Online Safety Analyst (Research & Intelligence)

Job Description:

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Thursday 13 February and therefore we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on Wednesday 12 February.

About the Team

Ofcom’s mission is to make communications work for everyone. Under the 2023 Online Safety Act, we took on duties as the UK’s online safety regulator. We also regulate broadband and mobile services, postal services, TV and radio, and the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.

The Research and Intelligence (R&I) team is responsible for providing a deep understanding of market developments and the outcomes for consumers and citizens in the markets we regulate. We collect the evidence base that underpins Ofcom's decisions and informs Ofcom’s policy work. The team includes market researchers, industry analysts and data specialists. R&I has been growing as we build the evidence base for the upcoming Online Safety regime, and we are investing in variety of data sources and combining methodological approaches to build an effective picture of online harms and online safety.

Our culture is clear - we live by Ofcom’s values: Empowerment, Excellence, Collaboration, Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture at Ofcom and in the R&I team.

Purpose of the Role

We are seeking an Associate in our Research and Intelligence team to help support our programme of work to understand the online platforms that Ofcom regulates. The role will be crucial in allowing relevant Ofcom teams – particularly the teams responsible for supervising regulated platforms – to get access to high quality data and analysis for decision-making.

The successful candidate will mix strong project management and organisation skills with an understanding of how to use and communicate evidence/data in decision-making. Knowledge of relevant online sectors and curiosity and enthusiasm for data analysis and strategic thinking will be important for success in this role.

The role will involve engagement with partners and stakeholders across the online services industry, third-party data providers and experts. The postholder will also work very closely with Ofcom teams working on online safety including policy colleagues, lawyers, technologists, and economists.

The job is full-time and based at either Ofcom’s Manchester, London or Edinburgh office (the successful applicant’s choice). We recognise that not everyone has the same needs and we strive to offer flexible working arrangements to help manage work and personal commitments. We have family-friendly policies that actively seek to support our colleagues and enable our teams to work in the most effective way.

As the online safety regime is focused on assessing services’ systems and processes, rather than adjudicating on individual pieces of content, we do not anticipate that colleagues working in this role will be routinely exposed to harmful or distressing online content. At the same time, due to the nature of the harms covered by the online safety regime, some exposure to distressing content or themes may be unavoidable from time to time. We will offer support to colleagues to manage any such exposure, but candidates should be aware of this aspect of the role.

Your key responsibilities

• Conduct project management tasks, including ensuring the timely delivery of work, organizing meetings with stakeholders and supporting governance processes at Ofcom. Contribute to the analysis of data about online platforms and the associated visualization and communication of insights from this data.
• Engage with project teams across Ofcom to effectively communicate the findings from research to relevant colleagues, particularly those colleagues who manage relationships with regulated platforms.
• Draft reports for internal use and external publication.

Required skills, knowledge, and experience

• Generating insights: Use evidence-driven methods to gather insights, and make well-founded decisions based on thorough analysis.
• Use tools such as Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint to manage, analyse, and present data/insights.
• Executing plans: Organise tasks and set clear goals, managing resources wisely, while keeping an eye on progress.
• Embracing change: Remain flexible in the face of change, anticipating and adjusting to shifts.
• Articulating ideas: Express ideas, thoughts, and information in a clear and concise manner, ensuring messages are understood by everyone.
• Forming relationships: Build and nurture positive relationships with people inside and outside the organisation.
• Exhibit and develop deep understanding of the online platform sector (e.g. social media, search engines, video-sharing platforms) and/or the Online Safety Act.

Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience

• Experience of data analytics and visualisation tools, such as SPSS, Python, R, Power BI, Azure Databricks
• Experience of using APIs or web scraping to create or query online datasets

Ofcom has a clear mission: to make communications work for everyone. To be able to deliver on this, we want our organisation to reflect the diversity of background, experience, upbringing and thought that exists across the UK. We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

Where positions are listed as full-time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares, and other flexible working options. From day one, we champion flexible work arrangements to accommodate individual needs.

We also warmly welcome applicants who are returning to the workforce after a break – for whatever reason. If you have taken time away and are ready to rejoin, we look forward to reviewing your application.

Our recruitment processes prioritise accessibility and inclusivity. If you need information in an alternative format or have specific preferences, please contact our recruitment team at resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or call 0330 912 1378.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer interviews to disabled applicants who meet essential criteria for advertised roles. Learn more about this scheme here. https://careers.ofcom.org.uk/careers/how-we-hire/