About the job

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC. 

   

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

Are you confident analysing millions of lines of data? 

Have you got experience creating innovative alternatives to current processes? 

Do you want to work in a team, that plays a crucial role in taking on tax evasion? 

If so, then our Strategic Data Insight Lead role could be for you! 

Our Risk and Intelligence Service (RIS) team is at the heart of compliance and enforcement activity in HMRC. Within RIS, the Analysis unit helps HMRC understand the risks it faces and use growing value of data and technology to drive and support its business.  
 
This post is within the Strategic Picture of Risk team, part of Risk Insight & Analytics within Analysis.  
 
The Strategic Picture of Risk (SPR) is a top-level assessment of the key compliance risks that HMRC faces. Produced using data, analytics and business insight, the SPR sets out a summary of the key compliance risks, as defined by business and risk experts across HMRC. The SPR is used across the Department for planning, policy development, strategy, resource allocation and other key strategic decisions.

Job description

As part of your role within the SPR team, some of your duties include:  

• Lead all aspects of the acquisition, collation and management of large datasets used to inform the department’s understanding of Compliance risk. 
• Lead a quality assurance programme to ensure the various products produced by the team are accurate and meet the required standard prior to publication. 
• Assist in the development of visualisation of key data in the SPR using Power BI, Excel, PowerPoint and other software.
• Explore how tools like Power Automate could be used to improve processes. 
• Carry out research into external insight and data sources, data management and database design, process automation and quality assurance. 
• Work with other members of the team to continuously develop and improve the analysis and presentation methods used within the SPR, to help ensure that the needs of stakeholders remain at the heart of its design. 
• Commission HMRC data scientists to extract and process data from HMRC tax systems.
• Collaborate with data holders to find solutions to problems and maximise the value of the data we hold within HMRC. 
• Design and lead a quality assurance programme which will implement procedures to prevent quality issues and maintain the integrity of all the products produced by the SPR team, ensuring they are accurate and meet the high standards expected by our customers. 

Apply strong skills in visual tools to help display complex and overlapping data in a simple and easy way to read and understand.

Person specification

As Strategic Data Insight Lead, you will be leading and mentoring your team, innovating new ways of how to present, acquire and export large data sets. You won’t have any people management responsibilities, although you’ll use your leadership skills to ensure any projects are completed on time to a high standard. 

We are looking for someone who is comfortable with and around data, how to understand and interpret its origins, and how it can be used alongside your developing knowledge of HMRC compliance to help our teams tackle tax evasion and other non-compliance. 

Essential Criteria 

• Applicants must be comfortable working proactively in what can be, at times, a fast-paced environment
• Experience in Data Analysis and working with large data sets
• Applicants must have good general Microsoft Excel skills
• Proficiency in (or willingness to learn) Microsoft Power BI

Desirable Criteria

Experience in:

• Data visualisation 
• Performance and data reporting 
• Risk management 
• Compliance performance/planning/risking 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,618, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £11,506 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, Strengths and Experience.

How to Apply 

As part of the application process, you will be asked to asked to complete a Personal Statement. You should also provide your CV, ensuring you detail your relevant employment history and proven experience/skills. Please use the CV to evidence your achievement of the essential criteria, as set out above.  
 
Please note your Personal Statement should (in no more than 750 words) detail how your experience and skill set make you suitable for the role Strategic Data Insight Lead, including the essential criteria. This should include a description of a project where you had to work with large data sets, the challenges you faced and how you overcame them.  

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. 

Sift

At sift the CV and Personal Statement will be assessed separately and will be scored as follows, CV out of 3 and the traditional 1-7 scoring scheme for your Personal Statement. 
 
Applications will be sifted on CV and Personal Statement. An initial sift on CV may be conducted in the event of a large number of applications. 

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications. 

Interview 

During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked a behaviour-based question to explore in detail what you are capable of, and you will be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role. 

Behaviour

• Leadership

This is an example of a strengths-based question: 

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?” 

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. 

There will be a presentation at interview to demonstrate your experience around using large data sets

Interviews will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed. 

Eligibility 

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – 362322 & vacancy closing date 07/08/2024’

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Merit List 

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location. 

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers: 

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you can travel to.

Terms and Conditions 

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. 

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. 

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process. 

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Equal Opportunities  
 
At HMRC, we are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable adjustments to participate in the job application or interview process.  

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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. 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.