Lead Data Engineer

COVID-19 has reinforced the impact that threats to health can have on society and the economy and driven health security as a critical component of our national security architecture. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in how different communities experience infectious disease, environmental hazards and other threats to health.

UKHSA will prevent threats by anticipating risks and building readiness and defences; detect and monitor infectious diseases using cutting-edge environmental and biological surveillance; analyse threats using world-class science and data analytics; respond with rapid, collaborative and effective actions;and lead strong global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives and protect the nation from public health threats. UKHSA will build onthe legacy of the COVID-19 response to ensure resilient and scalable infrastructure to protect the public from future threats to health.

UKHSA recognises that diversity of background and life experience brings different insights, creates challenge and encourages change and innovation. We want all our employees to feel that they can be themselves at work and that they are valued.

Working for your organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all., We are looking for two Lead Data Engineers to join our team.

You will work in the Data Engineering and Enablement Division that reports into the Digital and Data Directorate. It’s an exciting time to join as we seek to create leading Health Protection data capabilities that enable data scientists and data analysts to develop insights that inform public health decisions with resilience platforms and curated data assets.

The UKHSA Chief Data Officer (CDO) provides strategic leadership and oversight for developing and managing a common and bespoke suite of performant, modern, secure, data and analytical tools, services, platforms and applications, ensuring access to high quality data and analytics services, internally and externally.

The role requires the ingestion of a wide range of data assets, building acquisition, orchestration, data pipelines and curated data marts and data egresses. We are seeking to mature our advanced capabilities with standardised practices, machine learning and agility needed to pro-active detect and respond to new public health issues.

You will be involved in the delivery lifecycle from engaging with stakeholders on new initiatives, analysing use cases, developing optimal designs that where possible re-use and extend capabilities, and implement and operate the design. Our teams work collaboratively in an agile multi-disciplinary structure and we are looking for engineers who have the ability to operate in feature teams, data operations and DevSecOps models. We are developing our engineering community of practice to share knowledge, enhance our standards and processes to provide a strong foundation to develop individuals, teams and innovation.

You will draw from an extensive background of experience in data engineering to enable and deliver performant solutions on our data platforms. You will act as a lead technical expert and provide leadership and guidance to small project teams in a collaborative way. You will develop and maintain the technology infrastructure that is integrating new and existing sources of data into our Surveillance processes and workflows so that it can be exploited with maximum efficiency. You can design, write and iterate code from prototype to production-ready, understand security, accessibility and version control, and use a range of coding tools and languages. You can develop code that self-generates documentation. You know about the specific technologies that underpin delivery and can apply the required breadth and depth of technical knowledge. You can plan, design, manage, execute and report tests, ensure that risks associated with deployment are understood, and log, analyse and manage problems to identify and implement appropriate solutions., You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 7 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:

• an application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• a 1000 word supporting statement

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 1000 words. We will not consider any words over 1000 words.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria, If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Internal fraud check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks., * 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)
• 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

Do you have experience in Spark?, * Extensive enterprise-scale Python experience, including Pandas, pytest, clean code, and PEP8 standards.

• Extensive experience designing, building, and operating robust, automated ETL/ELT data pipelines, including large-scale processing with Spark.
• Hands-on experience using AWS data services, including Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, and S3.
• Strong SQL skills with experience in data warehousing and relational databases.
• Proficiency with git-based development, GitHub workflows, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong analytical skills to understand data requirements, ensure data quality, support data modelling, and resolve technical or performance issues.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in agile, multidisciplinary teams, with excellent written and verbal communication skills and high attention to detail.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience with agile tooling such as JIRA or Azure DevOps and familiarity with software/data lifecycle management.
• A relevant numerate or technical degree (or equivalent qualification), or relevant experience in a similar senior data role, * Hands on experience using AWS data services, including Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, and S3.
• Extensive enterprise scale Python experience, including Pandas, pytest, clean code, and PEP8 standards.
• Extensive experience designing, building, and operating robust, automated ETL/ELT data pipelines, including large scale processing with Spark., * Delivering at Pace (Lead behaviour)
• Communication and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service, Successful candidates must pass a basic Disclosure and Barring Security check before they can be appointed.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Check clearance.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC) clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

Alongside your salary of £56,185, UK Health Security Agency contributes £16,276 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%, If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Please be aware that the salary is based on the office location:

Civil Service Grade 7

£56,185- £66,581 (National) £58,340- £68,574 (Outer London) £60,494- £70,566 (Inner London)

For Fixed term posts

For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment. You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy.

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQs in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London (Canary Wharf).

We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) on-site.

Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC)., UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.