Junior Data Analyst London 2024

The Data Analyst (DA) is a critical role, working closely with the Pipeline and Operations team, to provide financial and operational insights that help the business run efficiently and the management team make informed decisions. They will be responsible for assessing the company requirements for new tools to support this and will develop and analyse data metrics to provide the relevant insight required in a timely (real-time where possible) manner via reports and dashboards.

The DA conducts ongoing analysis of Union’s projects, resources and operations and their profitability. The DA’s focus will be on both individual jobs/projects and company-wide resources and they will be proactively looking ahead at ways in which our processes and workflows can be refined and improved and will work with the relevant teams to implement them.

The DA will be responsible for designing, building, streamlining and improving internal and external reporting across a range of business needs, from Production reports to Technical resource usage reports and beyond. They will work with key stakeholders including the Studio Operations Manager, Head of Finance, Managing Director, Heads of Departments and Production staff to establish and deliver any reporting requirements needed.

In the case of external reporting processes, the DA will work with Production staff to establish client needs and expectations and provide solutions based on those requirements. These are likely to be bespoke on a per client/per project basis and should be used to build up a library or suite of flexible tools that can be re-used and customised to avoid the need for entirely bespoke solutions each time.

To achieve the above goals, the DA will work with the Pipeline Supervisor on the design and build of reporting systems and dashboards which will use bespoke programs that utilise a range of APIs to pull data from different sources. They will need to have an in-depth understanding of our internal artist workflows and how this relates to our bidding process to ensure that raw data can be collated into relevant and meaningful reports for our management team. The DA will also be required to provide hands-on support for Production staff on how to operate and troubleshoot the reporting systems as well as provide training and documentation as an aid for existing staff and on-boarding material for new staff.

They must have strong technical skills in dealing with API’s, databases and complex spreadsheet formulas. They will also be analytical, solutions focussed, able to take a brief and run with it but also be able to generate their own ideas and solutions. Reliability, an appetite to learn, a calm style, strong time management skills and the ability to deliver to deadlines are all also key to the role.

The DA will have an excellent understanding of, and ability to, deliver a high quality client service and be flexible and adaptable in a fast changing environment. They will be adept at building relationships at all levels, have strong problem solving skills and be able to find appropriate solutions. They will need to be highly organised and efficient with strong attention to detail and excellent spoken and written communication skills, and able to keep end users and managers informed of progressand status of assigned tasks in appropriate methods for different kinds of tasks.

They will be proactive and happy to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in with whatever needs doing and be comfortable switching priorities as the needs of the business change. They will be able to flex to work both as part of a wider team or autonomously and therefore be self-directed and motivated, but also know when to escalate issues, always remaining calm and professional.

Responsibilities

• Maintain an in depth understanding of Union’s production workflows - from bidding through to delivery including:
• Dashboards for live tracking of projects
• Cost tracking: actuals v bids
• Evolving bidding process and troubleshoot discrepancies in bid documents, into SG
• Creating weekly project reports - internal & external
• Updating live documents & sync with Finance - support with Time Allocation each month
• Maintaining the Render Planner to forecast render capacity and resource requirements
• Supporting Operations in collating and storing relevant data
• Maintain a detailed understanding of existing artistic VFX workflows and processes across all departments within Union
• Consistently review all existing systems, reports and dashboards - their data sources, use and challenges
• Design and develop the necessary tools to implement improvements
• Assist with ad-hoc projects and reports for HR, Finance and Management teams
• Provide technical support to Production in Google and Shotgrid
• Create and maintain technical and user documentation for reporting systems and tools, as well as providing hands-on training for staff
• Continue developing new tools such as ShotGride Even Daemon to automate Union’s processes
• Work closely with the Head of Finance on rate card recommendations
• Conduct post-project analysis for new findings to better Union’s processes and workflow
• Maintain a balanced approach to assigned tasks and communicate clearly about progress of assigned tasks to both the Studio Operations Manager and the Pipeline Supervisor
• Consistently review all existing systems, reports and dashboards - their data sources, use and challenges
• Design and develop the necessary tools to implement improvements

Skills, experience and knowledge

Technical

• Proficient in Excel and reporting
• Experience working with complex systems and data interchange processes
• SQL or similar DB technologies
• Python/scripting tools
• Experience with a data visualisation tool such as tableau/grafana/etc
• Experience with FileMaker a plus
• Knowledge of computer graphics and/or editing software a plus
• Experience of Autodesk ShotGrid a plus
• Javascript

Personal

• Organised and strong attention to detail
• Pro-active
• Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines prioritising workload
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to quickly assess and resolve unexpected problems
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to generate ideas
• Experience in a staff/customer facing role ideally from within a resource planning & scheduling environment or similar, combined with an interest in film and TV VFX