UCAS is at the heart of connecting people to higher education.

UCAS is the world’s leading shared admissions service for higher education. We provide application services for UK universities and colleges as well as delivering a wide range of research, consultancy and advisory services to schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and employers.

We’re a successful and fast-growing organisation, which helps hundreds of thousands of people every year. We're committed to delivering a first-class service to all of our customers — they're at the heart of everything we do.

The Digital Services business unit is at the heart of UCAS’ technical innovation, data and infrastructure. It focuses on leveraging data science, technology, and enterprise architecture to enhance UCAS' digital products and services.

The unit is dedicated to developing and improving customer-centric digital solutions, ensuring seamless and secure online experiences for all users. By providing insightful data and analysis, often made available to anyone with free-to-use intuitive dashboard, Digital Services empowers the Higher Education sector and those interested in the sector with valuable information to make informed decisions. By working in collaborative, expert led, multi-disciplinary teams, Digital Services drives UCAS’ mission to connect students with their next opportunities through advanced technological solutions.

As part of the UCAS Business Intelligence and Reporting team, you’ll lead on shaping UCAS data into useable self-serve outputs for both technical and non-technical audiences, through development of reporting pipelines and reports. You will build reports, often in PowerBI, to deliver UCAS data to key stakeholders, both internally and externally.

You’ll have excellent numerate, analytical, and logical thinking skills, and a drive to find out things that really matter from data.

Key accountabilities:

• Support maintenance and development of UCAS’ Business Intelligence platform, including dashboard development, establishing flows of data from the Data Platform to dashboards, and governance of the BI estate.

• Foster strong relationships with colleagues around the business, enabling you to collaborate, define and refine PowerBI reporting requirements.

• Collaborate with the Data Platform team to establish reporting requirements as new data sources are integrated intonthe Data Platform.

• Transform data models in the Data Warehouse into schemas suitable for use in PowerBI reporting.

• Utilise PowerBI to build automated, interactive dashboards and reports, establishing high-quality self-serve BI across the business, and high-quality reporting externally.

• Coach peers and Junior BI developers/Data Scientists, sharing knowledge and best practice.

You can find the full job description in the attached role profile below.

• Qualified to a high level in a numerate discipline, such as mathematics, statistics, computer science, operational research, data science, or a related field – evidenced through a Bachelor’s degree (or higher) or demonstrable experience.

• Good working knowledge of programming in Python, R, SAS or C# (or equivalents) and the ability to write readable, efficient code.

• Good working knowledge of PowerBI and Data Analysis Expressions (DAX).

• Good working knowledge of data model design principles.

• Good working knowledge of ETL processes in the PowerBI service, and the PowerBI service more broadly.

• Good working knowledge of SQL.

• Good working knowledge of dashboard UI/UX best practices.

• Good working knowledge of AWS components, including S3 buckets.

• Good working knowledge of manipulating datasets programmatically, for example through python, R, SAS or C#.

• A collaborative nature and the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.

• A natural curiosity and drive to find things out that really matter from data.

• A high level of numerate, analytical and logical thinking.

• Pick up new areas of work quickly, are unphased by challenges, and work at pace as a self-starter.

• Proven experience in efficiently transforming data to be used for different purposes.

• Experience of coaching peers or junior members of staff.

Salary – up to £40,000

• Purpose-driven work in a charity-led organisation connecting people to education and opportunity

• Internal training, mentoring, and access to industry-recognised certifications through our development academies

• Hybrid working model built on trust and flexibility, with a 35-hour week and flexible contracts

• 30 days annual leave, 3 concessionary days over Christmas, bank holidays, and the option to purchase additional leave

• Everyday wellbeing support through Perkbox, offering discounts and wellness tools

• Onsite facilities including a free gym, subsidised café, and free parking at our Cheltenham office

• Inclusive culture supported by employee networks, wellbeing champions, and Mental Health First Aiders

• Recognition and reward through our quarterly employee scheme and an ex-gratia bonus for going above and beyond

Studies have shown that some groups of people are less likely to apply to a role unless they tick every box. At UCAS, we recognise that talent comes in various forms and we are committed to delivering a fair and equitable recruitment process where applicants have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills. So, if you are interested in this vacancy, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still apply.

If you have any questions and would like to find out more about the role before applying please email the Talent Acquisition team via careers@ucas.ac.uk and one of us will be in touch.