91035 - Lead Data Linker (1 role available) - Data Science Hub, Data Directorate, Ministry of Justice

Salary   The national salary range is £54,358 - £61,585, London salary range is £58,847 - £66,670. Your salary will be dependent on your base location Number of jobs available   1 Detail of reserve list   12 Months Region   National City/Town   National Building/Site   NATIONAL Grade   Grade 7 Organisation Grade for MoJ   Grade 7 Post Type   Permanent Working Pattern   Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working Role Type   Architecture and Data, Digital, Information Technology Will the successful applicant have line manager responsibilities?   Yes Job description  

The national salary range is £54,358 - £61,585, London salary range is £58,847 - £66,670. Your salary will be dependent on your base location. London: may include an allowance of up to £20,466 National: may include an allowance of up to £20,167

Overview

We have 1 permanent role at Lead Data Scientist (Grade 7), in our Data Science Hub within the MoJ Data & Analytical Services Directorate, subject to qualifying conditions being met.

The successful candidate will have the option to be based in London (10 South Colonnade and 102 Petty France) or Leeds (5 Wellington Place) or in satellite offices throughout the UK (for more details see appendix).

What we offer

Your salary will be at least £54,358 and up to £66,670, with an allowance up to £20,466 depending on your skills, expertise and location. You will also receive great benefits including:

• 26 days leave (plus bank holidays) plus 5 additional days of leave once you have reached 5 years of service
• up to 5 days paid volunteering leave
• a generous civil service pension, with employer contributions of 26-30% depending on your salary
• flexible and home working
• flexible office locations
• time off in lieu if at any point you work more than your contracted hours
• bike loans of up to £2500 through the cycle to work scheme and secure bike parking
• quarterly reward and recognition scheme
• wellbeing support, including access to the Headspace app
• access to subsidised onsite gyms at some office locations
• season ticket loans, childcare vouchers and eye-care vouchers

The Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. We work to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society. We are passionate about improving justice outcomes through innovative research, data and analysis.

The Data Science Hub

We are a multi-disciplinary team of around 70 staff that sits at the heart of the Ministry of Justice providing data science support across a diverse and exciting agenda. We work in a dynamic and fast-paced context and our skills are in heavy demand across the Ministry of Justice. Our collaborations beyond government are seen as ground-breaking.  We create a culture in which people are empowered with the data and information to make excellent decisions using cutting edge tools, techniques and collaboration and putting evidence at the heart of the justice system.

We have a track record of delivering digital services to front line staff using wide ranging data science techniques, including the award-winning safety diagnostic tool, which helps our staff tackle violence in prisons. We regularly deliver insights that directly influences corporate, operational and policy decisions. Our projects span the data science spectrum including machine learning, natural language processing, automation, advanced visualisation and optimisation.

What you’ll do

You will lead delivery record linkage projects, focussing initially on Core Person Record, a project to operationalise record linkage for use in frontline services across HMPPS. This work has the potential to deliver a step change in data quality and make work easier for frontline staff.

You will be working within a multidisciplinary team to build a digital service. The majority of your work will be contributing to codebases in Github using Python, SQL and CI/containerisation technologies on AWS cloud infrastructure. You will work closely with other data scientists, the Data Engineering Hub (which builds the tools, services and pipelines that make data available on the Analytical Platform) as well as other data, digital, policy and operational colleagues.

The role

The postholder will lead on projects within the Data Linking team. They will be responsible for delivering state of the art record linkage solutions using Splink, the department's open source record linkage software.   

This work will initially focus on using and improving Splink for use in operational scenarios where low latency performance is essential. You will work closely with the technical architect and development team to align solutions to the wider software architecture, offering technical expertise on data linking to influence decisions.

You will work also closely with the wider data linking team to align your work to the wider programme of data linking, and contribute to the team’s overall strategy for data linkage across operational and analytical uses.

Key responsibilities

• Responsible for the delivery at pace of high quality, performant record linkage solutions
• Act as a technical specialist and coach, developing team capability, supervising other data scientists, setting coding standards for the team and championing the adoption of best practice in data science
• Understand a broad range of architectures and collaborate with data engineering to design and deliver organisational products effectively
• Effectively communicate with and influence senior stakeholders, working with them to remove blockers so that the team can deliver efficiently
• Play an active role in making the Data Science Hub an inclusive and vibrant place to work.
  

Who you are

We’re interested in people who have:

• Experience contributing high quality code to complex codebases using professional software development practices such as collaborative version control, automated testing, CI/CD and code review
• Strong knowledge of data science (e.g. big data, machine learning and/or statistical modelling) and experience leading teams to deliver data science projects / products, ideally in cloud computing environments
• Experience or a strong interest in record linkage (entity resolution)
• Strong programming knowledge, with experience using Python and SQL
• Strong strategic thinking and problem solving to support organisational objectives, with ability to identify opportunities for data science and promote adoption and learning of new tools and techniques
• Ability to effectively communicate with and influence diverse stakeholder groups to deliver data science projects / products, including being able to explain data concepts and practices to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

How to apply

You’ll need to submit an anonymised CV and Statement of Suitability as part of your application. You will not be considered if you do not provide both.

Your CV should be no more than 2 pages long and should show us your work history and previous experience. It should be well structured, succinct and written in clear language. Try to avoid just listing technology keywords; we are interested in how you have used different tools to solve problems.

Your Statement of Suitability should be no more than 750 words and should give us examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. Consider giving an example for each bullet point, in the skills requirements ‘Who you are’ section and use work you have completed to demonstrate how you meet each one.

All these requirements are important for the job, however we do not expect candidates to be expert in all of them. Just give as much evidence as you can for each and make sure you cover ‘how’ you demonstrated the requirements and the impact of your work, as well as ‘what’ you did. Again, if you are interested in applying but are not sure you have all the skills listed, please do apply and give us the opportunity to consider you as a candidate.

Selection process

There will be an initial sift of applicants through comparing submitted evidence against the ‘Who you are’ bullets. This usually takes two weeks, depending on the number of applications.

Applicants invited for interview

Those who make it through the initial sift will be invited to a Civil Service Success Profile interview. In the Civil Service we use Success Profiles to help us find the right person for the job. We will be using a mixture of methods to assess your abilities, strengths, experience, technical skills and behaviours. We highly recommend learning about Success Profiles and using the Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection (STARR) framework when structuring your answers.

The highest scoring candidates that pass the interview will be offered the roles. The whole process can take a month. Other candidates that pass the interview will be kept on a merit list for 12 months.

Presentation

At the interview we will be asked to give a five-minute presentation on a data science project you have delivered. Details of this will be sent to candidates before the interview.

Behaviours

The following behaviours will be tested:

• Delivering at pace – tell use when and how you have taken responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
• Changing & improving - tell us when and how you have driven a change in your workplace culture or practices.
• Managing a quality service – tell us when and how you have worked with colleagues to set priorities, objectives and timescales under challenging circumstances.

In your examples you should include evidence on ‘how’ you demonstrated the requirements and the impact of your work, as well as ‘what’ you did.

Technical – Data science skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• data science expertise
• working practices
• programming and coding skills

Technical – Analytical Competency

As well as the three civil service behaviours and Data Science skills stated above, you will be assessed on your analytical knowledge, experience and abilities, and the impact of your analytical work.

Further Information and Appendix

We welcome applications from candidates based across the UK. Candidates will have the option of being based in the Leeds or London HQ offices (with flexible working arrangements available) or your nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. These are in Liverpool, Leeds, South Tyneside, Manchester, Bristol, Nottingham, Cardiff, and Brighton, Ipswich, Wolverhampton, Sheffield. Alternative locations may be available and will be discussed and agreed on the completion of background checks.

Interviews are likely to take place in November 2024 and will be held via MS Teams. We will keep a merit list for a year for those who successfully pass the interview board but who are not offered a post. If you require any additional information about the role, please contact: Data & Analysis Recruitment Team: DataAndAnalysis.Recruitment@justice.gov.uk .

Appendix

Examples of MoJ Data Science Hub work and ways of working:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joined-up-data-in-government-the-future-of-data-linking-methods/splink-mojs-open-source-library-for-probabilistic-record-linkage-at-scale
• https://mojdigital.blog.gov.uk/2018/04/05/pushing-the-boundaries-of-data-science-with-the-moj-analytical-platform/
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2058802X.2020.1726654
• https://towardsdatascience.com/fuzzy-matching-and-deduplicating-hundreds-of-millions-of-records-using-apache-spark-93d0f095001f
• https://dataingovernment.blog.gov.uk/2019/11/06/fostering-a-data-science-innovation-culture/
• https://dataingovernment.blog.gov.uk/2019/10/30/engineering-the-data-of-the-future/
• https://github.com/moj-analytical-services
• https://criminal-justice-delivery-data-dashboards.justice.gov.uk/

Allowance Details   GDD Allowance Additional Information  

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

• A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please see our Disability Confident Scheme Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

Diversity & Inclusion

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

Interview dates   Interviews are likely to take place in November 2024. Closing Date:  

17/10/2024, 23:55 hours.

Contact information  

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Please quote the job reference - 91035.

If you require any additional information about the role, please contact: Data & Analysis Recruitment Team: DataAndAnalysis.Recruitment@justice.gov.uk

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

• You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
• You were studying abroad
• You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles  

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.

Application form stage assessments

Experience CV Statement of Suitability - 750 word limit

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy. Behaviours Delivering at Pace Changing and Improving Managing a Quality Service Technical Skills Technical (1) Data Science Expertise
As well as the three civil service behaviours and Data Science skills stated above, you will be assessed on your analytical knowledge, experience and abilities, and the impact of your analytical work. Technical (2) Working Practices
As well as the three civil service behaviours and Data Science skills stated above, you will be assessed on your analytical knowledge, experience and abilities, and the impact of your analytical work. Technical (3) Programming and Coding Skills
As well as the three civil service behaviours and Data Science skills stated above, you will be assessed on your analytical knowledge, experience and abilities, and the impact of your analytical work. Additional Assessment(s) Presentation

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

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) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· 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) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules