The ASA is the UK regulator of advertising across all media, including online. Our work includes taking proactive action against misleading, harmful, offensive or otherwise irresponsible ads and acting on complaints. In short, we make sure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful.
The mission of our Data Science team is to use data and machine learning to improve advertising regulation in the UK. We are building systems that proactively monitor digital advertising at scale, ensuring we spot potentially harmful ads and take action to protect people. We are seeking an analyst to turn the content we collect and the outputs of our machine learning models into actionable insights and intelligence.
In this role you will work primarily with data about ads and the contents of the ads themselves, especially text. You will work with experts across the business to understand their needs, identify relevant data, analyse it and communicate your findings. Your goal will be to help the ASA explore the prevalence of compliance issues, understand trends and find individual ads that break the rules.
You will be part of our growing Data Science team, reporting to the Head of Data Science, working with and supported by Data Scientists and Data Engineers. This role is new to the ASA and will include the chance to help shape the way data-led insight and intelligence is used to regulate advertising. You will have flexibility in your choice of tools, although use of Python to manipulate and explore data will be essential. You will take end-to-end ownership of projects and will directly see how your work protects people in the UK from harmful and misleading digital content.
Current projects within the team focus on diverse topics such as ensuring influencer marketing on social media follows advertising rules; monitoring the green claims companies make to consumers; and understanding how cryptocurrency products are advertised. In the role you will work with data relating to all the channels the ASA regulates including social media, search and display advertising.
We are seeking candidates who have experience working in Python to analyse data, who are adept at communicating and collaborating with non-technical stakeholders and who are excited about the mission of our team.
We think the ASA is a great place to work. We have a culture that’s open, friendly and collaborative, with a real focus on making the right decisions in the right way, and learning while we’re doing it. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and we’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive organisation, both so we can represent everyone in the UK and so our own colleagues feel at home at work.
We support flexible working and welcome applications from those interested in working full time (35 hours per week) or part time (minimum 21 hours per week). Thereafter, in line with our hybrid working model, office attendance will be required 40% of your contracted hours.
Responsibilities
The Insight Analyst will:
- Work with experts in the ASA's Compliance, Investigations and other project teams to understand their processes and needs
- Collaborate with Data Engineers and Data Scientists to ensure we are capturing the right ads and the right information is being extracted from them to deliver those needs
- Analyse the resulting data, using tools including Python to extract actionable insights and intelligence
- Communicate findings clearly back to non-technical subject matter experts
- Be an active participant in developing the ASA’s overall data science strategy, ensuring our work is improving ad regulation in the UK
Requirements
Candidates should have:
- Analysis Skills – Strong numerical skills and the ability to analyse different types of data to find useful insights and intelligence
- Technical Skills – The ability to use Python and other tools to access and manipulate data for analysis purposes
- Communication – The ability to collaborate with a mixed team and communicate fluently with non-technical individuals, understanding their needs and explaining your findings clearly
- Critical Mindset – The ability to think critically and scientifically about your work, actively searching for problems both in the data itself and your own analysis
Personal Attributes
The ideal candidate will also have the following personal attributes:
- Interest in our mission - A desire to make a positive contribution to the regulation of digital advertising in the UK
- Creative problem solver - Able to think about a complex problem from multiple perspectives, identifying potential improvements/solutions
- Takes ownership - Willing to take responsibility for delivering work end-to-end
- Team worker – Able to work collaboratively with a team of individuals with mixed expertise and backgrounds, making a positive contribution to team culture