Emily Parry shares what it is like to work as an Intelligence Analyst and Data Scientist in Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. 

1. What is your role, and in one sentence, what’s the single biggest project you’ve worked on for Londoners?

Since 2018, I’ve worked as an Intelligence Analyst for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, and in 2021 I added Data Scientist to my remit – I enjoy combining both perspectives to solve problems.

The biggest piece of work has probably been around the Cost of Living crisis  – this has involved producing intelligence and tools to support decision-making, matching data for campaigns and mail-outs, and helping families access unclaimed benefits to improve their financial situation.

2. Describe a moment this year when you truly felt the impact of your work on the community.

In a data role, you’re often one step removed from the frontline, and the impact usually comes through enabling colleagues to do their work better. Recently, some of the solutions  developed were described as “life-changing” by a colleague, which was amazing to hear.

Saying that, I was brought much closer to the real-world impact earlier this year during an emergency response – by pulling together critical data, I helped colleagues coordinate support and rehome vulnerable people.

3. What is the most complex or ambitious technical problem you are currently trying to solve for your borough?

As a team – probably the ongoing building of our Data Platform. Azure Data Factory cleans and loads the data into Azure Data Lake, while Databricks provides an interface for analysis and modelling. This means we can integrate multiple sources and improve data quality, giving analysts access to clean, reliable information. On top of this we’re implementing sophisticated matching techniques to create unified ‘Single Views’ across multiple datasets. While technically demanding, the payoff will be significant – giving colleagues a simplified view that makes their work faster and more effective.

4. Describe your average day. What time are you up, what time do you finish and what does your day look like? What kind of meetings are you in, and what is the biggest deliverable you’re currently focused on?

My wake-up time? That’s now dictated by a one-year-old. I usually finish around 4:30–5:00. No two days look the same – some are full of discussions (with team catch-ups, project scoping, sprint planning, analyst forums, technical coaching, procurement chats) and other days I’m completely absorbed in the technical work – wrangling data, writing code, building solutions, producing insights and shaping dashboards.

The biggest deliverable for me right now is replicating some of our key processes in our Data Platform – for example the Free School Meals auto-enrolment. It involves multi-source data matching to ensure children receive the meals they’re entitled to – so I’m currently developing a Python package to make the process seamless for colleagues, ahead of a Richmond-Wandsworth cross-borough campaign in December.

5. What’s the soundtrack to your commute, or your go-to podcast for the journey?

Classic rock always features but right now I’m listening to a lot of Rival Sons and Larkin Poe. Podcasts – I’m a big fan of Off Menu and more recently doing my bit as a northerner and catching up with Northern News.

6. Which non-technical teams do you work most closely with (e.g., social workers, housing officers), and what is the most surprising thing you’ve learned from them?

I work with a wide range of colleagues across our directorates, but most recently I’ve collaborated closely with teams in Parking and Accessible Travel, Council Tax, and Children’s Services. What always surprises me is hearing their stories about day-to-day interactions with residents – hearing those stories really puts things into perspective. They show that the data projects we work on make a tangible difference to people’s lives.

7. Explain a complicated aspect of your job—like ‘digital twin strategy’ or ‘predictive maintenance’—to a layperson in a simple, exciting way.

If I were to try and explain how our Data Platform works, I’d say imagine stepping into a global summit where every delegate speaks a different language – Council Tax speaks French, Parking negotiates in Arabic, and Social Care debates in Mandarin. To join the conversation, you’d need to master every language and every dialect.

Our Data Platform is like having a universal translator – it doesn’t change what the delegates are saying but it listens to every conversation and lets you ask your questions in one consistent language. In return, you get clear, consistent answers from every source, regardless of its first language.

8. Where do you usually grab lunch in the borough?

I tend to bring my lunch with me when I’m in the office but Church Street in Twickenham is one of my favourite places to visit – it’s full of little cafes and right by the river so you can take your lunch there. If I’m not spending on lunch – there are a couple of boutique shops on Church Street that have a way of turning my frugality into clothes and sparkly things. 

9. Aside from the pension and flexible hours, what’s the most unexpected or best perk of working in local government?

For me, it’s the sheer variety. At a recent LOTI training day, someone described local government as second only to a multinational conglomerate in terms of the diversity and complexity of its services – it’s like working for several businesses rolled into one. One day we might be producing public health intelligence, the next we’re wrangling data to assess the health of high streets and town centres.

10. How does the council support your continued professional development in tech and data?

Skills can be built through apprenticeships – I’ve benefitted from one myself, with structured workshops, 1:1 coaching and real-world projects. We also have DataCamp licences for on-demand learning in Python, SQL, Power BI and more. Beyond that, we have an analyst forum and a growing Data Literacy hub with resources and learning paths – and we benefit from the LOTI training days.  It’s a blend of formal qualifications, flexible online learning and on the job training. 

11. Do you mentor or coach junior staff? What is the one piece of advice you always give to someone starting out in local gov?

I do a fair amount of formal and informal technical coaching – sometimes junior colleagues, sometimes peers. My advice is: be curious – talk to people, learn what they do, stay objective and figure out where you can add value.

12. How do you switch off after a busy day? What is your favourite thing to do in London after 6 PM?

Switching off isn’t really an option straight after nursery pick-up, but once bath and bedtime are done, my husband and I love a good horror film (so maybe I don’t really switch off!).

13. If a highly skilled professional from a major tech company asked you why they should leave the private sector to join local government tech, what would you tell them?

The potential to make a real difference. In local government, your code isn’t about boosting quarterly sales – it could help a child get a meal or improve someone’s quality of life. There’s a strong sense of community too – you’ll collaborate with other boroughs, link up with other analysts, and never feel isolated. Plus, local government needs talented people to stay ahead and innovate – if you want your skills to have a bigger impact, this is where you can truly pioneer change.

14. Complete the sentence: “My job is challenging, but every day I am reminded that I am…”

…part of something bigger – working with great people to create positive change for the people in our boroughs.