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Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 16 November, and therefore we advise getting your application in by no later than midnight on Sunday 15 November. 

Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage early applications.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV and a covering letter of no more than a page answering the following question:

Give an example of a large dataset you have analysed where data quality issues were present. How did you decide what constituted an inconsistency, outlier, or anomaly, what rules did you apply to handle them, and how did your decisions affect the final analysis or insight?

Your CV and covering letter should be submitted as one document. Please note that any applications without covering letters may be deemed as incomplete.

About Ofcom 

As the UK’s communications regulator, we’re delivering vital work that helps keep the UK connected and shapes the future of how we’ll stay connected with each other. 
 
Our work covers everything from phones and broadband, through to TV, radio, the postal service, and wireless devices. We’re also taking on the challenge of making the online world a safer place. And we need people of all backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to help us achieve our goal of making communications work for everyone. 

About the Team

The global communications industry is continuing to change at breakneck speed. As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom is at the heart of a sector which not only impacts everyone’s lives but also plays a leading role in the UK economy.

The Research and Intelligence team is the source of critical information and insight within Ofcom, providing data and analysis on the communications industries. We sit within the Strategy and Research Group and provide first-class analysis and insight of UK communications market developments that serve as the evidence base for Ofcom’s policy and regulatory work. We work collaboratively with other Ofcom teams and with external stakeholders to deliver Ofcom’s objectives.

The team includes market researchers, industry analysts and data specialists. Within the Statistics and Analytics team in the Research and Intelligence team, we aim to make the most of the vast amount of data that we collect and hold, supporting researchers and analysts to use the most robust datasets, streamline and automate data-related processes and communicate insight and findings in the best possible ways. We investigate and apply innovative analytical techniques to new and existing datasets to maximise their use.

Purpose of the Role

This role plays a leading part in delivering high-quality analytical evidence to support Ofcom's regulatory, policy and enforcement responsibilities. Working across a portfolio of strategically important research and intelligence projects, this role will provide project leadership, technical expertise and analytical insight. Key responsibilities include driving the analytical delivery of large-scale behavioural datasets for Ofcom's Children's Passive Online Measurement programme and playing a key role in the production of the Communications Market Report, transforming complex data into authoritative evidence that informs decision-making across the organisation.

This role will involve working with colleagues across Ofcom to ingest, analyse and visualise data, producing reproducible and robust outputs. These will range from summary statistics and interactive visualisations, to exploring more innovative methods of analysis to provide insight to support Ofcom’s policy objectives, engaging with colleagues across the organisation to determine these analyses and outputs.

This role is also expected to support other analytical activities within the Research and Intelligence team, including contributing to data collection and collation methods for information gathered from regulated stakeholders, and leading on pieces of analysis for internal and external audiences. 

Your key responsibilities

• Establish and maintain robust, repeatable processes for ingestion, cleaning, and analysis of large datasets including clear documentation of processes, assumptions, and caveats.
• Provide project management and leadership for a range of research and analytical projects, including those using new and innovative methods.

• Collaborate with a wide range of colleagues, setting and managing expectations, and building effective working relationships.

• Support the strategic development of Ofcom’s access to datasets and partnerships that fulfil evidence requirements, including scoping complex datasets of varying sizes and structures from a range of sources and engaging with external research experts and data vendors.

• Engage with project teams across Ofcom to capture the analytical requirements involved in the delivery of Ofcom’ strategic objectives.

• Provide support for a range of other analytical activities as required.

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

Technical knowledge and experience:

• Proven experience using Databricks (essential)
• Strong programming skills in Python (essential)
• Experience working with:
  • PySpark
  • Large-scale data processing environments
  • Complex behavioural datasets
• Experience cleaning, preparing and processing:
  • Large datasets
  • Real-world data containing inconsistencies and anomalies
  • Data with missing values, outliers and quality issues
• Strong analytical and statistical skills
• Ability to independently manage and deliver analytical projects

Behavioural attributes

• Executing plans: organise tasks and set clear goals, managing resources wisely, while keeping an eye on progress, using attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and integrity in analytical outputs.
• Harmonising work: work effectively with others, creating an honest team environment and sharing valuable information and resources.
• Articulating ideas: express your ideas, thoughts, and information in a clear and concise manner, ensuring messages are understood by everyone, with the ability to create clear, understandable visualisations of potentially complex data.

Qualifications and Accreditations

• Degree qualified, or equivalent professional experience, in a quantitative discipline (e.g. Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, Psychology, Geography, Economics, or similar)

Inclusive hiring at Ofcom

At Ofcom, our mission is clear: to make communications work for everyone. To achieve that, our people must reflect the diversity of the UK, in background, identity and experience. 

We believe innovation thrives when difference is valued and everyone feels empowered to contribute their ideas and perspectives. That’s why we welcome colleagues of all ethnicities and races, sexes, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, faiths and beliefs, and those with apparent and non‑apparent disabilities. We value socio‑economic diversity, life experience and neurodiversity too. Whether you’re a carer, a parent, a veteran, or re‑entering work after time away, your voice and perspective matter here. 

Flexibility is at the heart of how we work because we want you to thrive in a way that suits you best. Most roles can therefore be adapted for part‑time hours, job shares, or other flexible arrangements. Learn more about our Rewards, Benefits and Wellbeing on our careers page. 

Our recruitment process is intentionally designed to be open and accessible. If you need adjustments, information in a different format or an alternative way to apply, contact us at resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or 0330 912 1378. 

As a proud Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a role. You can read more about this commitment here. 

Whoever you are, whatever your story, you belong at Ofcom.