NHS England
NHS Improvement
Job description and person specification
Position
Job title
Data Analyst
Directorate
Performance and Improvement Directorate
Pay band
AFC Band 7
Responsible to
Regional System Improvement Analytical Lead
Salary
£38,890 to £44,503 pa
Accountable to
Regional Improvement Director
Tenure
Substantive Position
Responsible for
May have line management responsibility for analytical
staff up to Band 6
Funding
Arrangements
Admin Funded
Base
Birmingham, Leicester, Derby (flexible)
There is potential for flexible working arrangements.
Some travel will be required throughout England.
NHS England supports flexible working and is
committed to promoting a diverse workforce. Applicants
should discuss what flexibilities could be applied to this
post with the line manager
Our Organisation
NHS England and NHS Improvement came together on 1 April 2019 as a
new single organisation. The NHS Long Term Plan focuses on delivering
integrated care to patients at the local level and we can best support the
NHS to deliver this as a single integrated organisation.
NHS England and NHS Improvement Values and Behaviours
Having listened to our staff over the last year, we aim to create a healthy and
high performing organisation, underpinned by the NHS Constitution values:
• Working together for patients
• Respect and dignity
• Commitment to quality of care
• Compassion
• Improving lives
• Everyone counts
Our new operating model represents a strong shift to regional delivery
supported by expert corporate teams. Local health systems are supported
by our integrated regional teams who play a major leadership role in the
geographies they manage.
We are jointly committed to creating and maintaining a fair and supportive
working environment and culture, where contributions are fully recognised
Our people all have a part to play in helping to shape and develop our culture
and valued by all and staff feel empowered to carry out their duties to the
and in embedding and living these values.
best of their abilities. As employers we are committed to promoting and
protecting the physical and mental health and well-being of all our staff. This Our behaviours: leading by example:
underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution, supports us to be
▪ We prioritise patients in every decision we take.
an Employer of Choice and ultimately enables our employees to support the
▪ We listen and learn.
effective care of our patients.
▪ We are evidence-based.
▪ We are open and transparent.
The seven integrated regions of our joint enterprise will work with local
▪ We are inclusive.
systems to support and improve how care is provided to patients and
▪ We strive for improvement.
communities. These regions will be supported by the corporate centre
providing expertise and developing policy. The focus will be on guiding and
managing the delivery of services through local integrated health systems,
sustainability and transformation partnerships, and devolution areas.
Service and team
About the role
NHS Right Care is an established transformational programme of NHS
England, contributing to the financial sustainability of the NHS as a key
priority within the Five Year Forward View.
As a regional improvement analyst, the post holder will work closely with NHS
System Improvement Partners to support local health economies to deliver
improvements to patient services.
The NHS RightCare team is a large national team which spans the country
and comprises of professionals providing expertise on RightCare delivery
The post holder will work as part of a dynamic team in delivering an effective
service supporting managers and staff across the Improvement Directorate and
and intelligence across the health sector in England.
NHS England.
Analysts in NHS England Midlands Region will be in a unique position to
influence how national policy translates down through the regions to help make
real improvements to local services.
Analytical work will support the Improvement Directorates programmes e.g.
RightCare, Model Hospital and GIRFT in the Midlands and will include both ongoing provision of information and analysis including project work. The post
holder will form part of the NHS England Improvement Directorate providing
analysis, insight and evidence to support all core areas of NHS England’s
business.
In particular the post holder will:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Require good analytical and communication skills to provide written
presentations and briefings highlighting key messages and insight from
NHS RightCare Intelligence packs
Help CCGs and CSUs with how to understand and interpreting packs
and advising on other analysis that could be undertaken using local data
sources
Interrogate national data sets to produce bespoke analysis helping
CCGs understand improvement opportunities in the NHS RightCare
packs; advising CCGs on how the national datasets and RightCare data
can be used to draw insights and inform decision making, working with
local CSU and CCG analysts to do so.
Experience in SQL and knowledge of NHS commissioning data sets
Knowledge of data used for Population Health management
Experience of working with large data sets, using tools such as SQL, R,
VBA, Tableau, Excel or similar
Use 'internal' data tools/dashboards to draw further insights from
RightCare data
Use excel and other analytical software to present data and analysis
clearly, to help a range of clinical and commissioning audiences
understand themes and issues and local context
Use wider analytical and data resources – both local and national – to
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
further understand local populations and their healthcare needs
Be highly numerate and use a variety of analytical techniques to provide
high quality, timely analysis and intelligence relating to key priorities of
NHS England. These priorities will include assurance and accountability,
commissioning, transformation, quality and safety, finance and policy
and strategy development.
Be adaptable when finding analytical solutions to problems, to analyse
and triangulate data in innovative ways and present findings clearly to a
range of audiences.
Be able to largely drive their own work programme, contributing
appropriately to the overall strategy.
Have excellent communication skills and be able to influence people
with different perspectives to get the most out of stakeholder
relationships.
Support teams to ensure that the portfolio of tasks/projects is planned,
managed and delivered effectively, be calm under pressure and able to
juggle competing priorities and tight deadlines.
Ensure accurate and open communication and co-ordination with a
range of organisations and individuals, researching and drafting
correspondence and papers and ensuring the management of specific
tasks, lead reporting and analysis across a range of specialties,
functions and projects.
Be a key member of the team as well as supporting effective
communication and stakeholder management, both internally and
externally.
Key Job specifics and responsibilities
Key accountabilities
Delivering High Standards
Key Functional Responsibilities
To provide high quality, timely analysis and intelligence relating to key
priorities of the NHS England. These priorities will include assurance and
accountability, commissioning, quality and safety, finance and policy and
strategy development.
Analytical/Judgemental
Improving quality and outcomes
•
•
Undertake complex and detailed information analysis of specific
projects/reports requiring high levels of concentration.
Update, maintain, organise, gather and analyse information to
predict/meet future organisational and team needs by identifying best
•
To work collaboratively across the NHS England, including
integrating with the National Director’s portfolio
Enabling patient and public involvement
•
To act as a champion for patients and their interests and involve the
public and patients in the policy development and decision-making
of NHS England.
•
To ensure all public and patient contact with the office is of the
highest professional standard.
•
To embed patient and public involvement within NHS England at all
levels of decision making.
Promoting equality and reducing inequalities
•
To uphold organisational policies and principles on the promotion of
equality.
•
To create an inclusive working environment where diversity where
diversity is valued, everyone can contribute, and everyday action
ensure we meet our duty to uphold and promote equality.
•
•
•
professional practice.
Monitor and evaluate risks and issues using a tracking mechanism to
enable a proactive resolution and escalation processes.
Contribute to the information management of performance, taking a lead
for specific projects.
Provide coordination of and participate in relevant meetings, reporting
attendance and providing information advice and support where
requested.
Communication
•
•
•
Work with members of the team and key stakeholder to investigate the
causes of any variance from plan/delivery targets and contribute to the
implementation of solutions.
Support the development of internal and external communications
where required by regular contact with the teams, stakeholders and
Communications team.
Responsible for preparation of correspondence and complex papers, as
directed by Manager.
Financial and Physical Resources
Partnership and cross boundary working
•
To work closely with senior managers across NHS England, using
analysis to improve decision-making on key priorities
•
To work in partnership with others and as part of cross directorate
teams to deliver successful outcomes
•
To coordinate activities of other officers in the awareness of the
business agenda with specific reference to communication of
directorate and corporate activities
•
To facilitate effective liaison with people at all levels, including senior
•
•
•
•
Deliver against organisational objectives, achieving quality outcomes,
prioritising own workload and working to tight deadlines.
Support and inform teams on the targeting of resources, monitoring,
implementing, evaluating and delivery of plans by providing
sophisticated, high quality information and analysis.
Continually strive for delivering project/function outcomes, value for
money and greater efficiency.
Contribute to the financial delivery of the service ensuring it is cost
effective and delivered on time.
staff at the Department of Health, Government Departments, MPs,
senior staff in the NHS and partner organisations
People Management
•
Leadership for transformational change
•
To model a collaborative and influencing style of working,
negotiating with others to achieve the best outcomes. Embedding
this approach across the Directorate.
Using insight and evidence for improvement
•
To work alongside others to improve models using new methods
and ways of thinking.
Developing an excellent organisation
•
To ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all staff within the
department.
•
To ensure compliance with all confidentiality and governance
requirements within the department.
•
To support the organisation’s ways of working, model its values and
champion the NHS Constitution
•
•
•
Provide specialist training, advice and support on own
role/responsibilities where necessary.
Support training and induction of new staff.
Responsible for team supervision.
Participate in the recruitment process.
Information Management
•
•
•
•
Operate within and provide enhancements to current management
information, reporting to enhance decision making processes.
Updating, maintaining, organise, gather and analyse information to
predict/meet future organisational and team needs by identifying best
professional practice
Lead on development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
new information systems.
Responsible for the development and maintenance of databases
required for regular reports.
Research and Development
•
•
•
Actively supports and contributes to the development of key
performance indicators for the successful assessment of performance
Test and review new concepts, models, and practices.
Contributes to ensuring there are processes in place for spreading and
sharing learning and outcomes.
Planning and Organisation
•
•
Contribute to strategic planning.
Support implementation of strategic modernisation/service improvement,
•
•
•
public health, workforce or commissioning strategies and any associated
action plans.
Contribute to the development of performance and governance
strategies and the development and implementation of improvement
programmes.
Contribute to the formulation of plans of up to three year and strategic
direction within the team.
Deliver against objectives, achieving quality outcomes, prioritising own
workload and working to tight deadlines.
Policy and Service Development
•
•
Proposes changes to own area, informing policy and making
recommendations for other projects delivery
Contribute to the review and development of existing information
management systems.
Key Working Relationships
•
•
•
Required to maintain constructive relationships with a broad range of
stakeholders.
Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects,
services, and initiatives which may be highly complex, sensitive,
political, and contain contentious information with the aim of providing
information and analytical advice to the teams.
Communicate information, risks, issues and dependencies, including
briefings and reports to project teams, sponsors and a range of internal
and external staff.
This job description and person specification are an outline of the tasks, responsibility and outcomes required of the role. The jobholder will carry
out any other duties that may reasonably be required by their line manager.
The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an on-going basis in accordance with the changing needs of the Department
and the Organisation.
Organisational structure
Regional Programme Lead
(Midlands Region)
Senior Analytical Lead
Analytical Manager
Analyst
Analytical Manager
Analyst
Person specification
Criteria
Qualifications
Knowledge and
experience
Educated to Degree level in a relevant subject (such as Mathematics, Economics,
Statistics, Operational Research, or a related quantitative or analytical discipline)
or equivalent level of qualification or significant equivalent previous proven
experience in specialist area.
Further training or significant experience in project management, financial
management or supporting change management processes.
European Computer Driving Licence.
Essential
√
Desirable
√
Experience and understanding of evaluating and measuring the performance of
health services.
Evidence*
A/I/C
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
Experience in communications and stakeholder management.
√
A/I
Experience with relevant data sets and analysis software such as SQL, R, VBA,
Excel or similar
Knowledge of NHS commissioning data sets and data used for Population Health
management
Experience of applying analysis to improve policy design and implementation at
national and sub-national level
Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive
environment
Demonstrated experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging
environments
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
Experience of drafting briefing papers and correspondence at SMT level
Previous experience in similar role in public sector and or Healthcare
environment.
A good understanding of the health and social care environment and roles and
responsibilities within it.
Strong analytical skills, and the ability to apply analytical techniques to issues
faced by the health service
The ability to work with others and develop strong collaborative networks
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
The ability to make good decisions based on complex, ambiguous or partial
information
The ability plan and prioritise work effectively, switching resources between
priorities where necessary
Clear communicator with excellent writing, report writing and presentation skills;
capable of constructing and delivering clear ideas and concepts concisely and
accurately for diverse audiences.
Skills for communication on complex matters and difficult situations, requiring
persuasion and influence.
Skills for nurturing key relationships and maintaining networks.
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I/T
√
A/I/T
√
A/I
Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for
dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as
required
Experience of creating and giving presentations to a varied group of internal and
external stakeholders
Ability to analyse and interpret information, pre-empt and evaluate issues, and
recommend and appropriate course of action to address the issues.
Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to
make inferences and decision making
Ability to analyse and interpret information, pre-empt and evaluate issues, and
recommend and appropriate course of action to address the issues.
Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I/T
√
A/I
√
A/I/T
√
A/I
Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate.
√
A/I
√
A/I/T
√
A/I
Planning skills
Attention to detail combined with the ability to extract key messages from complex
analysis.
Independent thinker with demonstrated good judgement, problem-solving and
analytical skills
Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number
of courses of action.
Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures.
√
A/I
Management
skills
Ability to engender trust and confidence and demonstrate integrity in the provision
of advice and support.
√
A/I
Communication
skills
Analytical skills
√
A/I
Advanced keyboard skills.
√
A/I
Autonomy/
Freedom to Act
Ability to work without supervision. Able to work on own initiative, organising and
prioritising own and others workloads to changing and often tight deadlines.
√
A/I
Values and
behaviours
Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do.
√
A/I
Able to make a connection between their work and the benefit to patients and the
public.
Consistently thinks about how their work can help and support clinicians and
frontline staff deliver better outcomes for patients.
Values diversity and difference, operates with integrity and openness.
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
Works well with others, is positive and helpful, listens, involves, respects and
learns from the contribution of others.
Consistently looks to improve what they do, look for successful tried and tested
ways of working, and also seeks out innovation.
Actively develops themselves and supports others to do the same.
√
A/I
√
A/I
√
A/I
Understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working
relationships.
√
A/I
An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust.
Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
√
√
A/I
A/I
Commitment to continuing professional development
√
A/I
Physical skills
Equality,
diversity and
inclusion
Other
* Evidence will take place with reference to the following information:
Application form
A
Interview
I
Test or Assessment
T
Certificate
C