Job Description

Salary £55,612 - £60,147 per annum | Permanent, Full Time 37 hours per week | Preston

Are you passionate about using data and insight to influence strategic decision‑making and improve outcomes at scale?

As Strategic Data Partner, you will play a critical role in how Lancashire County Council uses intelligence to drive performance, innovation and continuous improvement. Sitting at the interface between services and the central Data & Analytics function, you will act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, helping them turn complex challenges into clear, data‑led insight.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced data professional who enjoys working at pace, building strong relationships, and shaping how data is used to support better decisions across a large and complex organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the strategic intelligence partner for services, building strong, trusted relationships with senior leaders.
• Translate organisational priorities and service challenges into clear, actionable analytical questions and insight.
• Provide high‑quality analysis, interpretation and insight that supports decision‑making, performance management and service improvement.
• Shape service‑level reporting requirements and oversee the development of meaningful dashboards, performance products and insight assets.
• Present complex data and analysis clearly to non‑technical audiences, ensuring insight is accessible, relevant and actionable.
• Operate as a critical friend, offering constructive challenge and support to drive continuous improvement.

What We Are Looking For

Strategic Insight & Influence

• Proven experience working in an intelligence, analytics or performance role, partnering with senior managers or leadership teams.
• Confidence in translating ambiguous or emerging requirements into clear analytical outputs that support strategic outcomes.

Analytical & Technical Capability

• Strong business intelligence and analytical skills, including data manipulation, analysis, performance monitoring and dashboarding (e.g. Power BI).
• Experience designing and delivering high‑quality insight products that inform action and improvement.

Communication & Collaboration

• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and build credibility with stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrable experience presenting insight to non‑technical audiences and supporting them to interpret and act on data.

Closing Date:25/05/2026

Why join us?

By joining Lancashire County Council, you can shape the career path that is right for you, with opportunities to gain personal and professional qualifications, coaching, and mentoring. Lancashire County Council truly is the place where you can have the career you've always wanted.

In return for your passion and expertise, we offer a generous benefits package, which includes:

• A competitive salary and Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions.
• A great holiday entitlement of 26 days annual leave, which increases with length of service. You will also be entitled to 8 Bank Holidays, 2 additional statutory Bank Holidays, and have the option to buy additional leave each year.
• Our staff discount scheme in partnership with Vivup, allowing you to access discounts with a range of UK retailers, saving on everything from weekly food shops to white goods and cars.
• Access to fantastic development and career opportunities.

Please ensure you upload a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the criteria for the role.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications.

& Person Specification