.

Following a shortlisting process we will then invite successful candidates to an interview, and set a task we expect you to complete ahead of this.

Development

We support the development of our staff in their careers. Over the past five years, 75% of team members have earned promotions into new role. We consistently offer opportunities to develop new skills through project working or training and encourage staff to spent 10% of their time on training and development.

You can read more about development opportunities in the team in our insight blog, specifically these blogs from Bella, Fran, and Caroline & Louis.

Base

This role is considered an ‘anywhere worker’ by Essex County Council and is predominantly a remote position. However, there is an expectation to be in the office in Chelmsford, Essex, around 2-3 days a month, and when required on an-ad hoc basis for different business needs.

Salary & Benefits

Our Essex Pay policy means we look at the job market nationally to offer competitive salary rates for all positions. The current rate for the job for this is £ 49,606 per annum, which is regularly evaluated. Our pay policy means that all people within a role are paid the same rate, except for training and development reasons.

Where development needs are identified throughout the recruitment process, new starters will be offered a minimum of 85% of the rate for the job. Upon starting, you will work with your line manager to create a development plan to increase your salary to the rate for the job within a maximum of 24mths.

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all employees. More information can be found at https://workingforessex.com/working-here/pay-reward?source=workingforessex.com.

To read more about us please visit: Chief Executives Office

Why Essex?

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the link.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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Senior Analyst – Analytics and Data Science