Description
Everything we do at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) aims to create the right environment for colleges and universities to thrive individually and collectively.
The Scottish Funding Council is Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority. Our ambition is to make Scotland an outstanding place to learn, educate, research, and innovate – now and for the future. So, naturally, we have a clear focus on recruiting the best people and developing them throughout their career. We invest around £2 billion every year, and our funding enables colleges and universities to provide life-changing opportunities for over half a million people.
We’re not only looking for the best people to come and work for us, but also people who will connect with our guiding principles which include working in partnership, championing diversity, and supporting sustainability for future generations.
By fostering our guiding principles, we are very proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created. We are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds: we want our colleague base to reflect the people and communities that we serve.
Key Responsibilities
* Translate business requirements into technical specifications, roadmaps and deliverable data solutions, including data streams, integrations, transformations, databases, data warehouses, and business intelligence, reporting and analytical platforms.
* Define the data architecture framework, standards and principles, including modelling, metadata, security and data virtualisation.
* Support the Head of Data Engineering to develop and enhance standards and policies/guidelines whilst driving adoption of standards.
* Define data flows and data lineage, visualising which parts of the organization generate data, which require data to function, how data flows are managed, and how data changes in transition.
* Provide technical guidance and advice to help in the design and development of data solutions for data modelling and warehousing, data integration, and analytics.
* Provide direction and support to a team of data engineers and provide technical guidance on the data products.
* Develop roadmaps for both product related DE work as well as overall data maturity roadmap
* Drive the design, building, and launching of new data models and data pipelines in production.
* Perform peer reviews, audits, standards compliance checks and due diligence as required.
* Report delivery progress and status to both internal and external stakeholders
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:
* Significant experience in SQL or similar standard data processing languages and development experience in at least one scripting language (Python, etc.).
* Extensive and demonstrable Data Modelling / architecting in Data Warehouses and BI Solutions.
* Deep technical expertise gained from extensive hands-on experience.
* Effective analytical skills with ability to undertake data profiling and source system analysis, and to present clear insights to support the end use of the data.
* Effective oral and written communication skills.
* Evidence of leadership experience, with experience initiating and driving projects.
* Degree level education (SCQF level 9) or equivalent experience, ideally in a technical field such as Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics.
* Azure Data Engineer Associate certification or higher OR Azure AI Engineer Associate certification or higher
Benefits
· Normal full-time hours of work are 35 per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements. A flexi-time system is in operation.
· Annual leave entitlement of 26.5 days pro-rata, rising to 30 days pro-rata after 2 years’ continuous service. Public and privilege holiday entitlement of 13 days pro-rata.
· A flexible approach to hybrid working, giving you flexibility to work from home anywhere in the UK for some of the time while also maintaining regular in-person contact with colleagues.
· Annual pay review: approved within the framework of the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy and negotiated with our recognised trade union, Unite. Salaries are reviewed annually in April for employees who commence employment prior to 1 October in the preceding year.
· Eligibility to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme. With its low member contribution rates and generous employer contributions, this gives you a secure, inflation-proof pension for life with no investment uncertainty. Details of contribution rates together with further details of the pension benefits are available on the Civil Service Pensions website. There is also the option of a Partnership pension account.
· Support for continuous professional development: as a part of SFC, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive support for continuous learning and professional development. Civil Service-Learning curriculum has thoughtfully designed to cater to various learning preferences, allowing employees to engage in a manner that best suits their needs. All our educational resources are conveniently accessible through the CSL website.
· Support for health and wellbeing, including generous occupational sick pay, free access to confidential advice and support through our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, Special Leave (paid and unpaid), a contribution to learning outside work through our Lifelong Learning Fund, free winter flu vaccination, and access to occupational health support.
· We provide support to SFC employees with Volunteering Days.
· Support for travel to and from work, including a salary sacrifice cycle loan scheme, cycle storage and shower facilities, an interest-free loan for bus or rail season tickets and free office car parking for employees on a first-come basis.
We are the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, more commonly known as the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
We are Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority and our purpose is to sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that enables students to flourish, changes lives for the better, and supports social, economic and environmental wellbeing and prosperity.
We do this by investing around £2 billion of public money to deliver:
* Tertiary learning and teaching.
* Skills and apprenticeships.
* Student support and participation.
* Research, innovation and knowledge exchange.
* Data collection and dissemination.
* National quality assurance and enhancement processes.
* Capital and digital infrastructure for the sector.
* Strategic change, responsive provision and research priorities.
As a non-departmental public body established by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005, we are directly accountable to Scottish Government Ministers and the Scottish Parliament. We work across many government portfolios and are sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Directorate.
We hold colleges, universities and other funded bodies to account for their delivery of required outcomes. We are also the statistical authority for colleges, and work closely with the UK-wide Higher Education Statistical Authority (HESA), to provide data and statistics for government, decision-makers, and the wider public.
We work in partnership with a wide range of partners and bodies, including those we fund, across all aspects of our remit.
You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for these roles: we do not offer sponsorships.
Further information about SFC is available on our website Scottish Funding Council home page (sfc.ac.uk).
We are pleased to support applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, sex, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, as well as those who have skills in Scottish Gaelic or British Sign Language, who have the right skills for the job.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and actively encourage interviews through the scheme.
We will consider secondment applications for most fixed-term or temporary positions and in many cases also for permanent positions. If you are interested in applying on a secondment basis and this option is not explicitly mentioned in the job advert, please contact recruitment@sfc.ac.uk for further information.
This profile has been created to describe, in outline, the nature of appointments at this level. It is an indicative document and the exact nature of these duties will vary with time and from post to post. Post holders will be expected to carry out any work that is commensurate with their grade or that may reasonably be required of them.