Senior Data Sharing Officer

We are a team of data sharing and geospatial systems experts, supporting the Defra Group and its partners. Our work spans a wide range of data access and sharing topics, and we collaborate with colleagues across Defra, its arm's-length bodies (ALBs), other government departments, external partners, and contractors. We manage several key geospatial services, including the Defra Data Services Platform, MAGIC, and a suite of ESRI services. Our team provides hands-on support for users, helping with data access and publishing. We also offer expert advice on data licensing for projects across Defra and maintain access to important third-party datasets, such as those from Ordnance Survey.

As the Senior Data Sharing Officer, you will be responsible for enabling secure, compliant, and efficient data sharing across the Defra Group. You will support the development and implementation of data governance, licensing, and publishing processes to ensure Defra achieves best value from data. You will work with colleagues and external partners to enable access to third party, licensed data products, making sure those are accessed and reused in line with their licensing conditions. Your work will be instrumental to delivery of activities and projects across the Group. You will work with colleagues from a variety of specialisms and professions, offering you ongoing opportunities to learn about Defra, the government, and the environment we are working to protect.

The Data Access Team is a dispersed team. We meet several times a year, which means that occasional travel to Defra, partner or supplier sites will be required., Data & Metadata Publishing:

• You will manage the activity of cataloguing and quality assurance of Defra core metadata on the Data Sharing Platform (DSP).
• You will work with data owners across Defra to improve the quality and completeness of metadata and data available on the DSP.
• You will contribute to metadata standards and ongoing data governance initiatives such as the data ownership and metadata policy implementation.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• You will act as a subject matter expert, providing guidance and onboarding support to data owners and stewards looking to improve their content available on the data systems we manage.
• You will work with colleagues across Defra Group to promote our services and maximise their benefits.

Data Licensing:

• You will collaborate with internal teams and external suppliers to manage data licensing activities, including renewals, and procurement of third-party data.
• You will provide licensing advice to users, enabling data sharing and access.

Line Management:

• You will line manage a small team of data access and sharing specialists.

• Experience and interest in data management, data procurement and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong understanding of data governance, licensing, and metadata standards.
• Excellent communication, problem-solving, and organisational skills.
• Ability to interpret complex licensing terms and provide actionable advice.
• We work in a varied and dynamic environment - a strong commitment to continuous learning and development is essential.

Pulled from the full job description

• Flexitime
• Employee discount
• Sick pay
• Additional leave
• Company pension
• Casual dress
• Health & wellbeing programme, Salary: National: £42,665 - £46,765 London: £46,060 - £50,495 plus industry leading pension and benefits., Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £42,665.00-£50,495.00 per year

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Canteen
• Casual dress
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee discount
• Flexitime
• Health & wellbeing programme
• Sick pay
• Work from home