Work and Pensions advertising multiple data roles for ‘Digital Future’

The Department for Work and Pensions is seeking to appoint a number of data driven roles as part of an ambition to become a ‘truly data driven department.’ 

Positions advertised on the civil services job site include a ‘Head of Data Products and Services’ for the department, with the DWP offering up to £110,000 a year for the role. 

Other jobs advertised with the DWP, which is the biggest department in the civil service, include 20 Data Analyst roles, Data Manager, Data Engineer and Senior Data Scientist positions, many of which describe a ‘digital transformation’ for the department. 

Adverts also described how the department uses the data it collects to ‘target the right support at the right people at the right time’ and ‘work across departments to improve the overall experience of interacting with UK government.’ 

Earlier this year, the Chief Digital Information Officer for the DWP, Simon McKinnon, described the department’s ‘digital future’ strategy for the next three years. He said: ‘The resilience of DWP Digital has certainly been tested over the last two years, but we’ve managed to navigate through the challenges of the pandemic and achieve some fantastic outcomes.   

‘We reacted amazingly well and rose to the challenges, adapting to hybrid ways of working. With such ambitious plans for the next three years, we can only go from strength to strength.’

All of the roles advertised as being data lead are open to workers across multiple of the department’s offices including in Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester and close to applicants in January. 

A Senior Data Infrastructure Engineer advert describes the role that the ‘Data & Analytics’ team plays within the wider department. It says: ‘D&A’s core mission is to ensure data is accessible, usable and governed to maximise the effectiveness of services and decision making across DWP.’ 

The advert also says that the team streamlines ‘customer journeys’ for a better experience for the public, develops the DWP’s data security and consolidation, and works on the DWP Data Transformation Programme.

Digital transformations are taking place across the UK  government, including an upcoming effort to encourage local councils to use gov.uk websites to ensure similarity and an easier user experience for residents across the country.

Photo: Lewis Clarke / London : Westminster – Whitehall / CC BY-SA 2.0