Role Title Head of Data Quality
Job family group Strategy, Analysis and Planning
Job family/ies Data Analysis and Insight Team
Grade 6
Status For internal use
Role Purpose The Head of Data Quality is a key senior management role reporting to the Deputy Director of Data Analysis and Insight (DAI), that will lead the development of
(250 words max) the strategy and the work programme for the HMCTS Data Quality Programme. The Data Quality Programme is being established to significantly improve
HMCTS’s data quality. HMCTS depends on having good quality data to make important operational decisions and improve understanding of HMCTS’s activities.
However, we know we have data quality issues which need addressing. The Data Quality Programme will identify data quality issues in HMCTS data and correct
significant issues. The Programme will require strong leadership to achieve these goals and significantly improve HMCTS’s data quality. The role holder will
provide this strong leadership and will be accountable for improving the accuracy and reliability of HMCTS data across critical data metrics in all Jurisdictions.
They will be responsible for developing the Data Quality Programme’s strategy and work programme and will manage the Data Quality team to successfully
deliver this high-profile programme across all jurisdictions to a challenging timetable given the urgency of this work. They will provide clear leadership, direction
and focus to enable HMCTS to hold improved data that is more accurate and reliable for the full range of known purposes. This aligns with HMCTS’s increasing
organisational reliance on digital platforms and data. The post-holder will also be an active contributor to the HMCTS leadership, including through the Data,
Analysis and Insight senior leadership team and extended Strategy, Analysis and Planning leadership team, identifying and taking forward opportunities to
improve culture, ways of working, cross-cutting efficiency etc.
Key Accountabilities (600 words max)
Accountable to the Deputy Director of Data, Analysis and Insight for:
Providing strategic direction and Leadership
• Developing the strategy for the HMCTS Data Quality Programme presenting the strategic vision for the Programme, defining the Programme deliverables and the high-level
principles structuring how these will be achieved.
• Building relationships with senior leaders across HMCTS, MoJ, the Judiciary and external partners to win their support for the HMCTS Data Quality Programme and to ensure
data quality issues are understood and recognised as important at senior levels. This will involve influencing how senior leaders think about data quality and their approaches
to addressing these issues.
• Developing a Data Quality Work Programme. This will be consistent with this strategy. It will enable the Data Quality Programme to identify data quality issues and improve
data quality in each jurisdiction in ways that are efficient, transparent and mindful of resources. It will also be in line with the wider departmental strategy.
• Providing leadership, guidance and support to manage the Data Quality Team, and enable colleagues from wider HMCTS (e.g. Services and Operations), to successfully
implement the strategy and work programme across the different Jurisdictions and achieve the strategic vision in the strategy.
• Regularly review the strategy and work programme and adapt the strategy and work programme when required to take account of changing circumstances and contexts.
• Develop and lead the implementation of high-quality and efficient processes to capture the improvements delivered by the Data Quality Programme and make these visible to
senior leaders to ensure these achievements are recognised and valued.
• Lead work to develop high-quality and efficient processes to maintain data quality across jurisdictions so that investigating and correcting data quality becomes part of
HMCTS’s business as usual. This will involve leading work in collaboration with Learning and Development to develop training to empower others to consider data quality and
promote the importance of Data Quality across the organisation. This will help to drive a cultural change towards valuing the importance of data quality across the organisation
and ensure ongoing data quality improvements after the life course of the Programme.
• Leading a programme of partnerships with external contractors. Commissioning relevant pieces of work from appropriate external contractors which add significant value and
managing the relationship with the contractors to ensure these projects are successfully delivered to specification and on time and to budget.
Leading Stakeholder Engagement
• Designing a communications and engagement strategy for the Data Quality Programme to ensure the Programme engages with stakeholders at all levels across HMCTS, MoJ
and the Judiciary.
• Delivering this engagement strategy in innovative and engaging ways to ensure the Programme is widely visible and understood across HMCTS, MoJ, the Judiciary, wider
government and external stakeholders. This will involve championing best practice approaches to data quality to these audiences. It will also involve investing time in
communicating and engaging with senior leaders across government to ensure the HMCTS’s Data Quality Programme is visible, valued and benefits from the experiences of
others.
• Reporting the Data Quality Programme’s progress at senior level HMCTS governance groups, such as ExT, the Data Governance Committee and ARAC, to ensure senior leaders
are sighted on progress and can provide feedback.
• Ensuring any feedback from senior leaders is incorporated into the future work programme and provide constructive challenge to senior leaders where any feedback is not
appropriate or achievable given the aims of the Programme.
• Communicating HMCTS’s data quality work across Government and to external partners to ensure HMCTS is seen as an example of good practice when it comes to data quality.
Other
• Developing an effective and proportionate Programme governance structure and leading on engagement to ensure appropriate Programme governance in a way that adds
significant value to the Programme. Represent the Data Quality Team as an active member of the Data Quality Steering Group.
• Leading the development of spending bids to ensure the Data Quality Programme has sufficient resources available to progress the Programme’s work, develop annual
business plans for the Data Quality Team and contribute to the drafting of the Data Analysis and Insight business plan.
• Managing staff in line with HMCTS management policies and leading the wider Data Quality Team to ensure the team is a high-performing team. This will involve being
responsible for ensuring training needs are identified, team members are supported to manage their wellbeing and the team’s systems and processes are continuously
improved to ensure the team is delivering an efficient and effective Programme.
• Leading by example and ensuring compliance with HMCTS values, policies and procedures.
• Performing any other duties to support business needs in line with the grade.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience (500 words max)
• Extensive breadth and depth of specialist knowledge on understanding of best practice in assessing data quality and addressing data quality issues.
• Expert in-depth knowledge and understanding of the nature of a wide range of justice data.
• Significant previous experience of successfully leading an expert team, including building capability and leading continuous improvement in ways of working to deliver
outputs that added significant contributions to complex organisations.
• A wealth of experience of successfully leading big data programmes and strategies in complex organisations which involved significant collaboration with senior
colleagues across multiple boundaries and functions, to efficiently secure support and commitments to action from senior colleagues outside formal management
hierarchy.
• Considerable experience of providing high-quality advice on data related issues to senior stakeholders from within your organisation and beyond - in particular drafting
and clearing written products that are accurate, brief and clear; presenting orally with credibility and impact.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with senior level partners and stakeholders, including the ability to work across
boundaries to influence and gain confidence of senior leaders and sponsors.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills are essential with the ability to adapt style and tone for different audiences. The role holder will need to engage
confidently and effectively with senior officials both internally and externally across government to explain complex issues in readily understandable way.
• Planning and management skills to develop complex work programmes and manage resources to ensure delivery to time/quality and within resource available. An ability
manage their team so their team delivers and supports multiple projects and programmes at different lifecycle stages.
• Experience of building and establishing a new data related team in a complex organisation.
• Experience of building capability in data functions across a complex organisation.
• Experience in leading multidisciplinary teams in a matrix environment.
Problem Solving and Decision Making (300 words max)
The role holder will:
• Set the vision and priorities for the Data Quality Programme - including ensuring strategic alignment with the Directorate and HMCTS priorities, as well as ensuring the
programme is deliverable within time and resources available. This will require strategic decision-making, and in-year problem-solving to manage the demands on
themselves and their team members, making decisions on what to prioritise (and de-prioritise) while delivering a high-quality outputs across different activities. They will
need to build flexibility and resilience into their team and be prepared to flex resources and expertise to meet shared objectives, and support development.
• Contribute their expertise to ensure the continuous improvement of Data Quality frameworks, policies, and guidance and to challenge their interpretation by others
where appropriate - especially where it is creating additional data quality risks for the organisation.
• Support problem-solving to respond to emergent strategic level risks and issues, ensuring an appropriate and proportionate response and action plan is in place - this is
likely to require expertise, judgement and influencing and managing across organisational boundaries and upwards in hierarchies.
• Actively contribute to HMCTS leadership, including through the Data, Analysis and Insight senior leadership team and extended Strategy, Analysis and Planning leadership
team, identifying and taking forward opportunities to improve culture, ways of working, cross-cutting efficiency etc.
• Resolve complex problems escalated to them by Data Quality Leads and develop innovative approaches to solving these problems in efficient ways.
• Lead senior level stakeholders from across HMCTS to work collaboratively to improve Data Quality
• Horizon scan to seek out opportunities to drive continuous Data Quality improvement across HMCTS.
• Develop solutions to address any resourcing issues in order to maximise the performance of the Data Quality Team and the wider Data Quality Programme.
Management of Resources (250 words max)
The post-holder will be responsible for managing the Data Quality Team. Management is expected to be on a hybrid basis in line with team member base
locations and flexible working arrangements. As the Data Quality Programme involves collaboration across services, operations, Digital & Technology
Services (DTS) and DAI the postholders will provide guidance and support to senior level colleagues from across these areas to achieve shared objectives.
The role holder will be responsible for:
• ensuring that the team’s work programme directly aligns with and contributes to HMCTS strategy and priorities, and equipping team members with
clear understanding of the ‘big picture’ to enable them to see how their work fits in and to make sensible decisions about prioritisation, approach
and/or scope to innovate to increase impact, effectiveness, or efficiency.
• collaborating on, influencing, or commissioning activity by other teams in HMCTS, wider MoJ and external contractors in relation to their subject
areas, always to maximise alignment with coherent strategic priorities.
• building capability within their team and more widely across the organisations, and exchange learning with colleagues and counterparts in MoJ and
wider government to increase impact and effectiveness.
• maintaining an awareness of forecast and actual spend against the team’s cost code and ensure that the Deputy Director of DAI (the budget holder)
and Finance Business Partner are updated in any likely increases or decreases in forecast e.g. due to carrying a vacancy, recruitment resulting in a
different salary level, substantial increase or decrease in Travel & Subsistence compared to usual levels, significant bonus awards etc.
Autonomy (250 words max)
The role holder will:
• Have autonomy to establish the strategy, work programme and support priorities in partnership with Senior Operational and Service leaders and the HMCTS Senior
Leadership Team.
• Escalate work with significant risk or exposure for review or sign off at SCS level. Examples of such work will be varied depending on the situation. The role holders are
expected to appraise situations, including ones with no precedents and decide on balance where things need to be escalated.
• Describe the “art of the possible" to senior leaders when it comes to designing and agreeing strategic data quality priorities, as required. They will be an expert in their
field.
• Provide independent analysis and advice across HMCTS (including to senior management within HMCTS/MOJ) on the current position, impact analysis on future
performance providing cohesive and relevant information on the risks of deliverables and providing suggestions through research and evidence-based analysis for
improvements.
Key Relationships and Contacts (300 words max)
The role holder will be a visible senior leader of the Data Quality Team and Data Quality Programme and will build relationships with a network of senior level partners and
colleagues across HMCTS.
The role holder will be expected to guide and significantly influence strategic thinking on Data Quality through regularly engaging and managing. relationships with senior leaders
in HMCTS including:
• HMCTS Senior Leadership Team
• HMCTS Director of Strategy, Analysis and Planning
• HMCTS senior level Service Owners
• Senior data leaders in the Judicial Office.
• Senior data leaders in MoJ
To lead the development and implementation of the data quality strategy and work programme and make sure this is coordinated with other data and organisational initiatives
the role holder will also need to significantly influence, mediate and manage relationships with:
• Senior leaders in MOJ Data and Analysis
• Senior leaders in HMCTS DAI Data Engineers
• Senior leaders in Digital & Technology Services
• Senior leaders in HMCTS Operations HQ
• Service Owners
The postholder will regularly engage with senior level governance committees, such as the HMCTS Data Governance Committee which governs the data related activities in
HMCTS, HMCTS ExT and the Risk and Assurance Committee, to report progress and influence strategic thinking and decisions.
The role holder will represent the HMCTS and speak with authority about the Data Quality Programme to senior data professionals from across Government to influence wider
best practice in Data Quality and understand the cross over and opportunities for collaboration.