Senior Data Analyst

Closing Date:

29/09/2024

Group:

Strategy and Research Group

Management Level:

Senior Associate

Job Type:

Fixed Term (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

Please note this role will close at 00.01 on 29th September so we advise making your application by midnight on the 28th September.  

Please note that we are open to considering applications for all our office locations.

About Ofcom

As the UK’s communications regulator, we are delivering vital work that helps keep the UK connected and shapes the future of how we will stay connected with each other.

Our work covers everything from phones and broadband, through to TV, radio, the postal service, and wireless devices. We are also taking on the challenge of making the online world a safer place. And we need people of all backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to help us achieve our goal of making communications work for everyone.

About the Team

Ofcom’s Research and Intelligence Team is responsible for providing analysis of the UK communications market to provide an evidence base for Ofcom’s policy and regulatory work. Our work includes leading the delivery of several high-profile Ofcom publications.

The team includes market researchers, industry analysts and data specialists. Within the Statistics and Analytics team in the Research and Intelligence team, we aim to make the most of the vast amount of data that we collect and hold, supporting researchers and analysts to use the most robust datasets, streamline and automate data-related processes and communicate insight and findings in the best possible ways. We investigate and apply innovative analytical techniques to new and existing datasets to maximise their use.

Purpose of the Role

This is a 12-month fixed term position. The successful candidate will be leading on the integration and analysis of online measurement data, collected through passive monitoring. The main function of this analysis is to provide robust and actionable evidence to inform policy making as part of Ofcom’s role in improving children’s online safety.

This role will involve working with colleagues across Ofcom to get the data into an environment where it can be stored and analysed, determining rules and processes for ensuring the continued integrity of the data, and producing reproducible and robust outputs. These will range from summary statistics detailing the use of online apps and services, to exploring more innovative methods of analysis to provide insight to support Ofcom’s policy objectives, engaging with colleagues across the organisation to determine these analyses and outputs.

The successful candidate will also be expected to support other analytical activities within the Research and Intelligence team, including contributing to data collection and collation methods for information gathered from regulated stakeholders, and leading on pieces of analysis for internal and external audiences. 

Your key responsibilities

• Ensure that a robust, repeatable process is established for the ingestion, cleaning, and analysis of large real world online measurement data, including clear documentation of the process, assumptions, and caveats.
• Collaborate with a wide range of colleagues, setting and managing expectations, and building effective working relationships.
• Support the strategic development of Ofcom’s access to datasets and partnerships that fulfil evidence requirements, including scoping complex datasets of varying sizes and structures from a range of sources and engaging with external research experts and data vendors.
• Engage with project teams across Ofcom to capture the analytical requirements involved in the delivery of Online Safety objectives.
• Provide support for a range of other analytical activities as required.

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

• Experience of working with large real-world datasets, with the ability to deal with and set meaningful rules for handling inconsistencies, outliers, and anomalies.
• Solid knowledge of programming for analysis, e.g. Python, R, SQL and experience with the Azure platform, including Databricks and the ability to code in PySpark or SparkR or SparkSQL.
• Knowledge of, and the ability to apply, data privacy and data security considerations and undertake ethical analysis.
• Experience of building solutions: identifying and solving complex issues, using evidence-based methods to gather insights and develop well-founded solutions.
• Willingness to remain flexible in the face of change, anticipating and adjusting to shifts to effectively produce robust and repeatable analysis.
• Curiosity
• Executing plans: organise tasks and set clear goals, managing resources wisely, while keeping an eye on progress, using attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and integrity in analytical outputs.
• Harmonising work: work effectively with others, creating an honest team environment and sharing valuable information and resources.
• Articulating ideas: express your ideas, thoughts, and information in a clear and concise manner, ensuring messages are understood by everyone, with the ability to create clear, understandable visualisations of potentially complex data.

Inclusivity Statement

Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do.

We are a forward-thinking, inclusive employer and recognise the value of diversity to truly make communications work for everyone. Our vision is to ensure Ofcom is a place where our people can work hard and be themselves. We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability. We strive to be representative of the whole of the UK and our aim is to be an employer of choice for everyone.
We champion flexible working patterns including job shares where we can. Discover more about working at Ofcom at careers.ofcom.org.uk

We strive to ensure all our recruitment information and processes are accessible to and useable by everyone. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or would like us to do anything differently to help you apply for our roles, please let our recruitment team know by emailing resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or by telephone on 0330 912 1378.
As a Disability Confident employer, we offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for our advertised jobs. When you apply, you can let us know if you would like your application to be considered under this scheme (sometimes known as ‘guaranteed interview scheme’). Find out more about the scheme here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/jobs/disability-confident-scheme

Ofcom has a clear mission: to make communications work for everyone.  To be able to deliver on this, we want our organisation to reflect the diversity of background, experience, upbringing and thought that exists across the UK.  We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability. 

Where positions are listed as full-time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares, and other flexible working options. From day one, we champion flexible work arrangements to accommodate individual needs.

We also warmly welcome applicants who are returning to the workforce after a break – for whatever reason. If you have taken time away and are ready to rejoin, we look forward to reviewing your application.

Our recruitment processes prioritise accessibility and inclusivity. If you need information in an alternative format or have specific preferences, please contact our recruitment team at resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or call 0330 912 1378.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer interviews to disabled applicants who meet essential criteria for advertised roles. Learn more about this scheme here.  https://careers.ofcom.org.uk/careers/how-we-hire/