ROLE PURPOSE
- The Service Data Analytics Specialist is accountable for building the analytical and technical capability that turns the SDM's operational data into predictive, diagnostic insight - going beyond reconciliation and status reporting into trend modelling, anomaly detection, and forward-looking risk signalling. This role exists to shift the department from reactive reporting ("what happened") to predictive positioning ("what's about to happen and why it matters") - giving the SDM early warning on service degradation, capacity strain, or client risk
What This Role Owns (Outcome Commitments):
- Predictive & Diagnostic Analytics - Trend, pattern, and anomaly analysis across service performance data (incidents, SLA/SLO performance, capacity, XLA/experience metrics) that surfaces risk before it becomes visible operationally.
- Analytics Tooling & Dashboard Infrastructure - Design, build, and maintenance of dashboards, automated reporting pipelines, and analytical tooling that reduce manual reporting effort and increase reporting frequency/accuracy.
- Statistical Rigour - Application of sound statistical and analytical method (not spreadsheet-level approximation) to service data - ensuring conclusions are defensible, not directional guesses dressed as insight.
- Early-Warning Risk Signalling - Proactive identification of deteriorating trends (SLA drift, capacity strain, recurring incident patterns) communicated to the SDM in time to act, not after the fact.
- Data Model & Source Integrity for Analytics - Ensuring the underlying data models and pipelines feeding analytics are structurally sound, distinct from the BA's day-to-day data reconciliation for reporting purposes.
ROLE ACCOUNTABILITIES / KEY ACTIVITIES
Predictive & Diagnostic Analytics
Accountable for: Surfacing forward-looking risk from service data before it becomes an operational or client-facing issue.
- Build and maintain trend analysis across incident volumes, SLA performance, and capacity data to detect early signs of service degradation
- Apply statistical methods (e.g. variance analysis, forecasting, correlation analysis) to distinguish genuine risk signals from normal operational noise
- Conduct pattern analysis on recurring incidents to identify systemic risk that individual RCAs may miss in isolation
- Deliver early-warning signals to the SDM with sufficient lead time to act - not retrospective confirmation of what already happened
Analytics Tooling & Dashboard Infrastructure
Accountable for: The technical infrastructure that makes predictive and diagnostic analysis possible and repeatable.
- Design, build, and maintain automated dashboards for SLA performance, capacity trends, and XLA/experience metrics across the SDM's portfolio
- Develop and maintain data pipelines that reduce manual data pulling and consolidation effort, increasing reporting frequency and accuracy
- Ensure dashboard and tooling outputs are structured for the SDM's actual decision-making needs — not generic BI output disconnected from operational reality
- Maintain version control and documentation on analytical models and tooling logic, so methodology is auditable and repeatable.
Statistical & Methodological Rigour
Accountable for: Ensuring analytical conclusions are defensible under technical scrutiny, not directional approximation.
- Apply appropriate statistical technique to each analytical question - avoid overfitting simple trend lines to complex operational reality
- Validate data quality and sample sufficiency before drawing conclusions; flag where data volume or quality is insufficient for a reliable signal
- Distinguish correlation from causation explicitly in any diagnostic output - never imply causal relationships the data doesn't support
XLA & Experience Data Integration
Accountable for: Extending analytics beyond traditional SLA metrics into end-user and digital experience data, in line with the department's XLA maturity direction.
- Integrate digital experience monitoring and sentiment data sources into the analytics view where available for the SDM's accounts
- Build the analytical bridge between traditional operational metrics (MTTR, availability) and experience-based metrics (end-user satisfaction, sentiment trends)
- Support the department's shift toward XLA-informed reporting by piloting experience-data analysis on suitable accounts
- Flag where XLA data collection or tooling gaps limit the department's ability to report on experience-level trends
Data Model & Source Integrity for Analytics
Accountable for: The structural soundness of the data models and pipelines underpinning analytics
- Define and maintain data models that support analytical use cases (trend analysis, forecasting) rather than only point-in-time reporting
- Coordinate with the Business Analyst to ensure analytics-layer data models remain aligned with reconciled source-of-truth data, avoiding two competing versions of the same metric
- Identify structural data gaps that limit analytical capability (e.g. missing historical data, inconsistent tagging/categorisation) and drive resolution
- Ensure analytical tooling and models comply with data handling, particularly where experience/sentiment data involves personal information
Advisory Input to the SDM
Accountable for: Translating analytical findings into decision-relevant input for the SDM, not raw technical output.
- Present analytical findings in business-impact terms - what the trend means operationally and commercially, not just the statistical result
- Support the SDM's client service reviews and escalation responses with predictive/diagnostic input where relevant.
- Recommend where deeper analytical investment (tooling, data collection) would materially improve the SDM's risk visibility
- Flag emerging risk patterns proactively to the SDM, even where not specifically requested
COMPETENCIES (KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES)
Technical & Domain Competencies
- Statistical & Quantitative Analysis - Working fluency in statistical methods (trend analysis, forecasting, variance analysis, correlation analysis) applied to operational data — not spreadsheet-level approximation
- Data Modelling & Pipeline Design - Ability to design and maintain data models and automated pipelines that support analytical use cases, distinct from simple reporting extraction
- Dashboard & BI Tooling Proficiency - Hands-on capability building and maintaining dashboards and visualisation tools (e.g. Power BI or equivalent) that translate complex data into decision-ready views
- ITIL 4 Continual Improvement Practice - Understanding of how predictive analytics feeds into Continual Improvement and SLM processes, not analytics as a standalone technical exercise
- XLA / Experience Data Literacy - Working knowledge of digital experience monitoring and sentiment analysis, and how experience-level data differs from and complements traditional SLA metrics
- Data Handling Compliance - Understanding of compliance requirements where analytics involve personal or sentiment data, particularly in experience-level analysis
Analytical & Judgement Competencies
- Signal vs Noise Discrimination - Reliably distinguishes genuine risk trends from normal operational variance; does not raise false alarms or miss early warnings
- Correlation vs Causation Discipline - Never implies a causal relationship the data doesn't support; explicit about the limits of what the analysis shows
- Forward-Looking Orientation - Defaults to predictive and diagnostic framing ("what's likely to happen") rather than purely descriptive reporting ("what happened")
- Methodological Defensibility - Structures analysis so that methodology - not just the conclusion - can withstand scrutiny from a data-literate stakeholders
- Data Quality Judgement - Recognises when data volume or quality is insufficient to support a reliable conclusion, and says so rather than presenting a weak signal as strong
Relationship & Influence Competencies
- Technical-to-Business Translation - Converts statistical findings into business-impact language the SDM can act on, without requiring the SDM to interpret raw analytical output
- Cross-Functional Coordination with the Business Analyst that works closely with the BA to keep analytics-layer data models aligned with reconciled source-of-truth data, avoiding duplicate or conflicting metrics
- Proactive Risk Communication - Surfaces emerging risk patterns to the SDM unprompted, rather than waiting to be asked for analysis
- Influence Through Evidence - Drives adoption of predictive insight into SDM decision-making through the strength and clarity of the analysis, not positional authority
Behavioural Competencies
- Intellectual Rigour - Does not present a directional guess as a statistically supported conclusion; comfortable saying "the data doesn't support that yet"
- Curiosity & Pattern-Seeking - Actively looks for patterns and anomalies in data rather than only analysing what's explicitly requested
- Structured Documentation Habits - Maintains version control and documentation on analytical models and methodology, consistent with departmental audit and governance standards
- Composure Under Technical Challenge - Able to defend methodology calmly and clearly when findings are questioned by technically sceptical stakeholders.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in data science, Statistics, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related quantitative field (essential)
- Formal training or certification in a BI/analytics tool (e.g. Power BI, SNOW) - essential
- ITIL 4 Foundation certification - advantageous, given the role's alignment to Continual Improvement and SLM
- Formal statistics, data analytics, or data science certification (e.g. relevant coursework, professional certification) - strongly preferred where not covered by degree specialisation
Minimum Experience
- 4–6 years in a Data Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst, or Service Analytics role, ideally within an IT/Telecommunications or Managed Services environment (essential - pure academic/statistical background without applied service-data experience will require a steeper ramp-up)
- Demonstrated experience building and maintaining dashboards and automated reporting pipelines that reduced manual reporting effort
- Direct experience applying statistical or predictive analysis to operational data (incident trends, SLA performance, capacity data) - not purely descriptive reporting
- Proven ability to identify and communicate early-warning risk signals that were later validated by operational outcomes
- Experience working with large or messy operational datasets, including data quality assessment and structural gap identification