HEO Data Scientist

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) works on issues that affect daily life across England. Our work covers the environment, farming, food production, rural communities, animal health, and protection from natural risks such as flooding. The Farming Directorate is responsible for delivering a major part of the UK Government's programme of restoring nature, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving animal health and welfare, and maintaining sustainable food production.

You will join the Metrics and Reporting team within the Evidence and Analysis function. The team's work helps the directorate understand outcome progress, inform decision-making, and meet reporting requirements. As a HEO Data Scientist, you will help develop and maintain internal reporting processes and external publications, including the Farming Sector Environmental Objectives and official statistics on the Farming Investment Fund (FIF).

Key Responsibilities:

• Use R programming language for data analysis and develop familiarity with it
• Carry out statistical analysis to extract insights from internal data
• Develop and manage reproducible analytical pipelines for routine reporting and official statistics
• Conduct quality assurance on team analysis, such as code reviews
• Produce, manage, and publish official statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics
• Contribute to projects gathering insights into agri-environment scheme delivery and programme outcomes
• Promote equality, diversity, and inclusion within the team

Person Specification:

• Eligibility criteria include being a member of the Government Statistical Group or providing evidence of meeting the minimum qualification criteria
• Essential qualifications include a numerate discipline, computer science, or IT equivalent, or a higher degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, etc.
• Strong skills in R and version control software such as Git are required
• Experience in statistical analysis, working to deadlines, and communicating analytical outputs to various audiences is necessary

Benefits:

• Salary of £35,895 - £42,616 per year
• Contribution to the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme
• Learning and development opportunities
• Flexible working options
• Culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%