CMA1934 Data Scientist

Competition & Markets Authority

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 2nd October 2023

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Details

Reference number

313063

Salary

£42,924 - £46,697

a DDAT allowance of up to £4750 may be applicable

A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job grade

Senior Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

Data, Technology and Analytics

Type of role

Analytical
Architecture and Data
Digital
Statistics

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

Location

Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to use your data science skills for the public good and join the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as a member of the Data, Technology and Analytics (DaTA) unit, an established multidisciplinary team that brings together data scientists, data engineers, technologists, behavioural scientists and digital forensics and eDiscovery experts.

The CMA is a world-leading competition authority at the forefront of tackling pressing public policy questions, including the regulation of the biggest digital markets. Our mission is to make markets work well in the interests of consumers, businesses, and the economy.

Job description

You will join an established team of around 15 data scientists and data engineers within the wider DaTA Unit. We provide analytical support for CMA legal cases and develop tools to improve how the CMA operates. We build most of our tools ourselves, on top of open-source software, using our custom analysis platform built in AWS. Data scientists in our team have space to explore the use of new, cutting-edge techniques in data processing and machine learning, including large language models and generative AI. We work in a collaborative way, with a focus on sharing our knowledge and experience across the team.

Examples of projects we’ve worked on recently include:

developing a tool that uses natural language processing to improve how the CMA processes documents
exploring the use of large language models for extracting key information from CMA case data
supporting a CMA market study with the acquisition and analysis of a large and complex dataset
using web-scraped data to run a causal study to determine the features in a tech platform’s ranking algorithm
building a live machine learning tool that collects and classifies news articles to support the CMA’s merger investigation team

Responsibilities

The technical delivery of data science and analysis to support CMA legal cases, with guidance from senior team members
The development of data science tools to support the functions of the CMA
Producing high quality “production” code in Python (other languages such as R or SQL might be used as needed)
Carrying out regular reviews of code written by other team members
Writing and presenting the output of analyses to technical and non-technical audiences
Contributing to scoping projects and designing their data science solutions, as well as team planning sessions, retrospectives and training
Identifying competition and consumer protection issues that CMA could address using data science methods
Working with multi-disciplinary case teams and developing strong working relationships with internal stakeholders across the CMA and its specialisms

Person specification

An undergraduate degree in a quantitative subject OR equivalent experience working in data science
Experience delivering data science projects as part of a team, either through previous job roles or in academia
Strong knowledge of modern machine learning methods and tools
A strong drive for self-directed learning and an interest in learning about the latest data science methods
Strong knowledge of methods for data extraction and data manipulation (knowledge of data engineering tools and techniques, such as AWS cloud services and git version control is a plus)
Experience of coding in Python specifically for data science or a related field (knowledge of additional languages such as R would be a plus)
The ability to translate a problem statement into a data science proposal and then develop a solution
Good communication skills, with the ability to present analysis in a straightforward and engaging way, including to non-technical audiences

To find out more about this opportunity please click on the APPLY button.

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Or our LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/competition-and-markets-authority/

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Delivering at Pace
Communicating and Influencing
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Data Science knowledge
Coding skills

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,924, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £11,589 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

As well as the interesting and varied work you’ll do to contribute to effective competition in the UK, and to ensure consumers get a good deal when buying goods and services, you’ll also benefit from:

An exceptionally generous pension scheme with a significant employer contribution and range of options, including a tax-free lump sum at the point of retirement and injury, ill-health and life assurance benefits
25 days leave (increasing to 30 days over five years), plus 8 public holidays and an additional day off for the King’s birthday. In addition, you’ll be able to access a wide range of other types of leave as and when you need it, including generous maternity, paternity, shared parental leave and adoption options, as well as paid special leave for volunteering
Season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, flu vaccinations and eye tests
Access to the Civil Service Sports & Leisure, giving discounted gym membership, high street discounts, free access to UK wide attractions and a free Tastecard
A range of wellbeing benefits, including an employee assistance programme, flexible working options and family friendly policies, regular networking events and professional learning opportunities at work

Any move to the CMA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

Like many other organisations, we operate a hybrid working model with a mix of office and home working. We believe this supports us to deliver our best work while allowing the flexibility to maintain balanced and healthy lives. We work at least 40% of our time from our office locations across the UK.

If you’re already a civil servant being appointed on level transfer, you’ll retain your existing terms, including annual leave. If you are being promoted you’ll receive either a 10% pay increase or the new grade minimum, whichever is the greater. Applicants new to the civil service can be considered for appointment at a salary higher than the starting point indicated above, but not more than the advertised mid-point, depending on skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications.

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We want a diverse workforce that reflects the consumers we serve. We welcome applications from under-represented groups, including ethnically diverse people, people with a disability, people with diverse gender identities and from people of different ages. 

We are an accredited Disability Confident Employer and disabled applicants meeting the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.

Our Values

The CMA delivers impactful outcomes for people, business and the UK economy. We are Ambitious and Evidence-based, and always strive for Excellence. We treat everyone with Respect, and are Collaborative and Inclusive.

Everything we do is underpinned by the Civil Service values: Honesty, Integrity, Impartiality and Objectivity.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review), an assessment and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation. Interviews will be either conducted either virtually, by Microsoft Teams, or in-person at a CMA office.

At the sift all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification (above and in the attached role profile) will be reviewed.

Candidates that pass the initial application sift will be invited to do a technical test – a 3-hour coding and data science test.

Candidates that pass the technical test will then be invited to interview – a 45-60 minute interview which will include some questions related to your response to the technical test.

The sift will take place between 03 and 06 October 2023.

The coding test will take place week commencing 16 October 2023.

Interviews will be held from week commencing 30 October 2023.

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Serena Connor
Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk

Further information

If your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact Recruitment@cma.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.