Junior Data Engineer - RPA - HEO

Job summary

This is a brilliant time to join Rural Payments Agency (RPA) – our organisation is growing and we’re at the heart of delivering the Government’s agricultural transition and making a genuine difference to the health of our environment and rural economy. We continue to make year on year improvements in performance as we become a data and intelligence-led organisation, embedding our vision of customer excellence at every level and growing our reputation to make a difference every day.

Our Data, Insight & Outcomes Business Area is a multidisciplinary team including Geospatial Analysts, Data Engineers and Architects, Data and Intelligence Analysts and a national Field Team. Together, we’re in a unique position to use our specialist skills to work with the agricultural community to deliver big, impactful change, supporting high level environmental and animal welfare outcomes and the move towards net zero. This is a really exciting time to join our team as we grow and develop our ability to continuously analyse nationwide agricultural activity and provide agile, directed data and evidence-driven support to the farming community.

We have clear values that we are embedding at every level in our organisation – improving engagement and innovating to be a more inclusive, supportive, and engaging employer. Our people own our values and bring them to life in everything we do – recent new starters have talked glowingly about how supportive and caring their new colleagues are. We are proud of this culture; how open and approachable we are and our commitment to individual development, investing in the skills of our people and creating an environment in which everyone can flourish. We hope that this appeals to you.

Further information can be found on the Rural Payments Agency website: rpa.gov.uk

Job description

As a Junior Data Engineer, you will be joining a team of data engineering professionals, who are committed to delivering high-impact, secure data solutions to achieve departmental and directorate objectives.

• You will drive high data quality across the data engineering solutions you develop through efficient coding and robust unit testing.
• You will help facilitate the communication of technical processes to different technical and nontechnical audiences.
• You will partner and collaborate with other data engineers and business users to understand data needs and deliver on those needs.
• You will be adapting and embedding practices such as Devops within the products you develop. In addition to assisting in the development and maintenance of repeatable and reusable data products and technical documentation.
• You will help build and maintain our data engineering community to facilitate knowledge sharing, innovation, and collaboration across the department.
• Above all, you will be proactive and want to make an impact, and this may sometimes involve challenging current methods.

Your responsibilities will include the following:

• Designing data pipelines within SQL that efficiently load and transform data from a wider variety of sources.
• Unit testing pipelines to ensure data produced is of a high quality and meets requirements.
• Working with customers to ensure that their requirements are fully understood.
• Working closely with data suppliers to gain access to data in the most suitable form.

Person specification

This is a great opportunity to join a fast paced and developing data engineering team. It is an analytical role and we would encourage applicants who want to further develop their programming skills. Structured training will be provided to support this.

You will be a proactive individual, with a can-do approach, used to working at pace, and taking responsibility for your work. You will adapt well when circumstances or priorities change and operate as a good team player.

You must be able to demonstrate the following essential skills and experience:

Technical Expertise

• Experience of building basic data processes that ingest, transform and present data.
• Working knowledge in one or more of the following – Oracle SQL, TSQL, Informatica DEI.
• Experience of testing pipeline either via informal peer review or formal unit test processes.
• Experience or demonstrable interest of working with either structured or unstructured data using either data lake or data warehousing tools/techniques.

Working Practices

• Strong problem-solving skills, including root cause analysis and resolution.
• Working alongside others to ensure the stability, robustness and resilience of the products you build, and support affecting changes to those products where necessary.
• Curiosity, self-motivation and enthusiasm for understanding and learning the latest data engineering practices, tools, and trends.
• Willingness to step outside of your comfort zone and grow.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Experience of building basic data processes that ingest, transform and present data.
• Working knowledge in one or more of the following – Oracle SQL, TSQL, Informatica DEI.
• Experience of testing pipeline either via informal peer review or formal unit test processes.
• Experience or demonstrable interest of working with either structured or unstructured data using either data lake or data warehousing tools/techniques

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,590, Rural Payments Agency contributes £9,731 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete the following:

• A CV.
• A 500-word personal statement demonstrating how you meet the essential skills and experience detailed in the advertisement.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Interview dates can be found in the attached candidate pack. Please note that the dates may be subject to change.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Technical, Strengths and the following behaviour:

• Delivering at Pace – This will be assessed through a situational task during the interview.

We will assess your technical ability through questions and also a practical code exercise during the interview.

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Interviews will be conducted via MS teams

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Near miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in the RPA which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

Salary

New entrants are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that the RPA does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offenses. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the RPA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.

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).