Higher Data Scientist - ( Ref : 6768 )

Job summary

This position is based Nationally

Job description

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.

• Recovering Nature – Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
• Building Better Places – Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
• Improving Health and Wellbeing – Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
• Delivering Security through Nature – Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at:

Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK.

The Team

Data Science Services (DSS) is part of the Analysis Directorate. We are a large, national team and have broad skills including data science, analysis and statistics. We are passionate about quality technical delivery and continuous improvement, using novel data science approaches to help everyone understand nature recovery.

Job description

This role will primarily oversee a variety of small teams and programmes / projects to manage, process, and analyse non-spatial data to create quality reproducible products that inform evidence-led advice and decision making within NE and partner organisations. The holder of this post will design and oversee the delivery of robust data processing flows and complex data analysis, communicate methods and outputs effectively to various stakeholders, and implement data standards and quality assurance on a range of projects using both marine and terrestrial data.

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities

• Support Senior and Higher Data Scientists and Specialists in establishing and prioritising business and functional requirements for protected sites data and information and ensuring Natural England’s non-spatial evidence can meet these requirements.
• Lead, manage and monitor delivery of specific evidence projects.
• Effectively engage with internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide technical non-spatial (and potentially spatial) data management advice, analysis and expertise for relevant projects – e.g. Conservation Advice.
• Work with colleagues to ensure data and information are managed appropriately and made available and accessible to staff across Natural England, and external stakeholders, including through analysis and interpretation.
• Ensure that the data are collected, collated and stored to adhere to relevant data standards.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Experience designing, maintaining and querying relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MS Access) and managing large, multiformat datasets.
• Experience maintaining data processing, transformation or ETL workflows to support operational evidence products.
• Experience writing and maintaining SQL queries for data extraction, transformation and validation.
• Experience applying data validation, quality assurance and quality control procedures.
• Knowledge of designated sites and features.
• Experience of project management, with ability to plan and deliver interdependent tasks to schedule.
• Familiarity with data standards such as INSPIRE and data management principles, such as QFAIR.
• Experience working with data and metadata processes, procedures and workflows.
• Experience with VBA or other scripting languages for automation.
• Familiarity with reference management software – e.g. EndNote.

Benefits

At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements.

We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering.

You’ll receive a generous leave allowance of 25 days per year (pro rata), increasing by one day for each year of service up to 30 days (pro-rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events.

We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Locations

Natural England has adopted hybrid working – which means our staff work from a flexible range of locations, encompassing home, offices (ours and our partners) and relevant sites. All new staff will be formally linked to one of our 25 offices across England, and the expectation is that all new staff will be able to access their local office to be part of the community of staff in their geographical area. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.

Staff members are required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Travel expenses will be paid if work-related travel is required but does not apply to travel between home and your associated office.

National team roles can be linked with any Natural England office while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.

View a map of our office locations here: online map of Natural England office locations

Pay

It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.

Please note: Licensed visa sponsoring organisations are employers authorised by the government to recruit and sponsor overseas workers, enabling them to obtain the appropriate visa to work legally in the country. Natural England is NOT a licensed sponsorship employer.

As part of the Natural England’s application process, candidates are asked to confirm their right to work and remain in the UK. If a candidate says that they meet these requirements, ID is checked, a provisional offer of permanent employment is made and pre-employment eligibility checks commence. Only after these checks are candidates given firm offers of employment.

Natural England is unable to employ individuals who cannot provide the required evidence of their right to work.

How to Apply

We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at interview, or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you should notify us of this at application stage where possible, or well in advance of your interview. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process. Please be aware that we reserve the right for roles that receive a high volume of applications to initially sift applications for one competence only.

• Technical Skills and Knowledge
• Work Delivery
• Personal Effectiveness

When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. Give us an example of how you have demonstrated the competency (which can be work related or from another area of your life) and tell us about the Situation, the specific Task you had to undertake, the specific Actions you took, and the Result (both immediate and in a wider context) of your Action.

Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency.

Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all competencies as set out in the Job Description.

As with all roles in NE, these roles require office attendance of a minimum of 20% of the working time – one day per week for those who work full time, subject to any reasonable adjustments and/or existing contractual homeworking.

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail

Technical Skills and Knowledge

Description

• Experience designing, maintaining and querying relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MS Access) and managing large, multiformat datasets. (Essential)
  • Experience maintaining data processing, transformation or ETL workflows to support operational evidence products. (Essential)
  • Experience writing and maintaining SQL queries for data extraction, transformation and validation. (Essential)
  • Experience applying data validation, quality assurance and quality control procedures. (Essential)
  • Knowledge of designated sites and features. (Desirable)
  • Experience of project management, with ability to plan and deliver interdependent tasks to schedule. (Desirable)
  • Familiarity with data standards such as INSPIRE and data management principles, such as QFAIR. (Desirable)
  • Experience working with data and metadata processes, procedures and workflows. (Desirable)
  • Experience with VBA or other scripting languages for automation. (Desirable)
  • Familiarity with reference management software - e.g. EndNote. (Desirable)

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Work Delivery

Description

• Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance and comply with delegations, policies and procedures. (Practitioner)
  • Manage and delivery your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines. (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail

Personal Effectiveness

Description

• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and the organisation you represent and inspire others to act. (Practitioner)
  • Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together. (Basic)
  • Apply new technology to improve the way we deliver our work. (Practitioner)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,780, Natural England contributes £9,786 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please refer to Job Description

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Chris Healey
• Email : chris.healey@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07721 669092

Recruitment team

• Email : defra-recruitment-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

https://networkrecruitment.tal.net/vx/appcentre-8/brand-4/spa-1/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/9/opp/6768-6768-Higher-Data-Scientist/en-GB

Attachments

DEF-001h - Candidate Pack Natural England v3.1 Opens in new window (docx, 550kB)