Data Lead – Start for Life (Job share)

Leeds, London

In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

The Start for Life Unit is part of the Early Years, Children and Families Directorate within DHSC. In March 2021, the Early Years Healthy Development Review – chaired by Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP – published an ambitious Vision to ensure every baby in England is given the best start for life: The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Start for Life Unit is charged with implementing this ambitious vision by putting words into action.

Following on from the Review, the Chancellor announced approx. £300m for the transformation of Family Hubs and improvement of Start for Life services – including funding for parent-infant mental health and breastfeeding services, the publication of Start for Life offers, and the establishment of Parent and Carer Panels in 75 upper tier local authorities. The Unit has been now working closely with officials in the Department for Education (responsible for the family hubs element of the package); and DHSC Ministers to deliver the funding package.

We published a progress report in February 2023 detailing the success of the Programme thus far and our wider work to develop and implement the commitments in the original Vision: The best start for life: a progress report on delivering the vision – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Start for Life analytical team, in which this post sits, are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the Start for Life programme, building and exploiting the evidence base on early years and making the case for future investment in early years. The analytical team vision is that we are a diverse, inclusive and collaborative team that delivers impactful analysis and evidence to improve outcomes for babies, children and families, whatever their background.

An exciting jobshare opportunity has arisen in the Start for Life (SfL) analytical team, to be the joint data lead for the Start for Life programme.

The main responsibility for this post is to lead, jointly with the lead Department for Education analyst, the SfL and Family Hubs Management Information (MI) collection – including managing the regular collections, continuously reviewing and improving the data collection questions and processes  and leading the analysis and reporting of data to Ministers and senior officials. The goal of the MI is to provide a comprehensive picture of the delivery and impact of conception-to-aged 2 services in the 75 funded local authorities whilst driving improvements in local authorities’ collection of data about babies and families.​

Another important role of this post is to develop and lead a data strategy for the Start for Life programme. This will include working closely with analytical and policy colleagues to identify evidence gaps and explore both innovative short-term ways and longer-term plans to fill them. 

This job share role has significant stretch for an experienced analyst who wants to strategically manage a complex programme of data collection, working jointly with analysts from DfE and engaging with senior officials and Ministers in multiple Government Departments on a high-profile programme.

This role is advertised as a job share of 0.6 FTE, working with an existing Grade 7.

This role involves: 

• Lead the regular management information collection through the whole statistical cycle – including data collection, processing, analysing and dissemination
• Thinking at a ‘systems level’ about the data being collected from the 75 funded local authorities and how findings from that data will be reported
• The use of statistical skills for analysis and quality assurance, including building an analytical pipeline
• Engaging with issues around data governance, data storage, and data protection
• Engaging with the funded Local Authorities
• Briefing senior officials/Ministers across government departments on your work, and reporting to the senior leadership team of the Start for Life Unit on the data programme
• Identifying strategic opportunities for improving the data collections through continuously reviewing and improving the data collection questions and processes
• Leading a team. This includes supporting direct reports’ development and wellbeing
• Produce a data strategy for the Start for Life programme, ensuring that the key outcome metrics for the programme and the benefits set out in the benefits realisation plan are measured.
• Working as a joint team with analysts from Department for Education on the data collection and working very closely with other SfL analysts
• Contribute to the Senior Leadership Teams including supporting a positive team culture, promoting diversity and inclusion, and working collaboratively to set priorities for analytical work.

Key skills and experience required for the role

We are looking for individuals with a passion for working with data to improve the lives of the youngest in our society. The role comes with a high level of responsibility with a strong focus on delivering a challenging but high quality data collection from Local Authorities, generating new, innovative insights from data, and delivering a comprehensive reporting system to monitor delivery of Local Authorities plans as well as contribute to evaluation of the programme.  

The role would especially suit an experienced statistician, data scientist, or operational researcher looking for a stretching analytical role, but we welcome applications from any analytical profession. We also welcome applications from unbadged analysts who don’t already belong to a Government analyst profession, although you do need to meet the eligibility criterion and qualifications.

Essential criteria: 

• Experienced in leading a complex programme of analytical work
• Experienced in leading a team and line management, or potential to line manage, including supporting their development and wellbeing
• Able to work with and to exploit complex data sources to provide new insights and improve evidence bases
• Able to build clear and reproducible processes to manage, structure and clean complex data; manage risks around data returns; and communicate this clearly to policy colleagues  
• Skilled at analysing complex or incomplete information to weigh up options and make recommendations   
• Good written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to convey complex information with clarity to a range of stakeholders
•  Able to build relationships both internally and externally

Desirable criteria:  

• Experience of building management information systems
• Understanding or experience of Local Authority data related to children and the early years

Eligibility for this role is limited to existing members of the government analytical professions and those who have the appropriate qualifications and experience to become members. The minimum criteria for this are as follows:

• Statistician: A second class degree or an MSc in a subject with substantial statistical content, or equivalent experience, and be able to demonstrate relevant experience in your career as a professional statistician. You will also have to complete an additional online test specific to statisticians as part of your application.

• Operational Research: A 2.1 or an MSc in a highly numerate discipline, or equivalent experience, and be able to demonstrate relevant experience in your career in the relevant profession.

• Economist: A degree at 2.1 or an MSc in Economics and be able to demonstrate substantial current experience in your career as a professional economist.

• Social Research: Must be a permanent civil servant and a citizen of Britain, the EU or the Commonwealth, holds an undergraduate degree, at a minimum of 2:1 or 2:2 with a postgraduate degree, in a social science subject, where social research methods comprise around one third of modules taken in the course and will need to have completed the social research knowledge test

Badged member of the Government Statistical Service (including data scientists) or Government Operational Research Service or Government Social Research or Government Economic Service, equivalent or willingness to attain membership if appointed.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Leadership
• Working Together

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Use and application of professional analytical skills to real issues or problems.
• Communicating analysis with impact.
• Presentation on data improvement.

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Use and application of professional analytical skills to real issues or problems.
• Communicating analysis with impact.

Alongside your salary of £53,116, Department of Health and Social Care contributes
£14,354 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : Lorna Langdon / Melissa Wingfield
• Email : Langdon-Wingfield@dhsc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dhscrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk