The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.

The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

Research and Statistics Divisions – Advanced Analytics, the Centre for Central Banking Studies, the Research Hub and the Data and Division – lie at the heart of the Bank of England, acting as a centre of excellence for analytics, research and statistics across the institution as a whole.

Department Overview

Strategy Implementation Division

Our Division helps the Bank to make the best use of data and analytics to achieve that. Pretty much everything the Bank does depends critically on the use of data and analytics, and the Bank has made our work a strategic priority. We have support from the Governor down and across the Bank, and a big increase in funding. As part of our team, you will contribute to outcomes of national importance today, while preparing the Bank to face the challenges of tomorrow.

We have lots of opportunities for people who want to grow. We are still a start-up: created two years ago, doubled in size last year, doubling again this year. We need people to contribute their ideas, be entrepreneurial, and take the lead on new areas of work. You can gain broad exposure to the various parts of the Bank, giving you the option to move to other roles within the Bank in future.

We have a supportive culture that empowers people to be the best they can. This culture is reflected in staff survey results. Staff in our division tell us we are particularly good at giving recognition, praise and useful feedback, with 86% of staff saying they would recommend their manager to others.

We offer very flexible working arrangements.

How do you know if our team is a good fit for you?

You are

• Focussed on what makes a difference. 
• Collaborative and inclusive.
• Committed to iteration and incremental improvement.

You like

• Creating great products and services that make people’s lives easier.
• Seizing opportunities and solving problems.
• Learning, honing your skills, and gaining new skills.
• Data and analytics!

You know

• What can be achieved by using data and analytics.
• What must be done to use data and analytics effectively.

The Data Science and Analysis Tools Team

The Analytics Enablement Hub (AEH), provides Bank-wide analytics strategy and the support needed to help colleagues realise the potential of our data, and the analytical tools and platforms available to them. The AEH is a virtual team composed of colleagues from different areas that collaborate together to provide a cohesive, easy to access, supported self-service model utilising the skills and expertise we have. At the centre of AEH are teams from DSID (Data Analytics and Transformation Division) and Cloud and Data Platforms Domain (Technology), but work closely with key colleagues across the organisation.

Within the AEH, The Data Science and Analysis Tools Team is responsible for setting the strategy on how our data is explored and analysed and, therefore, together with our business partners, own key decision such as

1. what should our strategic toolkit be composed of;
2. how can we continue to have a toolkit that is fit for purpose and addresses the ongoing demand for programming, data dashboarding and presentations tools;
3. how to ensure our tools are kept up to date and in-line with industry good practice

Following the enthusiastic uptake of data science across the Bank this team has become a key channel for meeting our Strategic Goal of “delivering a world class Regtech and data strategy"!

Job description

The opportunity

This role will lead a vibrant, multi-disciplinary team with remit to shape, lead and deliver our analytical tools strategy. You will help deliver valuable business change to the Bank by:

• unlocking the value of our datasets and enabling the creation of new insights and data-driven decisions using the best of range analytical tools;
• Acting as a role-model for good methodologies and propagating our tools capabilities to the wider Bank and in industry.
• Ensuring our toolkit is up-to-date, fit-for-purpose and complete

We expect that strong candidates will help shape their role, but anticipate you will:

• Lead the Strategy for Data Science & Analysis Tools in the Bank. As such,
  • set the strategic vision for our analytical toolkit, alongside our data & analytics community. Influence the investment the organisation makes in new tools and technologies, to substantially improve our capabilities, and thus our ability to fulfil its mission.
  • make sure we have the right toolkit to make the best use recent developments in data preparation and analysis. This means having a great understanding of the existing and potential new tools, how they align to the Bank’s use cases and making sure any gaps are addressed and provisioned for.
• Line manage a multi-disciplinary team of three. Responsibilities here are to:
  • Design, update and support delivery of the our tools strategy ensuring the right activities are in place to serve the current and future needs of the Bank - both from a technical and governance perspectives.
  • Chair and ensure the relevant governance bodies function successfully
  • Supervise the production of intelligence on the usage of the tools we support and use this knowledge to steer key strategic decisions.
• Lead the work with a high degree of autonomy, with you or your team members being the primary advisory contact for most areas.
• Be empowered to make decisions on aspects of data and analytics enablement that cut across multiple Business and/or Technology areas
• Contribute to thought leadership around our analytics and tools enablement strategy, alongside our community primarily at Manager through Head of Division level.
• Be a recognised SME on this topic and quickly learn how they map to business areas’ objectives and activities, to participate effectively in their discussions on strategy, business planning, and process improvement.
• Keep abreast of the latest developments in techniques and technologies and share that knowledge with Bank colleagues

This is a people management roles, with responsibility for teams of around 1-3 direct and indirect reports. You will be responsible for the team's day to day management, defining roles and responsibilities and creating an inclusive environment. You will develop your team through sharing information effectively, coaching and communicating a clear vision to ensure that your staff are productive, engaged and motivated to deliver the area’s aims. This will include setting clear goals and smart stretching objectives that are aligned to those of the team, division and directorate. You will also be responsible for managing all staff-related matters that may arise including performance, absence and sickness.

Role Requirements

Essential Criteria

• • Experience of leading multi-disciplinary teams, in a technical and/or an organizational change environment.
  • Experience in setting and maintaining trusted advisor relationships with business areas, effective partnerships with areas involved in the provision of central data services like Technology, and credible influence with data governance bodies.
  • Experience in project planning, prioritisation, management, and performance measurement
  • Enthusiasm and curiosity about data science tools and understanding of how to use them to answer real-world questions.
  • Experience in one or more tools e.g. R, Python, Tableau, Version Control, Apache Spark.
  • Excellent data analysis and problem-solving ability.
  • Knowledge of how to maintain data, tools and processes to generate reproducible analysis and implement robust and valuable data solutions.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills to engage effectively with colleagues at a range of seniorities and knowledge/technical levels.
  • An open and collaborative approach in order to foster strong positive partnerships with colleagues all over the organisation.
  • Knowledge of the state-of-the-art guidelines in using open-source tools
  • Pro-activity and self-starting attitude.
  • Enthusiasm for bringing better data capabilities to a large organisation!

Desirable Criteria

• Change management experience.
• Experience in teaching others Data Science techniques and tools.
• Knowledge and experience of databases (relational or otherwise)

#LN-DP1

The Bank values diversity and inclusion – we want to reflect the society we serve better, we want the best people to work for us and we want our workplace to be inclusive.  We value all forms of diversity, including but not limited to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation.  One way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment, and are open to considering how the role might be carried out with flexible working.  This role is therefore open to flexible working patterns. 

Where a role can be carried out from home, we are working towards colleagues spending at least half of their time in the office, so that we can all benefit from working together in person, while maintaining the flexibility offered by home working. From 6 June 2022, we expect colleagues to spend a minimum of 40% of their working time in the office per month.  Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them and their team.

We are also committed to making adjustments for candidates and employees where possible, and have partnered with external expert organisations to support us in this.  We are a member of the Disability Confident scheme, summarised here, and people who wish to apply under this scheme should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

We anonymise applications so hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information when reviewing your submission, including your CV. Please fully complete the application form questions as requested, as any incomplete submissions may not be reviewed.

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.  

Reward

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.  

This specific role offers a base salary of between Â£61,100 and £76,400 per annum depending on knowledge, skills and experience.  In addition our comprehensive benefits package includes the following:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• A 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 25 days annual leave with option to buy up to 13 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.