My career story: Sam Lindsay
Job title and department or organisation
Sam is a Lead Data Scientist at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Grade
Sam works at Grade 7 level.
Profession and entry route
Sam is a member of both the Government Operational Research Service (GORS) and the Government Statistical Group (GSG).
Sam joined the Civil Service at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) level through mainstream profession recruitment.
Sam’s career path
I started my career as an Astrophysicist. I decided to change to Data Science as I did not want to continue with the academic lifestyle, which can often involve short-term contracts, moving locations regularly, and a lack of stability. I worked in secretariat roles for the Royal Astronomical Society as an Assistant Editor and Deputy Press Officer for a couple of years, but I missed working with data so I applied to become a Government Data Scientist.
I joined the Civil Service as part of a cross-government recruitment round in April 2017. I applied for the role because the advert stated it was aimed at graduates of Data Science who had not worked in Data Science roles before. I like analysing data, solving problems, and using machine learning. I wanted to work in the Civil Service as I like working on projects which support the public.
I entered as a Data Scientist at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) grade and I was assigned to the Ministry of Justice. I was able to meet the requirements to be dual badged to both GORS and GSS.
A year or so after joining I had a temporary promotion to Senior Data Scientist at Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade. This promotion was made permanent after a year of being in post. My manager then moved roles, so I had the opportunity to apply for a temporary promotion to cover their Grade 7 role. I became a permanent Lead Data Scientist at Grade 7 level around six months later.
I have stayed in the same department during my time in the Civil Service and enjoy working in Data Science. I currently work full time and compress my hours across four days a week.
The flowchart shows Sam Lindsay’s career progression from outside of the Civil Service in academia to his current role. It shows the step-by-step journey Sam has taken in his department to achieve his current grade and experience. Enlarge the flowchart.
I’m working on a project called “SPLINK” which is data linking software that we have written here in MoJ.
I want to stay in a technical role rather than purely a management role, so I am happy being at the grade I am now.
The SPLINK project won the Government Analysis Function People’s Choice Award in February 2023. It was a big piece of work which involved regularly developing the software based on user feedback through internal team or external users that get in touch.
A personal challenge of mine has been learning to be more organised and balancing multiple priorities in my role. There is never enough time to get everything done so I have had to get better at planning my work and keeping on top of everything.
Sam’s advice
Find ways to seek out work that engages and excites you, or failing that, find a way to make your work interesting. If you enjoy what you do, you will sell it better and do a better job of the analysis. You will find that other people will also get more from your work because of your enthusiasm.
This career story was published on Tuesday 1 August 2023.