3,795 Jobs
Service Group Owner – Census 2031 Processing
Job summary
Are you an experienced operational and delivery leader with a passion for data, collaboration and public service? If so, we'd love to hear from you for this exciting Grade 6 Service Group Owner opportunity within the Census 2031 programme.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.
Census processing is a vital step in turning the data collected during the operational phase into statistics which achieve our objective of estimating the entire population, once and in the right place. The processed database will be the basis of all census outputs and will be delivered to the highest quality standards require of Accredited National Statistics.
The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest profession in the Civil Service. ODP’s 200,000+ members work in a wide range of operational delivery roles across government, providing essential services that support and protect UK citizens at home and overseas. They help to make ONS a great place to work.
As a member, ODP supports you by providing learning and development opportunities, career pathways, tools and resources to help develop your skills and progress your career. This is an exciting opportunity to join a modern, innovative and inclusive Civil Service profession that sits at the heart of public service delivery.
Interviews will take place in person at our Titchfield Office. Please note that travel expenses will not be reimbursed. You will also be required to bring valid photo identification to your interview.
Job description
The Service Group Owner (SGO) is responsible for the holistic performance, strategy and delivery of the portfolio of services in processing 2031 Census data.
This is the pipeline that takes raw collected data and following a number of processing and statistical methodology processes generates robust statistics.
As a SGO you will ensure that services developed across ONS are resourced, tested, integrated and operated effectively, and that they meet the requirements. Set by the Responsible Business Owners (RBO) and programme leadership. You will provide specialist expertise in the service domain and lead multi-disciplinary teams to deliver high-quality, reliable services that contribute to census objectives. As well as co-ordinating a set of services for the Census in England & Wales you will also orchestrate a limited set of services for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
You will lead the design, delivery and operation of a group of services that support data journeys, ensuring services are resourced, built, and operated effectively. During this operational phase you are responsible for leading an operations team who will have responsibility for managing the processing pipeline.
You will be able to confidently engage with a variety of digital, data and statistical experts, able to bring people together from different backgrounds to solve technical challenges in the preparation for and implementation of processing services.
During the design phase of the programme you will be asked to review the learning from the 2021 Census processing operation to determine priorities for designing a 2031 approach. This will involving working with a range of interested parties to determine ‘what good looks like’ and identify discoveries which need to take place to establish a high-level design.
During the operational phase in 2031 you will work closely with service owners and delivery partners to transition data through each stage of the processing pipeline. This will be done to a tight timescale and will need to effectively balance time, cost and quality.
Regular travel between ONS office locations will be required as part of this role.
Responsibilities:
- Ensuring that the service-based delivery approach as set out in the Census Future Operating Model is used as the basis for census processing.
- Translating strategic requirements from RBOs into actionable service plans and delivery roadmaps.
- Collaborating with specialist digital professionals (including in Digital Services) to ensure a processing environment is fit for purpose for the design, development and implementation of services with the group.
- Owning and managing the deliverability of a portfolio of services within the defined processing domain to performance standards including KPIs and SLAs.
- Putting in place plans to demonstrate learning from 2021 Census and for independent assurance.
- Co-ordinating the development of a testing and rehearsing strategy which provides programme confidence that the processing pipeline will enable data to move smoothly through the pipeline but which minimises delays resulting from data quality issues.
- You will have an overall responsibility for running the processing operation, orchestrating all the services and dealing with issues and anomalies that are discovered as the processing progresses.
- You will lead and develop a team of people and have responsibility for growing capability of this team.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
- Experience of running a live statistical operation in partnership with a range of stakeholders.
- Experience of working effectively with technical digital and statistical colleagues using innovative methods and technologies.
- Experience of delivering data to meet defined statistical standards.
- Skilled in planning for a delivery operation, managing risks and stakeholders.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- An understanding of complex data processing systems including coding, cleaning and data management.
- An understanding of quality requirements for statistics and how these are measured during the data processing phase.
- An understanding of managing in a project/programme environment including planning, risk management and stakeholder engagement.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £68,199, Office for National Statistics contributes £19,757 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).The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.
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
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.Visa Sponsorship
ONS can offer visa sponsorship as part of this recruitment campaign. However, applicants must still hold valid right to work in the UK at the point employment commences.
To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).
If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.
Security Clearance:
For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.
If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this linkor contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.
At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leavereportsand security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Applicant Support
Number of Stages: 2 stage process
Stage 1: Application
Stage 2: Interview
Stage 1 – Application
The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.
A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 1250 words, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.
When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.
Stage 2 – Interview
If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.
Interviews will take place in person at our Titchfield Office. Please note that travel expenses will not be reimbursed. You will also be required to bring valid photo identification to your interview.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.
Important Dates:
The Sift will be conducted from 10/08/2026
Interviews will be conducted from 31/08/2026
Dates are subject to change.
For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.
Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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
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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
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
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 :
Recruitment team
- Email : Recruitmentoperations@ons.gov.uk
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service CommissionAttachments
Role3_Census1_Requirements (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 78kB)2721 Advert 1B Permanent - ONS National v1-00 (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 83kB)Salary range
- £68,199 per year