Office for National Statistics
Head of Census Location Services
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Locations
The locations of this role are Newport & Titchfield (Fareham).
Due to workforce controls you can only select Manchester & Darlington if you are an existing ONS / UKSA employee contracted to that location. If you are not contracted at one of these sites, these options are not available to you.
Only existing ONS contractual homeworkers can select Homeworking.
Applicants who select a location they are not eligible for will be removed from the recruitment process and will not be considered for alternative locations. Please refer to attachments for further terms and flexibilities.
This role is aligned to ONS hybrid working principles, which are based on attending the office with purpose. The postholder will be expected to contribute to the organisation’s overall 40% office attendance, in line with business and role requirements.
Please refer to attachments for further terms and flexibilities.
The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.
Job Summary
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration. We are transforming how we use data to better understand and measure the UK’s economy and society, to drive better decision making, and to improve the lives of citizens. A core part of this work is the development of our Geospatial Strategy and capability - driving the effective use of geospatial methods across the organisation to add maximum value to ONS statistics.
In July 2025, HM Government commissioned ONS to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based, whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031. We have started to prepare for Census 2031, with a Census Taskforce scoping plans and building on the experience of Census 2021. We are preparing for an inclusive, digital-first census, working with devolved governments to support coherent UK outputs and maximising the benefits from our work with administrative data to date. ONS’ Data Products, Services and Governance (DPSG) Directorate provides many of the data products and services that are a vital part of the infrastructure of Census and wider ONS. Team specialisms include data architecture, various engineering functions, acquisition and governance, and data linkage. DPSG also includes a small but dynamic team of geospatial specialists, providing essential geospatial data products, infrastructure, expertise and guidance to ONS business areas and across wider government.
We are seeking an accomplished geospatial professional to lead a small team of geospatial analysts to support Census. As Head of Census Location Services, you will have the opportunity to lead the design and delivery of addressing and geospatial products to support collection and outputs. This is a key leadership role, driving innovation and shaping how geospatial data is leveraged to support high-impact data collection and decision-making across government. You will set direction, champion new approaches, and foster a culture of excellence, bringing both technical expertise and strong leadership to a multidisciplinary team. We are committed to building a high-performing team with complementary strengths and diverse skillsets.
If you bring deep geospatial expertise, coupled with the ability to influence, collaborate, and translate complex data into meaningful insights that inform policy and operations, we would welcome your application.
Job Description
The Head of Census Location Services provides strategic leadership in the application of geography and spatial data, combining technical expertise, stakeholder management and leadership to deliver high-quality, impactful outputs. The role leads specialised geospatial and geography teams, ensuring delivery against key organisational priorities while fostering a high-performing, collaborative environment.
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The postholder sets the vision and direction for their specialist area, overseeing a broad portfolio of geospatial activity and providing leadership across multiple topic areas delivered by the team. They ensure quality, consistency and innovation in outputs, while driving the adoption of new technologies and analytical approaches to enhance efficiency and impact.
Working closely with senior stakeholders across government, the role translates complex spatial data into meaningful insights that inform policy and operational decision-making. They provide oversight, challenge and support to team members, embedding best practice and continuous improvement.
Through strong leadership, technical authority and effective stakeholder engagement, the role shapes how geospatial data is leveraged, ensuring the organisation maximises the value of location-based insights.
The role leads a team of geospatial analysts, providing strategic oversight across multiple topic areas and setting the vision and direction for a specialised function. The postholder represents the team at external forums and deputises for the Grade 6 lead as required.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership and Strategy
- Provide clear leadership to a team of geospatial analysts, fostering a high-performing and collaborative culture
- Set the strategic direction and delivery roadmap, aligning outputs with wider geospatial and Data Products Services & Governance (DPSG) objectives
- Promote innovation by identifying and implementing new technologies, methodologies and ways of working to improve efficiency and impact
Delivery and Programme Oversight
- Lead cross-disciplinary project teams across the full project lifecycle, from scoping through to delivery of impactful products and services
- Oversee a portfolio of geospatial products and services, ensuring quality, consistency and alignment with organisational priorities
- Monitor performance and regularly report on progress against strategic objectives
Stakeholder Engagement and Influence
- Lead engagement with internal and external stakeholders to understand business needs and shape product development
- Build and maintain strong relationships to support successful delivery and maximise the impact of geospatial outputs
- Represent ONS and the UK at national and international forums, influencing the wider geospatial community
Community and Capability Building
- Support and engage the geography profession across ONS and wider government (e.g. Government Geography Profession)
- Provide oversight, challenge and development to team members, ensuring continuous improvement and strengthening organisational capability
Person specification
Essential Skill Criteria:
Candidates should demonstrate experience for the following skills at the Expert Level – Applies knowledge and experience of the skill, including tools and techniques, adopting those most appropriate for the environment.
- (Government Geography Profession) Geospatial analysis & problem solving: The use of appropriate techniques to analyse spatial and non-spatial data in order to solve data problems, including based on spatial relationships. Able to manipulate, integrate and aggregate data based on its spatial reference.
- (Government Geography Profession) Geographic compliance: Understand and comply with relevant national and international geospatial frameworks and best practice (e.g. statutory requirements, standards, etc.) impacting and related to the specific discipline. Legal and ethical issues related to geospatial data including rights, liability, privacy and access.
- (Government Geography Profession) Geographic strategy: The ability to understand the capability and the art of the possible relating to the application of geographic information, in the aim of developing strategies, plans and road maps for geographic policy, research or delivery of products.
- (Government Geography Profession) Quality Assurance and Control: The ability to review and assessment of own and others’ quality of work through the maintenance of a desired level of quality in outputs and ensuring precision and accuracy of datasets and methods used
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Candidates should demonstrate experience for the following skills at the Practitioner Level (applies and shares knowledge and experience of the skill, including tools and techniques, adopting those most appropriate for the environment)
- (DDAT) Data Preparation and Linkage: The ability to conduct data preparation and linkage which involved cleansing, modelling, transforming and assuring the quality of data so that it is usable and reproducible as well as aiding the creation of a more informative product.
Qualifications
- At least either a master’s degree, or equivalent, with relevance to the job description AND at least 2 years’ experience in a role/study relevant to the job description.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Seeing the Big Picture
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- (Government Geography Profession) Geospatial Software and Systems (Expert Level): Demonstrable use of desktop and online tools for managing, analysing and displaying geospatial data, interactively or in workflows
- (Government Geography Profession) Geospatial Coding (Expert Level): Demonstrable Use of coding libraries in the analysis of geospatial data or the automation of geospatial processes and application of relevant optimisation techniques.
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £56,861, Office for National Statistics contributes £16,472 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team
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