ID 1873 - School Information Design Manager

As a vital member of our team, you’ll be at the forefront of shaping the educational landscape in Wales. In this role, you’ll drive initiatives that enhance the quality of information about our school system, ensuring transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. Your work will directly impact policy decisions and contribute to the success of the new Curriculum for Wales and to improving education standards.
Your branch oversees policy development related to the use of school system information. You’ll support activities supporting better outcomes for Welsh learners. As the system evolves, your focus will shift to maintaining the our reformed information ecosystem, ensuring it benefits all stakeholders.
Aspects of this work are high-profile and may involve Ministerial engagement., What the organisation will expect
+ Ability to manage own and others work and prioritise to ensure that objectives are met to time and to standard, using own initiative and decision making, managing risks as appropriate.
+ The ability to solve problems and make operational/policy decisions and/or recommendations by choosing between a number of options which may involve researching, organising and analysing facts and data
+ You will be adaptable, flexible, open to, and accepting of change affecting you and your area of work and deal with that change efficiently and professionally.
What your team will expect
+ Work independently on day-to-day issues which may include providing advice to more senior grades and supporting policy, digital, legislation or operational development work; whilst being the lead official to engage with a wide-range of stakeholders both internally and externally.
+ Line management of individuals or a team. Management responsibilities may include supporting team members on more difficult cases, managing work allocation and prioritisation. Responsibility for performance management, coaching, mentoring and development of staff from all backgrounds to ensure they are able reach their full potential, helping to create a culture of inclusion; making sure that any development opportunities are accessible and inclusive for all. You are proactive in exploring your own developmental needs and take action when required.
What key stakeholders will expect
+ Provide sound judgement with the ability to interpret information where issues are complex or conflicting with the ability to weigh up a number of factors to produce constructive ideas and solutions.
+ Required to communicate information, to provide advice to senior colleagues on the effects of policy or operational changes and influence outcomes.
+ Ability to grow strong professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders, effectively collaborating to share information, resources and support., + Support the development of a reformed suite of information integral to school improvement arrangements: design a programme of work to review, revise and supplement a balanced suite of information requirements, comprising a range of data sources for different uses. This involves promoting consistency in approach, minimising the burden on schools, and ensuring coherent information sharing across organisations that support schools.
+ As part of ongoing information ecosystem development, this role will support the design and refinement of a revised set of qualifications-based learning indicators that are reflective of individual learning journeys, alongside a wider set of 14-16 learning data requirements that considers learners’ wider skills, experiences and destinations - all while considering the diverse needs of stakeholders and different purposes for using the data.
+ This role will support other areas of key focus including:
1. the development of learner and workforce wellbeing information requirements and tools to facilitate stakeholders in the collation of related data
2. the research on deprivation data, collaborating with KAS Research leads, Equity leads, and School Business Planning and Governance leads (the eFSM and Beyond study is evaluating whether free school meals eligibility (eFSM) data remains a suitable proxy for socio-economic disadvantage for use in calculating funding and assess the impact of poverty on learner outcomes. It is also exploring other options that might supplement or replace the identifier in future).
+ This role will help to develop and manage our gatekeeping processes crucial to ensuring a maintained focus and balance in the information ecosystem, acting as business analyst to consider suitability and assess impact of policy and corporate data needs, working closely with the data collections team and Schol Statistics team on the development of routine and ad hoc data reporting requests.
+ This role will also work closely with the School Information Reporting Manager on the development of reporting systems for a range of stakeholder, to facilitate data use.
+ As an integral part of the overarching school improvement policy, this role will work closely in all aspects of ensuring the information ecosystem aligns with policy aspirations and related programmes of work, including Self-evaluation Wales and the schools system National Resources for Evaluation and Improvement (NR:EI).
+ Help maintain relationships with key stakeholders including managing regular catch-ups with schools' data and information leads in Estyn and leading in discussions with Qualifications Wales.

Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Leadership
+ Changing and Improving
+ Working Together
+ Seeing the Big Picture, Welsh Government, like all other Government Departments use Success Profiles when we recruit. For each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. It raises performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
The selection process and stages are:

Number of Stages: 2 stage process
Stage 1 Application Form
Stage 2 Interview
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).

All Welsh Government staff are members of the Civil Service, and as a result are eligible for:
+ Civil Service Pension Scheme
+ 31 days annual leave (pro-rated for part time)
+ training and development opportunities
+ Cycle2Work Scheme
+ Smart Working flexible working arrangement
+ Green Car Scheme (subject to availability)
If you are an active Civil Service Pension member you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us.