Data and Infrastructure Senior Analyst

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Fixed term to March 2025

About us

The OfS is the independent regulator of higher education in England.  We aim to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. We want to be driven by evidence, so data and analysis will inform our effective, efficient and intelligent regulation in the student interest.

We also care about supporting and developing our staff, working together to achieve more than each of us can do alone. We're?proud of our people, our culture and the benefits we offer. At the?OfS?we want to create a welcoming and engaging working environment which is free from discrimination. We're?looking for skilled, committed people who care about students and their experience of higher education.

Our Data, Foresight and Analysis directorate (DFA) is currently seeking a data and infrastructure Senior Analyst on a fixed term contract until March 2025 to join our supportive, enthusiastic and high performing team, where you will be part of a community of around 60 analysts. The directorate provides a range of data collection, analysis and research activities that have an essential role underpinning the regulatory functions of the Office for Students (OfS).

About the role

The aim of the role is to support and maintain the analytical infrastructure of the Data, Foresight and Analysis (DFA) directorate. You will be part of a dedicated data and infrastructure team working alongside analysts and IT colleagues to ensure analytical tools and processes, which provide a range of data collection, analysis and research activities that underpin the regulatory functions of the OfS, are fit for purpose.

Key responsibilities in this role will include:

• Identifying, understanding and resolving issues with the analytical infrastructure;
• Upgrading data processing and visualisation assets as appropriate; 
• Managing the directorate's data resources and ensuring GDPR compliance;
• Liaising with ITS to ensure analytical tools and processes are fit for purpose.

About you

The key person attributes to fulfil this role are:

• A degree in a numerate discipline, experience in an analytical role or other substantial relevant experience or qualifications;
• Significant experience of programming in an analytical setting. We currently use a range of programming technologies including SAS, SQL and Tableau. Knowledge of Python, PySpark, R, Databricks, Azure Synapse, Power BI is highly desirable as we will be extending our use of these tools and technologies over the coming year;

• Willingness to work flexibly as the needs of the organisation evolve;
• Logical thinking, strong numerical skills, and experience of data analysis, reporting, manipulation and collection;
• Attention to detail, including for the purposes of identifying risk, and experience of quality assuring work;
• Working well within a team, and able to work closely with stakeholders and data users;
• Communicating clearly with internal and external stakeholders, including those who are not data experts.
• An ability to use a variety of technologies and analytical programming languages.

Working for us

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do.

We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

We recognise that flexibility can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two days in a typical week.

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part-time working, apply to these roles.