About the job

Job summary

GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient.

Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are:

• making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK
• building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services
• promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world

GOV.UK is an integral part of our national infrastructure. Millions of people visit daily for everything from registering a death to paying their taxes. But, we know GOV.UK can do more - and must do more - for its users. This is why we have growth at the heart of our plans. We want to grow our product offer, grow our user base, and grow our team. Specifically, we want to:

• grow GOV.UK to reach people when and where they need government information
• make GOV.UK more proactive in helping people
• evolve to match user expectations for new technologies

You can learn more about how this translates into delivery between now and 2025 here

At the heart of these ambitions is data. It is fundamental and foundational to everything GOV.UK and GDS wants to achieve and only through transforming and accelerating the department’s relationship with it will we see the changes we need. At the centre of GOV.UK is the Data Group, who are perfectly placed to lead and orchestrate this work. This is done via 3 main teams - GOV.UK Analytics, Data Insights and Data tools, which are all multidisciplinary teams with a focus on quantitative and qualitative data practitioners. These roles are for the Data Group. 

Job description

As a Performance Analyst you’ll develop analytical tracking implementation and performance measurement frameworks - Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), goals, user needs and benefits - to analyse the performance of GOV.UK. 

You’ll focus on digital analytics but also work with data from other sources. Your insights will drive prioritisation, helping product owners to focus on features that work best for users.

This is not a database manager or management information role, it is a web analytics role.

You’ll be proactive and work effectively in a multidisciplinary agile team to help other teams identify “what success looks like”, develop hypotheses, implement tracking, ensure data is accurate and significant and then provide analysis and actionable insight through effective storytelling and data visualisation. You'll be expected to work with the whole agile team, as well as the community of practice to support other teams in the organisation.

As a Performance Analyst you’ll:

• collect relevant and accurate digital data by managing and developing digital analytics instrumentation (mainly Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and BigQuery) - working with developers
• deliver analysis, especially using digital analytics, to help product owners make decisions based on evidence
• lead the project team to measure and assess outcomes, for example, 'what success looks like', developing hypotheses and measurement frameworks
• identify where user experience can be improved through a variety of methodologies, such as A/B testing
• work closely with user researchers to combine the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of user behaviour
• provide recommendations for action based on user data in easily understandable and engaging ways - such as show and tells, blog posts, dashboards
• contribute to the performance analysis community; assisting with training and knowledge transfer of digital analysis principles to wider audiences and expanding your own and others’ data analysis skills
• line management of any associate performance analysts, when recruited
• work independently, although seek guidance when necessary

Person specification

We’re interested in people who:

• have experience in digital analytics and data analysis, instrumenting, administration and analysis
• have good understanding and hands on experience working with in web analytics with tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and BigQuery
• are able to provide insight and translate data in a clear and concise manner, including the use of visualisation tools such as Looker/Data Studio or Tableau
• have experience of discovering and sharing analytical insight with stakeholders with various levels of analytical expertise and at all levels of seniority
• have some experience in gathering and understanding technical requirements and working with developers to build suitable technical solutions

Desirable

• experience in running A/B and multivariate testing 
• experience in app analytics
• experience in social media analytics, and how this data can drive desired website outcomes

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 60 minute video interview which will include a short, pre-prepared presentation - We will assess you against the behaviours listed above, your experience and your technical skills

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• Working together
• Making effective decisions
• Communicating and influencing
• Delivering at pace

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework for the Performance Analyst role:

• Communicating analysis and insight: practitioner
• Performance measurement: working
• Technical understanding: working
• Understanding analysis across the product life cycle: working
• Understanding constraints: working
• Undertaking analysis and providing insight: working
• User-centred analysis: working
• Verification and validation of data and analysis: working

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

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, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

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.