Data Scientist

Reference:0441 

Salary:£42,853 - £48,982 

Working pattern:Permanent, Fully flexible - all options will be considered 

Location:Across Scotland 

Closing date:30 May 2022 at midnight 

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Data Scientist

Location : Hybrid Working (Offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Inverness).  

Type : Permanent role 

Salary : £42,853 to £48,982 per annum, plus competitive benefits.  

Hours : 36.25 hours

Are you an experienced data scientist or analyst who thrives on the opportunity to use your knowledge of advanced exploratory techniques and applied research to solve real-world problems? If so, we want to hear from you! We can offer you the opportunity to help Audit Scotland transform the use of digital technology within our audit process, improving the ways that staff analyse and present data, and supporting our vision to be a world-class audit organisation.

We are Audit Scotland. We're Scotland’s public sector auditor, independent of government. We employ more than 320 talented professionals who know that their work helps ensure the efficient delivery of public services in Scotland. We believe that public money (around £57 billion a year) should be spent wisely. 

There's plenty of change ahead, and the need for robust public audit that provides assurance about public spending and helps public services improve is more important than ever. We want to make sure Scotland makes the very best of the opportunities and that change is delivered well – transparent financial reporting and delivering value for money are key to this.

There has never been a more interesting or important time to join us. We offer a rewarding place to work, a supportive and open culture and a wide range of professional development opportunities. Benefits include 42 days of annual leave including public holidays, personal development allowances and flexible working hours. We’ve also been named one of the top 40 workplaces in Scotland and the UK’s fourth best accountancy workplace in the Sunday Times’ 2021 Best Companies awards.

 

Overall purpose of the role:

Audit Scotland is transforming the use of digital technology in our audit processes to analyse and present data and support our vision to be a world-class audit organisation.

Our Data Analytics Core Team works across the organisation to deliver the bespoke tools, analysis support, and capacity that we need to support world-class public audit. We help deliver the resources that auditors use to question, explore, and communicate how public bodies are delivering their services across Scotland.

As part of the team, you will be responsible for pushing forward our technical approach. Using coding, maths, statistics, and software engineering, you will deliver products involving data analysis, predictive insights, and specialised process automation. This will involve working directly with a variety of audit and technical staff to refine requirements, prototype solutions, and to research/evaluate new approaches across both financial audit, and performance audit.

Working with colleagues across Audit Scotland, our partner public audit agencies and across the public sector, you will develop new and innovative solutions that help us to hold public bodies to account.

How you can help us:                

Leading on new approaches

• Researching how state-of-the-art approaches such as statistical and machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision and big data techniques can support and augment our overall audit approach


• Identifying stakeholders, translating requirements, and prioritising data projects, working with colleagues to anticipate likely needs and find pragmatic solutions


• Supporting and influencing the strategic direction of the organisation by articulating what might be possible and make a difference to how we work

Building data products and solutions

• Taking ownership of the delivery of data solutions to fulfil audit needs, including both new and existing tools


• Helping to develop, deliver, and explain ad-hoc data science projects/notebooks


• Using modern software engineering techniques such as automated testing, continuous integration, and reproducible pipelines to ensure that data analysis products are robust


• Working with colleagues across the organisation, including audit teams, Professional Support, Digital Services Team and others to research and understand our future requirements


• Working closely with colleagues to deliver finished solutions - including the Data Application Developer, SQL Developer, Senior Data Analyst, and audit team members.

Building a data-literate organisation

• Supporting our Digital Audit strategy by applying new tools and techniques within the context of our audit approach and recognised auditing standards


• Assessing new data science techniques and approaches for use in the organisation, and providing summaries for others in a clear and understandable way


• Assisting colleagues by delivering solutions that are easy to use


• Provide technical information and app demonstrations at meetings across Audit Scotland and externally as required.


• Assisting in the delivery of data skills training and development


• Mentoring and coaching other staff in the use of data analysis tools and techniques


• Ability to make sound technical decisions based on the task requirements and on consultations with appropriate stakeholders.


• The ability to provide technical direction and guidance to colleagues in delivering projects, helping to solve complex problems related to algorithms, coding, and data manipulation


• Strong verbal and written communication skills to present complex solutions in a clear and understandable manner.


• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders.


• Strategic and creative thinking, solving demanding technical problems in a pragmatic way.


• The ability to work under pressure across multiple projects in a calm, professional and effective manner.

Specific knowledge and experience

• You will be educated to degree level in the Computer Science or Data Science fields (or similar) and/or have other relevant professional qualifications and experience


• A strong data science skillset, including practical experience of solving real-world problems using data analysis, statistics, machine learning, or similar related techniques.


• Experience of working with public sector data or dealing with a variety of financial, economic, demographic and performance data


• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders


• You will preferably have a related postgraduate qualification.


• A good knowledge and understanding of the business of Audit Scotland and the challenges and opportunities arising.


• Experience of identifying, and working with, stakeholders to translate requirements into products/projects, and in working with colleagues to prioritise and deliver data projects.

Interested? Next steps 

Click the apply button to complete an application form. If you wish, you can also share your CV. We offer a range of benefits, please visit our careers page for more information. 

The deadline for applications is Monday 30th May 2022 at midnight.

Diversity and Inclusion 

We value the unique perspective a diverse workforce brings to what we do. Therefore, we’re keen to increase representation in our workforce and support progression of minority ethnic groups. We are also a proud disability confident employer. 

How we work 

We employ around 320?staff in a wide variety of roles. They work flexibly at home and in the office as well as from audit sites across Scotland. This isn’t your typical work from home or work from office type job. We’re flexible about working patterns and we’ve transformed how we deliver high-quality public audit. We support you to work in the ways that achieve the best results for you, your team and the business, including your physical location and how you manage your hours. Put simply, we trust you to do your job, and want you to have the ability to have a rewarding work-life balance and best support your individual circumstances, be that childcare, adult carer responsibilities or managing disabilities.  

We welcome applications from across the UK. Some travel to our offices or client sites will be necessary at times, but you don’t need to live in Scotland to work for us. 

 

 

 

 

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