SC-Cleared Senior BI Analyst / Platform Lead in England

An opportunity for an SC-cleared Senior BI Analyst / Platform Lead to join a mature, well-established delivery team supporting a mission‑critical, secure on‑premise data and reporting platform for a major UK defence organisation. This role is less about green‑field development and more focused on the ongoing management, optimisation, and evolution of a live BI environment. You will act as a trusted interface between technical teams, civil servants, and operational end‑users ensuring the platform remains secure, performant, and aligned to changing business and operational needs.

Role Overview

• Own and manage the day‑to‑day health, performance, and roadmap of a secure, on‑premise BI and data platform.
• Act as a technical authority and analytical partner for stakeholders, translating operational and policy requirements into sustainable reporting and data solutions.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives, including data quality, model optimisation, security hardening, and reporting usability.
• Support and enhance existing ETL pipelines, semantic models and reports rather than focusing on large‑scale rebuilds.
• Provide ongoing support, troubleshooting, and optimisation for business‑critical dashboards and datasets.
• Work closely with civil servants, analysts and operational users to ensure insights are trusted, accessible and actionable.
• Ensure the platform remains compliant with GDS standards, security policies, and defence assurance requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the on‑prem BI estate, including SQL Server, SSIS, SSAS (Tabular), and Power BI Report Server.
• Proactively identify and implement improvements to performance, resilience, data quality, and security.
• Manage technical debt and incremental enhancements in a controlled, low‑risk manner.
• Ensure robust monitoring, logging, and operational support processes are in place.
• Act as a trusted BI partner to business and operational stakeholders.
• Run requirement‑gathering sessions and translate needs into analytical solutions rather than raw development tasks.
• Support users in understanding data, metrics, and limitations of the platform.
• Balance competing priorities across multiple user groups in a secure environment.
• Maintain and evolve SSAS Tabular models, measures and KPIs using DAX.
• Ensure reporting logic is consistent, auditable, and aligned to operational definitions.
• Oversee data ingestion, cleansing and transformation processes to ensure reliable downstream reporting.
• Support analysts and end users with complex data questions and ad‑hoc analysis.
• Ensure alignment with GDS standards, internal data governance, and defence security policies.
• Manage access control and authentication using Active Directory.
• Support audits, assurance activities and documentation required in high‑security environments.
• Champion best practice in secure on‑prem BI delivery.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong experience managing and supporting secure, on‑premise BI platforms.
• Advanced SQL Server expertise (2019+): Engine, Security, Jobs, Objects, Performance tuning.
• Extensive experience with SSIS (data ingestion, transformation, cleansing and scheduling).
• Deep understanding of SSAS Tabular models and semantic layer design.
• Advanced use of DAX to deliver robust, maintainable business logic.
• Hands‑on experience with Power BI Report Server (on‑prem) administration and configuration.
• Experience working in UK Government environments to GDS standards.
• Active use of Active Directory for authentication and role‑based access.
• Experience in Defence or Military settings and exposure to information assurance, data classification and secure environments.
• Proven ability to operate as a bridge between technical teams and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical mindset with a focus on insight, usability and data quality.
• Comfortable working in structured, assurance‑led environments with formal governance.
• Experience mentoring junior analysts or developers.

Security & Location

• Active SC clearance required.
• Candidates must be UK‑based.
• Hybrid working with occasional travel to Hampshire (secure site).

Commercials

• Day rate: Up to £550 (Outside IR35).
• Start date: ASAP.
• Duration: 12 months (initial), with strong likelihood of extension.