About the job

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.  

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.  

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

Economics Group 

The Economics Group leads HM Treasury’s analysis of developments in the UK economy and advises ministers on the implications for the Government’s economic strategy. It provides expert economic analysis and advice for Ministers. The Group’s data hub is transforming how the Treasury uses data across its entire business. The Group collaborates with external experts on the UK economy,  including the Bank of England, Office for Budget Responsibility  and leading academics. Economics Group provides support for the UK Government’s economics and social research professions, including running centralised recruitment and the annual conferences.  

The Data Hub was established to drive change and build data science capability across the 400 strong analytical community in the department with the aim of improving HMT’s economics analysis and policy.

Leading the hub will provide a unique opportunity to shape change with lasting influence on GMT’s analytical capability for years to come. With your stewardship, the hub will provide strategic coordination and support to teams across the department to all them both better exploit data automation as well as bring data science to bear on new and novel data sources.

The hub delivers this critical role across two branches:

Data Management Branch

The branch is led by a Head of Data Management and has data engineering as well as generalist data focussed resources. The branch focus is to drive best practice data management within groups in HMT. The branch manages the corporate data & analytics infrastructure based on Microsoft Fabric & Azure, and work hand-in-glove with our Chief Information Officer and technical teams. Some of the challenges for the team include further enhancing the existing data strategy with a focus on developing a roadmap of data assets, introducing a lightweight data catalog, and continuing to invest in our corporate data warehouse.

Advanced Analytics Branch

The branch is led by a Head of Advanced Analytics, 5 data scientists and 3 data science apprentices. The branch focuses on providing data science expertise through project delivery, capability investment and enhancing our analytic support for policy decisions. Examples of work within the branch include developing an AI-ensemble method to automate the allocation and response choice for inbound correspondence, using Artificial Intelligence to improve how we develop a cashflow forecast for government transactions, and working on novel analysis to better understand effects of preventative spending. Challenges for the team identifying and delivery advanced analytic opportunity specifically aligned to policy challenge – communicate benefits in a non-technical way and introducing governance across groups to promote those opportunities around HMT.

About the role

As Chief Data Officer you will model and champion data management and the value of data science to the department. You will engage with leaders to elicit, initiate, and lead projects with high policy priority and analytical value to realise efficiency and value-add through automation of repeated tasks. Through the role you will have a unique opportunity to build on established foundations that will drive how data is used across the department to support development of policy and decisions on public spending. The department has a mission focussed appetite for innovation and warrants an ambitious, energetic person to drive out benefit.

Analysts play a key role in Treasury policy making, whether it is establishing policy options, or measuring and evaluation of their effectiveness. The Treasury is a centre of excellence for analysis, and its application to economic policy making.

You will report to the Director of the Economics Group who is Departmental Head of Profession for Analysis, which will give you leverage to drive how data science is deployed across the 400 analytical roles in the department. The base of the Hub in the Darlington Campus, together with the Office for National Statistics and five departments with significant data science capabilities of their own, will also provide a platform for collaboration across departments.

1. Building on the corporate data strategy and high-level delivery plan, to ensure that the hub and groups deliver to a high standard.
2. Oversee the development of intra and extra-departmental process for identifying, scoping, and delivering projects where data scientists can deliver research, insights or product/ processes that contribute directly to HMT objectives.
3. Playing a leadership role across the established Coding Community, Analytical community, and Power BI communities. Generate a culture of innovation within this groups.
4. Providing leadership role on the identification and implementation of AI opportunities both developed by the hub or procured, alongside our partners in TBS
5. Act as the SRO for data use in the department; working with CDDO to develop a storyline of data maturity, AI transparency and developing standards. This will also require reflecting HMT’s unique data needs back to cross government councils.
6. Leading the Hub’s data scientists and engineers to work with HMT’s analytical community and help them build new analytical tools, better visualise data and seek to realised efficiency gains and add value to repeated analytical products, including through new insights and better methods.
7. Contribute to Economics Group leadership team, particularly across the Darlington Economic Campus.

Candidate Drop-In Session 
 
We will be running a candidate drop-in session for this role to give you greater insight about the role as well as the chance to learn more about HM Treasury and the recruitment process. If you would like to join us, then use the appropriate link below to join the call at the right time. 

Tuesday 23rd July 2024. 16:00 – 17:00

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Lindsey Jones, lindsey.jones@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Person specification

Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application.

Required Skills, Experience and Behaviours:

For your application, please send us a CV and a personal statement setting out how you meet the following skills, behaviours and experience. This should be no longer than 1000 words, and include no more than 250 words on each criteria below;

1. Strong understanding and experience in leading others to apply statistics and data science techniques to real world problems and/or in the approach to and application of data governance.
2. Evidence of a successful track record leading teams – specifically providing data leadership at a senior level – encouraging a change of culture in a fast-paced environment, motivating the dynamic delivery of high-quality results whilst promoting wellbeing, management excellence, diversity and inclusion
3. Ability to build effective relationships based on mutual respect and appreciation and to use them to deliver tangible results
4. Ability to influence at all levels demonstrating credibility of judgement and excellent communications skills

If you are invited to interview, we contact you about a task that the panel would like you to complete as part of the assessment. The exact details will be communicated to you nearer the time, however the task will assess your leadership capabilities. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, HM Treasury contributes £20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Recruitment Timeline 

• Closing date: Tuesday 30th July 2024
• Shortlisting: 30th July - 2nd August 
• Interviews: w/c 12th August 2024

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline. 

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile. 

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Eligibility Statement  

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information. 

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC) 

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis once the advert closing date has passed. 

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you.  Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.  

These short videos address common concerns and preconceptions which applicants may have about national security vetting.  If you have questions relating to security clearances, please contact HMTSecurityVetting@hmtreasury.gov.uk

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

Security

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

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. 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.