Have you ever wondered what someone on the Civil Service Fast Stream does in their day-to-day role? Are you interested in applying for the programme but are not sure which scheme to apply to? Our Day in the Life of series will feature posts from graduates on different Civil Service Fast Stream programmes, writing about their roles, what they do, and the highlights of their civil service careers so far! Keep an eye on our blog for the next posts as part of this series, and if you are interested in learning more about the Fast Stream programme, visit: Home | Civil Service Fast Stream.
Sally, Year 2 Digital, Data, Technology and Cyber Scheme
Current Posting: Data Scientist, Department for Health and Social Care
Location: London
Previous Posting: Data Engineer, Cabinet Office
I work in the Department for Health and Social Care’s Digital Policy Unit, a joint unit between the Department and NHS England that works on a variety of digital and technology policy areas, including data policy, AI policy, and digital transformation across healthcare. Specifically, I am a data scientist in the unit’s newly formed Digital Analytics team, which provides analytical support to policy teams across the unit.
My role involves a variety of different workstreams and responsibilities, so my day to day work is always changing. This ranges from technical work undertaking data science research projects using Python and R to do modelling or data visualisation, to helping out policy teams when they need some analytical advice or expertise. The digital analytics team is both very new and very small, so part of my role is also building the data science capability of the team by setting up the technical infrastructure and tools required for analysis.
Highlights of posting
- Developing programming skills in Python and R
- Learning data science techniques like natural language processing and machine learning
- Getting insight into working in health in government
I am also involved in some corporate work that supports the running of the Digital Policy Unit. I lead on work that collects feedback from colleagues on their wellbeing and how the unit is running, analyse this data, and work with senior leaders to identify ways to improve the unit.
Outside of my role I’m engaged in different fast stream activities which I spend some time each week on. I’m involved in an outreach activity that puts on a competition for secondary schools that is all about encouraging students to think about careers in STEM in government – something I really value about the fast stream is that we get time to dedicate to our interests like this!