The ONS operates a flexible hybrid working model across the UK, with colleagues linked to one of our contractual locations working between office and remote throughout the week. The locations for this role are Newport, Titchfield (Fareham), Manchester and Darlington
All colleagues on office-based contracts should be working primarily in their contractually allocated site for at least 40% of their working time. The exception to this is for colleagues based at the Darlington Economic Campus. Due to current capacity constraints, colleagues based there will only be required to attend the office for 20% of their work time. It is expected Darlington will move to 40% in 2027-28.
Current staff, with additional flexibility relating to office attendance e.g. relating to reasonable adjustments, should contact the hiring manager in the first instance.
Due to current location restrictions, you can only select London, Darlington or Homeworking as a preference if you are contractually linked to that location. If you are not a contractual homeworker or not based at one of these sites, these options are not available to you.
This post is available for eligible colleagues with greater flexibility on attendance (which includes those on Homeworking contracts) to apply. Candidates will need to discuss their current greater flexibilities with the Hiring Manager to agree an arrangement that meets the needs of the individual circumstances and on-going needs of the business. Please refer to the People Portal pages for clarification on the eligibility criteria.
Job Summary
Are you motivated by engaging with a variety of people, working with teams and individuals.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UKs largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social, and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.
Underpinning all this work is our vision “We believe in the benefits our people provide as the centre of excellence in research, methods, and technology with the expertise to transform the entire social survey portfolio end-to-end. Through this, we enable better quality and more efficient statistics that improve decision making across government and ensure a more informed public debate.”
The Post Is Based In The Social Surveys Directorate (SSD), Which Is The Largest Directorate In ONS, Comprising 2000 Colleagues, Including The Field Communities, Split Across Six Divisions
- Social Surveys Field Collection (SSFC)
- Social Surveys Telephone and Ports Collection (SSTPC)
- Social Surveys Research and Production (SSRP)
- Social Surveys Strategy, Research and Innovation (SSSRI)
- Social Surveys Transformation (SST)
- Social Surveys Central Division (SSCD)
The post sits within Social Survey Transformation (SST) which is the division responsible for delivering the transformation of our social surveys as part of the wider transformation of the statistical system. Administrative data will be a key source of data for social statistics in the future; however, there will be a requirement for collection of supporting information and attitudinal data through surveys and SST is leading the transformation and delivery of these surveys.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the largest household survey in the UK and is used widely across ONS, government and academia. The survey collects valuable information on a wide range of topics including the labour market, health, disability, wellbeing, education and earnings. Whilst the LFS is being transformed in parallel into a new design and data collection approach, using the latest design and processing techniques to better meet current data needs, there are also several workstreams under way to improve the quality and sustainability of the current LFS during the continued dual run of both the LFS and the transformed LFS (TLFS).
Job Description
This vacancy is for a Higher Executive Officer to support a number of routine and development activities focusing on the data production, and dissemination. The purpose of this role is to support and further develop a number of process changes to produce UK level outputs for the LFS/TLFS. This includes all elements of system design, development and support including the establishment of non-functional requirements covering system backup and recovery, performance and usability.
The role will focus on the support and improvement of our operational and transformational systems that necessarily occurs due to regulatory change, new technology adoption and other external factors. The role will seek to ensure that all the activities, processes and systems within our work remain relevant, efficient and fit for purpose.
Responsibilities
Main responsibilities of the post includes:
- You will be involved with processing of the transformed LFS with specific responsibility for up-dates to the processing system, facilitation of testing, the management of the data deletion process, the up-date of desk instructions and related support of colleagues. This will require working collaboratively, within the team, with other teams in the division.
- You will provide regular support for colleagues with live incidents involving data and system processing issues, taking responsibility for problem resolution and any subsequent related change requirements.
- The post holder will assist in the day-to-day maintenance and operations of the survey outputs including:
- assisting in the development/production of UK hybrid datasets.
- assisting in the reweighting of survey outputs.
This vacancy is for a Higher Executive Officer to support a number of routine and development activities focusing on the data production, and dissemination. The purpose of this role is to support and further develop a number of process changes to produce UK level outputs for the LFS/TLFS. This includes all elements of system design, development and support including the establishment of non-functional requirements covering system backup and recovery, performance and usability.
The role will focus on the support and improvement of our operational and transformational systems that necessarily occurs due to regulatory change, new technology adoption and other external factors. The role will seek to ensure that all the activities, processes and systems within our work remain relevant, efficient and fit for purpose.
Main Responsibilities Of The Post Includes
- You will be involved with processing of the transformed LFS with specific responsibility for up-dates to the processing system, facilitation of testing, the management of the data deletion process, the up-date of desk instructions and related support of colleagues. This will require working collaboratively, within the team, with other teams in the division.
- You will provide regular support for colleagues with live incidents involving data and system processing issues, taking responsibility for problem resolution and any subsequent related change requirements.
- The post holder will assist in the day-to-day maintenance and operations of the survey outputs including:
- assisting in the development/production of UK hybrid datasets.
- assisting in the reweighting of survey outputs.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Demonstrable capability and experience of application database development using SPSS, R or Python.
- Demonstrable capability and experience of MS Excel.
- Capability and willingness to continue learn new technologies and software to enable continued alignment with ONS technology strategy.
- An ability to plan and lead different pieces of work, setting timelines, prioritising conflicting demands, and delivering outcomes
- Experience of working collaboratively as part of a team, ideally with strong communication skills to conduct stakeholder management with colleagues across teams and with users to understand requirements and feed back developments.
Desirable Criteria
- A broad understanding and interest in IT infrastructure, applications and systems.
- Experience in coding/programming.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
Alongside your salary of £34,075, Office for National Statistics contributes £9,871 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our 5400 valued colleagues across the business.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that the benefits pack attached
(bottom of page) will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.
ONS are committed to flexible ways of working that support a healthy work-life balance. ONS has already considered how this job could be right sized for applicants working flexibly and we are happy to explore options with you about working part time, in a job share or flexibly, in line with our hybrid working policies.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Security Clearance
For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.
If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link, or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.
At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Applicants may utilise AI resources in their submissions; ensuring all information provided is factually accurate, truthful, and original, avoiding any form of plagiarism to maintain the authenticity and credibility of the application process.
Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.
- Assessment at application stage will be based on your work history, skill and experience and personal statement. Your application should be tailored to demonstrate any skills, knowledge and experience that are relevant to the content of the role.
- Your personal statement should be no longer than 1000 words. You should use this space fully to provide evidence for each essential criterion within the person specification. As the criteria are scored, we would recommend that you give clear examples for each including the impact of your actions and set them out using the STAR acronym (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
- In cases where there is a high number of applications the sift pass mark may be adjusted and candidates will be invited to interview in merit order, i.e., those scoring the highest.
- Should you be invited to interview you will be assessed against all the behaviours (and technical skills if applicable) as outlined in the advert.
- Interviews will be held via video conferencing.
- Sift will take place – From 24th September 2025 Interviews – From 20th October 2025 Dates are subject to change
For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment below.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- 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) (opens in a new window)
- 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
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact
[email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission
