Role profile: data collator
Data collators collect and organise information. They clean data and assure the forms of data from a variety of sources, including:
- primary data
- survey data
- administrative data
- open data
Data collators sharing analysis and important findings. They often work in data collection or multi-disciplinary teams.
Typical role responsibilities
Data collators:
- collect and gather information from a wide range of sources and systems
- organise information to ensure easy retrieval and access for analysts within their team
- quality assure and clean data to ensure it is ready to be analysed
- read, understand and interpret reports and information
- highlight and distribute relevant information to team members to ensure they remain informed of the latest developments in their area of interest
- analyse data using tools and systems, as needed
Skills
There are several important skills that data collators need to be successful in their role.
You must understand data collection methods and how they are used.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must be able to assimilate information from a range of diverse sources.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must be able to demonstrate knowledge of data cleansing and standardisation.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must be able to show understanding of data sources, data organisation and storage.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “working” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must be:
- proficient in the use of analytical and data visualisation software relevant to your role and department
- able to learn new systems and ways of working as needed
In particular for this role, you are expected to be proficient at using coding and programming skills for data and analytics.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “working” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must be able to identify the most important issues from data or information received, presenting and sharing this information as relevant.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have a “practitioner” skill level.
You must have strong verbal and written communication skills.
You will be expected to demonstrate these skills at different levels depending on the seniority of your role.
Associate data collator
As an associate, you must have an “awareness” skill level.
Data collator
As a data collator, you must have a “working” skill level.
Lead data collator
As a lead data collator, you must have an “expert” skill level.
Sample career pathway
The data collator career path shows some of the common entry and exit points for the role. It also shows the typical skill levels needed.
You can enter a data collator role from any profession, including other analytical professions and other digital professions. You can also exit the role to join another profession, including other analytical professions and other digital professions.
The diagram shows a potential career path. It shows that you can enter or leave a role from a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels. For example, you could become a data collator by developing your skills in an associate data collator role. You could continue to move up the levels in the career path by taking on more senior data collator roles. Or you could develop your skills by working in a technical specialist role in an analytical or digital profession. You could also develop the necessary skills by working in a profession agnostic role outside of these professions.
A role that could be done by any person with the relevant skills or experience from any profession.
This could be a ‘badged’ or professional role that is subject to entry requirements and development.
Beyond the lead data collator role, you could go into more senior leadership roles. These roles require broader analytical understanding, and the ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams.