Specialist Water Data Quality Analyst

Team / Directorate: Integrated Water Planning / Evidence, Policy and Permitting

Starting salary:  £41,132 rising to £44,988 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment until 31/03/2027

Work pattern:  Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview Date: Week commencing 15 September 2025

Post number: 204002 (For office use only: GGL, ENV, GRJ)

The role

Join Natural Resources Wales at the forefront of water planning. As part of our Sustainable Water and Nature team, you’ll lead the development of a powerful new tool that brings together data from water bodies and protected areas like Bathing Waters—turning complex information into clear insights that drive real environmental outcomes.

You'll design and deliver an integrated reporting, analysis, and mapping system that works across NRW’s ICT platforms, enabling fast, evidence-based assessments. Working closely with internal teams and external partners, you'll help build trust in our data, improve transparency, and spark meaningful collaboration.

This is an exciting time in this work area with focus on continued delivery of major projects including cycle 4 RBMPs and PR29, plus understanding and implementing the changes required by new Policy and legislation. 

If you're ready to shape how Wales understands and manages its water environment—this is your opportunity.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

There may be the potential for this appointment to be extended or become a permanent position at a later date, however this cannot be guaranteed.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Ruth Johnston ruth.johnston@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams  

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

This role sits in the Integrated Water Planning Team which plays a vital role in coordinating water policy and action across Wales. This team covers key areas including River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), the Water Framework Directive, the National Environment Programme, chemicals, hydromorphology, and programme delivery of the water quality and fisheries Nature and Climate Emergency Fund.

This role is essential in aligning national water planning with on-the-ground action to tackle environmental impacts. Based within Environment, Policy and Permitting, you'll report to the Integrated Water Planning Team Leader as part of the Sustainable Water and Nature Group. Your role will involve liaising with operational and technical staff, plus engaging directly with stakeholders to ensure water planning is evidence-based, forward-looking, and effectively delivered.

What you will do

• Maintain tools and applications that manage the flow, integrity and integration of NRW data assets as data moves between applications and new applications are developed. 
• Lead on the development of operational reporting for water and protected areas to build dashboards, reports and operational views of our data so that it supports SMNR and informs operational decisions and policy development.
• Audit all current data quality processes across within water and protected areas and identify gaps and opportunities to develop best practice for data quality techniques.
• Carry out complex data analysis, evidence synthesis, and interpretation to inform and influence NRW’s strategic direction for water and protected area monitoring, implementation of actions, and to provide quality-assured outputs for inclusion in national environmental reports and indicators including SoNaRR, WFD and Habitats Directive Article 17.
• Import, export, transform, validate and quality assure NRW data following NRW/industry standards. This will be across a variety of data themes, data formats and from a range of IT applications. 
• Work with NRW data custodians and specialists in the master data team to help define, manage, check and audit NRW's corporate data standards. This includes the writing of scripts to help with quality checking. 
• Interact with a range of government, agency and partner bodies working on analytical projects relating to monitoring and environmental reporting at Wales and UK levels.
• Create operational reports, dashboards and business views of our data to meet operational needs. 
• Lead on the delivery of improvement projects and solutions by contributing to the specification, testing and service introduction of new solutions for water and protected areas. 
• Represent Integrated Water Planning in relevant task and finish groups, networks and governance groups. 
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Relevant degree or equivalent experience. Membership of a relevant professional body is desirable.
2. Significant experience of data management, specifically related to environmental data, and a broad range of skills related to data discovery, data presentation and metadata management. 
3. Well-developed problem-solving skills, with the ability to extract key information and present this in a clear and concise manner to a range of audiences and in both written and oral forms.
4. Skills and experience in creating and presenting information to a range of stakeholders on which they can base decisions, advice or policy development.
5. Awareness and ability to evaluate IT and data requirements of business processes that produce and use data.
6. Ability to build strong internal and external relationships with a range of partners/stakeholders to influence and gain co-operation of others.
7. Previous experience of leading and managing technical projects.
8. Able to work independently, demonstrating innovation, initiative and an ability to develop, or be receptive to, new ideas and creative solutions.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh
• Desirable: Level C1 - Proficiency level (fluent Welsh speaker)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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