Office for National Statistics
Senior Geospatial Information Specialist
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Locations
The locations of this role are Newport, Darlington, Fareham, Manchester.
This role follows ONS hybrid working principles and contributes to the organisation's 40% office attendance requirement, subject to business and role needs.
Due to workforce controls you can only select Manchester if you are an existing ONS 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.
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 capability, driving the effective use of geospatial methods across the organisation to add maximum value to ONS statistics.
The ONS Geography team provides geospatial expertise and guidance to ONS and across government. The team is dynamic and undertakes a mixture of work aimed at improving the use and integration of geospatial data with statistics.
We are seeking a highly skilled Geospatial Information Specialist to join our team. The successful candidate will champion geography products and engage with stakeholders, keeping them informed of product developments. They will identify opportunities for continuous improvement, including the automation of production processes.
Job Description
As the successful candidate, you will work in a dynamic and rewarding role, supporting the production and delivery of geography products that underpin the Government Statistical Service (GSS), including Census outputs. You will play a key role in maintaining the regular production and publication of geographic data through the Open Geography Portal.
You will lead the development and implementation of robust quality assurance processes, ensuring geography products and outputs meet relevant standards and user needs.
Working closely with stakeholders across ONS, including analysts and technology specialists, you will help ensure geography products remain fit for purpose and continue to support data integration, analysis and the dissemination of official statistics.
You will lead a small team of Product Specialists responsible for supporting the day-to-day delivery of geospatial operational activities. You will provide guidance, coaching and development opportunities for team members, ensuring the effective delivery of services and products.
We believe in continuous development, and you will be encouraged to further enhance your skills by keeping abreast of emerging geospatial technologies and industry best practice.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage day-to-day activities relating to the maintenance and delivery of ONS core geography products, hosted on the Open Geography Portal.
- Develop and implement automated quality assessment processes to improve efficiency, consistency and product quality.
- Engage with stakeholders, keeping them informed of product developments and changes, while gathering feedback to support continuous improvement.
- Champion geography products by promoting their use and providing guidance and support to users.
- Review and improve operational processes, identifying opportunities to increase efficiency, reduce risk and enhance service delivery.
- Lead and support the implementation of operational improvements and process changes across the team.
- Act as an escalation point for complex operational issues, investigating and resolving problems to minimise service disruption.
- Promote and embed Agile ways of working throughout the product lifecycle to support effective and efficient delivery.
- Plan and coordinate stakeholder engagement activities to ensure effective communication and collaboration.
- Provide expert advice on geography products, geospatial projects and technology requirements.
- Contribute to the development and application of standards, policies and procedures relating to geospatial data for statistical use, including GSS geography policies.
- Contribute to activities that support and strengthen the geography community across ONS and wider government.
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Person Specification
Essential Skills & Experience
Skill level definition
- Expert: Has knowledge and can demonstrate experience in the application of this skill. Is a recognised specialist and advisor in this skill including customer needs, generation of ideas, methods, tools and leading or guiding others in best practice use.
- Practitioner: Shares knowledge and experience of the skill with others, including tools and techniques, defining those most appropriate for the environment.
Geospatial Software and Systems – Expert: The use of desktop and online tools including QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, FME and ArcGIS Online for managing, analysing and displaying geospatial data, interactively or in workflows.
Operational Management – Practitioner: The ability to understand the running of operational processes of a product [or service] and ensure the processes are effective and robust.
Geographic strategy – Practitioner: 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.
Geospatial Data Management – Practitioner: The ability to collate, manage and curate datasets within a workflow and architecture for geospatial data (e.g. ArcGIS Enterprise), for use within the organisation and beyond, taking into consideration data governance policies (including data versioning and licencing, as well as the need for authoritative data), procedures and methods that manage data access, sharing, dissemination and protection.
Geospatial Data Standards – Practitioner: The ability to recognise, use and apply the agreed geospatial standards for sharing and accessing geographic information with a view to enable interoperability. This will include the use of appropriate data formats, schemas, metadata, and accessibility standards.
Quality Assurance and Control – Practitioner: The ability to assess the quality of your own and others' work, ensuring the accuracy, integrity and reliability of datasets, methodologies and operational outputs.
Qualifications
At least either a masters degree, or equivalent, with relevance to the job description OR 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:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Developing Self and Others
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Geospatial Software and Systems
- Quality Assurance and Control
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Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £43,644, Office for National Statistics contributes £12,643 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
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.
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 who will be happy to assist.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Security Clearance
For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.
At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Visa Sponsorship
ONS is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are currently in the UK on a time-limited visa, it must have at least 18 months remaining at the point of application.
Right To Work And Nationality Requirements
To work at ONS, applicants must meet the Civil Service nationality requirements, satisfy UK right to work requirements and, where applicable, meet the relevant security clearance requirements.
If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.
Application Process
Number of Stages: 3 stage process
Stage 1: Eligibility pre-sift
**Stage
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