Business Survey Quality Officer

Location The locations for this role are Newport and Titchfield. This role is aligned to ONS hybrid working principles, which are based on attending the office with purpose. The postholder will be expected to contribute to the organisation’s overall 40% office attendance, in line with business and role requirements.​ Successful applicants will spend the first 6 weeks with a comprehensive induction and training period and there may be a requirement to be on site at your designated office location for this initial period. Please refer to attachments for further terms and flexibilities. Job summary The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration. Every day, decisions are made that affect people, communities and businesses across the UK. Those decisions rely on statistics: numbers that help us understand what is happening across society and the economy, from employment rates and average weekly earnings to the prices you pay for your weekly food shop. Whether you hear them discussed on the radio, see them reported in the news, or read about them online, you probably encounter ONS statistics almost every day. What you might not realise is that real people are behind every one of those numbers and you could be one of them. We’re looking for people who want to make a difference to join the teams working behind the scenes to produce our statistics. You do not need to be an economist, or statistician. We are looking for people who are curious by nature, can solve problems, think on their feet, and make evidence-based decisions. You should be curious about how things work, comfortable working with numbers, and happy speaking to people working in a wide range of businesses: from national supermarket chains to a small local coffee shop, and everything in between. Training, practice, and support will help you build your knowledge and confidence. Due to the nature of the role, you will be required to provide service cover on a rota basis until 5pm. This opportunity is offered on a full time or part-time basis with a minimum of 30 hours per week. The advertised salary is FTE and will be pro-rated for part-time colleagues. Job details As a Business Survey Quality Officer, you will understand the story behind the data that businesses submit to ONS. You will work with businesses and business owners across the UK, investigate unusual or incomplete information and help make sure the data used to produce official statistics are accurate, complete, and reliable. Official Statistics help government, businesses and the public understand what is happening across the UK economy. They inform important discussions and decisions about subjects including employment, earnings, trade, manufacturing, retail sales, financial services, and prices of items we all buy. This job is all about quality data. Your role will combine three connected parts of survey management: following up missing information or responses from businesses investigating missing, unusual, or unexpected figures supplied by businesses to understand the story behind the numbers. correcting information where necessary, or recording why unexpected changes are legitimate You will communicate with businesses by telephone, email and written correspondence. These conversations are not simply about making contact. You will ask questions, understand the respondent’s point of view, and gather the information needed to improve data quality. You will use guidance, evidence, and judgement to decide what action is needed. You may need to piece together information from different sources or time periods, balance several priorities and keep going when the first answer does not fully explain what has happened. You will usually build expertise in a particular survey area. Depending on where you are placed, your work could relate to the labour market, financial services, trade, manufacturing and production, retail sales or prices. As your knowledge grows, you will better understand the businesses that respond to your survey, what your survey measures and how your work contributes to the wider picture of the UK economy. This is an entry-level role with structured training and support. You do not need previous experience in official statistics, economics, or survey data collection. Our training and New Entrant Support Teams (NEST) will help you learn the foundations of the role. Colleagues and line managers will help you develop survey knowledge through training, coaching, feedback, and day-to-day support, before settling you into your new team. Due to the nature of the role, you will be required to provide service cover on