Government Analysis Function > Careers > Career stories > My career story: Noel McGarrell

My career story: Noel McGarrell

Job title and department or organisation

Noel is a Senior Data Strategist at the Cabinet Office. His role matches the role of Performance Analyst on the Analysis Function Career Framework.

Grade

Noel works at Grade 7 level.

Profession and entry route

Noel is a member of the Government Digital and Data profession.

Noel joined the Civil Service at Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade through a departmental recruitment round.

Noel’s career path

I graduated with a degree in Maths and German in 2013 and started a job as a Data Analyst with AXA Life Invest. My role involved supporting analysis of new and existing business connected to their pension products. After a year I then moved to Analytic Partners to become a Marketing Science Analyst. This role exposed me to marketing analytics consultancy across several clients and industries. I also gained experience of Marketing Mix Modelling as a technique to show the gradual effects of marketing activity.

I was offered an opportunity to join Burberry as a Senior Marketing Data Analyst which allowed me to move from Dublin to London in February 2017. This lateral move allowed me to experience being the client contact for vendors doing similar projects to those I had worked on before. In my time at Burberry, I was able to broaden my experience into digital analytics, ecommerce, and customer satisfaction surveys.

In January 2020, I joined the Cabinet Office as a Data Strategist in Media and Marketing Data at Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade. I gained promotion to Senior Data Strategist (Grade 7) in October 2022. I see my role as supporting the Government Communication Service (GCS) developing a mindset that is informed by data and will make communications more effective and efficient in areas such as campaign planning, through to execution and evaluation. I have been able to apply a lot of the skills I gained from the private sector to do this, while developing other skills too. Notable areas of previous work include the GCS Benchmark Database that forms the basis of the Smart Targets Tool.

During my time at the Cabinet Office, I have also had the opportunity to complete a 2 year senior leadership apprenticeship with Henley Business School. This has been a great opportunity to further my leadership skills and support my career progression.

The flowchart shows Noel’s career progression from achieving a degree in Maths and German to his current role as Senior Data Strategist. It shows the step-by-step journey Noel has taken to achieve his current grade and experience. Enlarge the flowchart.

I am working with the wider Applied Data and Insight Team on the upcoming GCS Innovation and Data Strategy. I am concentrating on personalisation and looking into:

  • its application in government communication
  • the benefits it can bring
  • the technology and tools needed

I want to continue working in the marketing analytics space. I think there will be some really interesting opportunities and challenges in this area of work in the near future. For example, it will be interesting to see how we can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop data visualisations and insights in a more timely manner, while ensuring quality remains high.

I am most proud of the work on the data visualisation slides for the COVID-19 press conferences at the start of the pandemic. It was a mad time to say the least, but there was something gratifying about working all day on preparing the material for it to then be on TV that evening. I think it really showed the real-world effect data can have when communicating to the public.

I see marketing analytics as injecting “science” into what is an “artistic” industry. With that comes the challenge of communicating difficult messages to stakeholders when the data shows a creative idea has not led to the outcome they were expecting. It is also challenging to communicate the basics of the advanced analytic methodologies used in the analysis to stakeholders. This can be challenging even for data specialists to understand.

Noel’s advice

Data analytics is quite a broad area. It can help to concentrate on specific areas of knowledge to form specialist expertise in a certain topic to support your career development. I have managed to develop my skills in a specific application of data analytics and science in marketing which has given me an advantage within a broader analytics space.

This career story was published on Tuesday 1 August 2023.