Head of Statistics Briefing

This recruitment exercise is to appoint a Principal Statistician (Grade 7) to lead the Statistics Briefing Branch. The post provides statistical guidance and support across DBT, working closely with Ministers, press office, and parliamentary teams to ensure best practice in the external use of statistics. The post leads on statistics briefing for UK trade and investment statistics for Ministers and senior officials. The role involves an element of job sharing with the Head of Statistics Production Branch. The two branches form the Official Statistics and Briefing team. This role and the Head of Statistics Production Branch jointly lead the Official Statistics and Briefing team and provide support and cover for each other. The team sits within the Statistics and Data Division (SDD). As a job share, the role requires strong collaboration with the statistics publication team. You will have line management and development of a team of one Assistant Statistician, one Higher Statistical Officer and one Data Analytics Apprentice. As the Head of the Briefing Branch, you will be responsible for:

• Leading on UK trade and investment statistics briefings for Ministers and senior officials in DBT. Includes briefing on key trade and investment statistics published by the ONS and HMRC, such as the ONS UK trade, foreign direct investment involving UK companies, and HMRC regional trade statistics.
• Lead on producing 'Statistics Forward Look', providing dates and details for all upcoming Official Statistics publications relevant to DBT policy areas.
• Joint lead on the statistics mailbox, as the main point of contact in DBT for internal and external statistical enquiries. Coordinating complex enquiries across multiple teams in a fast-paced environment, providing quality assurance and clearance of statistics for external use, and tailored to meet user needs.
• Joint lead on producing statistics guidance, working closely with the DBT Chief Statistician and Statistics Head of Profession. Ensure that statistics used externally are of high quality and follow the Government Statistical Service Statistics Code of Practice, and DBT's 'Single Version of the Truth'.
• Provide statistical expertise in outputs needed for press, media, and comms teams, as well as social media and speech writers.
• Work with the parliamentary team to ensure correct use of business and trade statistics in Parliament. This includes statistics for Oral and Written PQs, updates to Number 10 and DBT briefing packs, Business and Trade Select Committee sessions, and Ministerial correspondence.
• Providing timely and accurate statistics to Ministers and Private Offices for Ministerial visits, events, speeches etc.
• Provide cover/support for the Head of Statistics Production Branch when needed, i.e., stand in and help with the Official Statistic production when the Principal Statistician is unavailable.
  
  Disability Confident
About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .