RECRUITMENT PACK

This document includes the following information:

Job Description
Person Specification
Additional information

Making an application:
Please complete the short on-line application form, which includes some standard questions,
and attach the following documents. (Shortlisting is undertaken by a panel after the closing date on
the basis of information provided.)
a. a covering letter - explaining why you are interested in this post, and giving examples to
demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job as outlined in the Person Specification.
b. a curriculum vitae - giving full details of your qualifications and experience to date.

Links to Guidance Notes and Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the Search Results
page. These pages will open in a new window.
We recommend that you take a copy of this recruitment pack to help with your preparation.

A commitment to sustaining an inclusive and diverse community is one of the Universitys Core Values
and we are keen to address any imbalances in our workforce.
We are proud to have been a Two Ticks employer since August 2008 and, as part of our commitment
to this scheme, we guarantee an interview to any candidate with a disability who meets the essential
criteria for the post. We also work in partnership with national disability organisation DisabledGo who
provide detailed online access guides to many of our campus buildings and facilities which you may
find useful.
If you are invited to attend an interview, you will receive an email with details of the arrangements. If
you have provided us with a mobile telephone contact number, you will also be notified via a text
message telling you to visit your email account for further information.
Please note: We are only accepting on-line applications for this post. However, if you have a
disability that makes it difficult for you to provide us with information in this way, please contact the
Resourcing Team (01206-874588/873521) for help.

Closing Date: 26 June 2015

Interviews are likely to be held on 10 July 2015
Produced by:
Resourcing Team
Human Resources
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1206 873521/874588
Email: resourcing@essex.ac.uk

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University of Essex
JOB DESCRIPTION Job ref (SS862)

Job Title and Grade:

Hours:

Senior Officer, Producer Relations and Research Data

Management, Grade 8
Full-time and fixed-term until 30 September 2017 in the
first instance. This post is fixed-term because there is
uncertainty about its continued funding in the
foreseeable future.
A notional minimum of 36 hours per week

Salary:

31,342 - 37,394 per annum

Department/Section:

UK Data Archive

Responsible to:

Associate Director Collections Development & Producer

Relations
Manager, Producer Relations and Research Data
Management.

Contract:

Reports on a day to day basis to:

Purpose of job:

To undertake a range of activities within the Collections

Development and Producer Relations team, in particular
to work proactively with researchers, ESRC grant
holders and Research Centres, and longitudinal cohort
studies to achieve good data management practices and
metadata standards, and to optimise the sharing and
archiving of data for research within the context of the
ESRC Research Data Policy.
The Post holder is responsible for scoping, assessment;
licencing and other acquisition (pre-ingest) activities
relating to research data for the UK Data Service. This
role requires liaison with data owners and data centres
and other brokers of data. The role holder will be called
upon to undertake risk and quality assessment of new
data sources, identify the potential for data linkage, and
to create new data products.

Duties of the post

1. Data management and sharing liaison: Work proactively with producers of research data to
develop and achieve good data management practices and to optimise and facilitate data sharing and
archiving. The post holder will be required to understand and have proficiency in handling, in-depth,
specific data sources and their research potential in order to assess the most suitable access
pathways.
2. Longitudinal data production liaison: Work proactively with UK longitudinal and cohort studies to
develop the UK Data Services data collection, including assessing the potential for data linkage.
3. Scoping data collections: Undertake liaison with new data producers and horizon scanning of the
broader data landscape to identify sources of research data and assess the potential for data linkage
through geographic and other kinds of identifiers for development as new data and information
products.
4. Data appraisal and review: Undertake appraisal and review of research data collections for privacy
assessment and disclosure risk, rights management, file formats and level of documentation before
publishing and provide detailed feedback to data producers and research investigators.
5. Protocol and guidelines development: Develop, enhance and implement data appraisal and
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review procedures and workflows, protocols and guidance for research data. Work closely with the
Data Curation and Access teams to implement a holistic workflow and integrated seamless user
experience for data access.
6. Survey metadata development and liaison: Be responsible for pre-ingest metadata standards for
the UK Data Service, for further development and embedding into the services workflows, as well as
metadata enhancement for the CLOSER portal of longitudinal metadata.
7. Research outputs linkages: Guide development of linkages between data collections, published
papers, journals and research management systems via the use of persistent identifiers.
8. External Training and Capacity Building: Contribute to upskilling external audiences in a range of
data management and data sharing techniques, data review procedures, including the development
and authoring of guidance, teaching materials and tools. Expectation to publish in journals, write blogs,
and contribute to teaching on local and external workshops and data management summers schools.
9. Internal Training and Capacity Building: Work closely with CDPR and Data Curation teams to
ensure capacity building and integration of new knowledge and activities into the team and into its
working policies and procedures. Training will be conducted via seminars: face-to-face and webinars.
10. Reporting and metrics: Contribute to the coordination and collation of figures and information for
quarterly, annual and ad hoc reports. Specifically, to monitor upload and usage of data collections in
the UK Data Services self-deposit system, ReShare, reporting and analyse metrics as part of the
Services impact assessment.
11. Security: Understand the security requirements for the management of personal data in the
context of the UK Data Archive and understand the importance of accurate record-keeping and
following University and UK Data Service security procedures.

As well as the main duties of the post, the post-holder will be expected to participate in various
activities appropriate to their seniority.
Any other duties required by the Director or his nominee.
These duties are a guide to the work that the post holder will initially be required to undertake. They
may be changed from time to time to meet changing circumstances and do not form part of the
contract of employment.
Terms of Appointment:
For a full description of the terms of appointment for this post please visit:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/hr/current-staff/terms.aspx#
Staff at the UK Data Archive will be required to comply with a confidentiality agreement as part of their
contract of employment.
June 2015

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University of Essex
PERSON SPECIFICATION
JOB TITLE: Senior Officer, Producer Relations and Research Data
Management

Qualifications/ Training
Undergraduate degree or equivalent (BA, BSc)

Postgraduate qualification (MA, MSc, PG diploma, PhD) in Social

Science or other relevant discipline
Quantitative research methods training

Experience/Knowledge
Experience of undertaking research and data analysis in the social
sciences
Knowledge and understanding of the social science data and
related landscape
Experience in delivering training / short courses
Up-to-date knowledge and appreciation of data privacy issues

POST REF: SS862

Essential
X
X

Desirable

Essential
X

Desirable

X
X
X

Knowledge of the wider metadata landscape

Understanding of resource discovery technologies

Skills/Abilities
Excellent written and oral communication skills

Essential
X

Self-starter, with the ability to generate and implement ideas

Proficiency in MS Office, especially Excel, Word, PowerPoint

Ability to communicate/present to a diverse set of audiences

Expertise in using social science statistical packages, e.g. SPSS,

STATA, R or MATLAB
Ability to work independently as well as part of a team

Other

An interest in issues surrounding the re-use of data for research

Can fulfil the staff vetting procedure for Government contracts (see
general information for more details)
Can meet the requirements of UK right to work legislation*.

Desirable

X
X

Essential
X

Desirable

X
X

* The University has a responsibility under the Asylum, Immigration and Nationality Act 2006 to ensure
that all employees are eligible to work in the UK. Prior to commencing employment, the successful
candidate will be asked to provide documentary evidence to this effect. Please note that the University
will not be able to issue a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship for this post.
June 2015

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Additional Information
UK Data Archive
At the UK Data Archive we acquire, curate and preserve the UK's largest collection of digital social
and economic data. We then make it available to researchers, teachers, think tanks, government
researchers and businesses around the world through the UK Data Service, the UKs flagship portal for
research resources. Since 2005 our Archive has been designated a Place of Deposit by The National
Archives.
We hold the only copy of many of the UK's large national surveys charting social research back
decades. With more than 6,000 datasets relating to society, both historical and contemporary, we are
a vital resource for social scientists.
Based at one of the UKs premier social science institutions, the University of Essex, we provide
round-the-clock, global access to the Archives research datasets through our web-based catalogue,
search-and-browse and visualisation applications, and currently serve more than 25,000 registered
users in academia, government, business and the voluntary sectors.
We host key national and international survey data collections, and provide access to disclosive and
more sensitive data through our secure data services.
We receive most of the UKs major national survey series, such as the British Crime Survey, Labour
Force Survey and British Household Panel Survey, and also hold opinion poll data from market
research organisations.
Our organisation and activities are largely funded by the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC), the JISC and the University of Essex. We are proud to be actively engaged in research and
development, and throughout our 40+ year history, we have remained at the cutting edge to become
an international leader in curating and sharing data. We regularly win grants from other funders which
enable us to continue these forward-looking activities. As a result, our Archive is well placed to take
advantage of opportunities created by rapid technological change.
This excellence has been rewarded with a recent major funding award to establish and coordinate the
Administrative Data Service, part of the UK governments Big Data Network.
To learn more about the UK Data Archive and UK Data Service, please visit:

http://www.data-archive.ac.uk
http://ukdataservice.ac.uk

You can also follow us on Twitter:

@UKDataArchive
@UKDataService

General information
Informal enquiries about the post and the work involved are encouraged. Please contact Veerle van
den Eynden, Producer Relations and Research Data Manager (veerlel@essex.ac.uk). However, all

applications must be made online.

Staff Vetting Procedures for Government Contracts:
The University of Essex has Government contracts, some of which require it to access Government
systems, information or data. We have a duty to protect these assets and this obligation extends to
our employees.

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Due to the nature of the work in the UK Data Archive applicants who are offered employment will be
subject to a vetting procedure before the appointment is confirmed to enable the University to verify
the following for the successful candidate:

Identity
Employment history (for a minimum of the past 3 years)
Nationality and immigration status
Criminal Record (unspent convictions only)

Criminal Record Disclosure Checks:

We encourage all applicants to provide details of warnings, reprimands, cautions or criminal offences
at an early stage in the application process. This includes telling us if you are on Probation; under a
suspended prison sentence; released from prison on parole; or still under a conditional discharge.
Should you wish to declare such information, please email the Recruitment Team in confidence,
(recruit@essex.ac.uk) attaching brief details, or alternatively post details to the Recruitment Manager,
Human Resources, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ. This information is
seen only by those directly involved in the recruitment process.
Should you be appointed to this post you will be asked to complete a Criminal Record Declaration
Form and make an application for a basic disclosure from Disclosure Scotland. More information
about Disclosure Scotland can be at http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/ .
Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us this will depend on the
nature of the position and the circumstances and background to your offence. A copy of the University
of Essex policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders is available on the University website:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/personnel/Pol&Proc/Rec&sel/disclosure.html

Specify hours of work if part-time

Benefits
Our staff and students are members of the University for life. We believe a person's potential is not
simply defined by grades or backgrounds, but by a willingness to question, to collaborate and to push
at the edges of knowledge and their own potential.
As an employer we offer a range of benefits and a commitment to career development and equal
opportunities in an environment that both reflects and creates a rich interaction of people, disciplines
and ideas.

Pension scheme
Generous holiday entitlement
Competitive salaries
Training and development Family Friendly policies
Childcare facilities/vouchers
Relocation package for qualifying staff
Interest free season ticket loan
Range of optional salary exchange tax benefits (pension, childcare and bicycle schemes)

No smoking policy
The University has a no smoking policy

June 2015

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