£45,813- £56,042 – London (including upto £6,665 allowance)
£42,466 – £52,864 National (including upto £6,665 allowance)

[Description below is based on Oflog’s current remit, which is subject to change following the upcoming general election].

The new Office for Local Government (Oflog) is a key priority of the Secretary of State. Oflog will help to drive improvement in local government – responsible for a wider range of critical and everyday services – in order to improve outcomes for the public. It will do this by providing authoritative and accessible data and analysis about the performance of local government, so that local leaders can benchmark themselves against their peers and communities can more effectively challenge their authorities.

In particular, Oflog will:

– Inform: by improving access to data Oflog will enable citizens, local government, central government, and civil society to be better informed about the performance of local government

– Warn: Oflog will make it easier to spot potential failure before it happens, helping to prevent the significant financial and service implications of failure on local citizens and the taxpayer

– Support: Oflog will support local government to improve performance: championing best practice, improving data capability and rationalising a complex data landscape

Oflog is an office of DLUHC, meaning all staff are DLUHC civil servants. Ministers have agreed that it will have a degree of separation from government, with its own independent Chair and Chief Executive.

Oflog is a mixed-discipline team, including policy and local government experts, and analysts from a range of disciplines.    This is a unique time to participate in setting up a new organisation from the ground up. Whilst supporting the aims of Oflog, successful candidate/s will have an opportunity to work in a nimble organisation and to shape the overall organisation and its culture. The person in this role will contribute towards the technical and operational aspects of data-drive content development (eg interactives; dashboards; semi-automated reporting), maintaining and expanding the functionality of existing Oflog products, and growing the portfolio in-line with user needs.

The successful candidate may lead other developers. The successful candidate will need to collaborate closely with the Oflog metrics and policy teams, and the wider DLUHC technical community. This is an ideal role for someone who wants to take innovative approaches to data visualisation and make efficient use of automated processes. We’re looking for someone who is motivated to develop products with real-world impacts while promoting a positive work culture. They will need strong data skills with a focus on robust quality assurance methods.

 

Job description

Further develop Oflogs existing data-driven portfolio (including the Oflog data explorer), using software engineering principles.
Lead the development & design of specific functionality improvements, drawing on your knowledge of good user experience principles & data visualisation best-practice coupled with the user research findings.
To contribute towards ideas for improved data-driven products and content that meet our users’ needs.
To contribute towards the development of new data-driven products and content.
Communicate technical issues and issues of best-practice clearly and concisely within the team and to wider Oflog stakeholders.
Show flexibility and adaptability under pressure.
Person specification

Experience in coding and developing data-driven products and content in open-source tools and libraries, such as Python, R, D3js or (experience not needed in all of these).
Experience of using Github, or similar code hosting version control platform, to develop analytical tools.
Experience in designing for useability, accessibility and all devices. Ability to choose and explain how to display data effectively.
Ability to demonstrate inclusive and effective technical leadership, focussing on building capability within the team.
The ability to communicate technical information succinctly and clearly, especially to non-experts.
Excellent oral and written briefing skills including the ability to communicate detailed information succinctly and clearly.
Benefits

Alongside your salary of £xx,xxx Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes >£11,466 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
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 average employer contribution of 27%