Welcome to the technical assessment for the Data Product Coordinator position at the City's Data Analytics Hub. We appreciate you taking the time to complete this challenge.
The goal is to assess your coordination, planning, and communication skills as they relate to supporting a technical data team, based on the provided scenarios.
Estimated time to complete: 60 minutes
You have 60 minutes to complete all four parts of this assessment.
The goal is to assess your coordination, planning, and communication skills as they relate to supporting a technical data team, based on the provided scenarios.
Please manage your time carefully. Recommended times are provided for each section.
Context: The Data Analytics Hub has identified a critical new AI foundational model that is essential for a new strategic project. The free trial for this model ends in 14 days, and the team needs it fully procured and operational within 8 weeks. This is a new contract with an international vendor, and the total cost will require a formal tender process.
Your Task: Outline the high-level project plan you would create to manage this process.
In your answer, cover the following:
- Key Steps: What are the 5-7 most critical steps you would take, from initiation to completion?
- Stakeholders: Who are the key departments (e.g., Legal, SCM, etc.) you would need to liaise with, and why?
- Immediate Risks: What are the top 3 risks you would immediately flag to the Manager of the Data Analytics Hub?
Context: It’s 9:00 AM on a Tuesday. You receive the following five requests simultaneously. The Data Analytics team is relying on you to ensure operations run smoothly.
Your Task: Rank these tasks from 1 (Highest Priority) to 5 (Lowest Priority). For your #1 (highest) and #5 (lowest) ranked items, provide a one-sentence justification for your choice.
The Tasks:
(A) An email from an external trainer, confirming they are "all set" for the training session you are coordinating for next week. (B) An urgent-flagged email from the Head of Department (your boss's boss) asking for the finalised action items from yesterday's Data Strategy meeting, which you attended. (C) A project lead for a new data project stops by your desk, asking you to help schedule a 2-hour "Change Management Workshop" for 10 stakeholders, to happen "sometime in the next two weeks." (D) An automated reminder that a contract for a non-critical analytics software is due for renewal in 60 days. The contract terms state a 30-day notice period is required for cancellation. (E) An email from a participant in tomorrow's training session, saying the calendar invite has a broken link for the virtual meeting room.
Your Ranking:
Priority 1: Priority 2: Priority 3: Priority 4: Priority 5:
Justification for #1 (Highest):
Justification for #5 (Lowest):
Context: The data engineering team has just finished a major update to a key internal dashboard. This update will change the way users access data. The team has provided you with the following "technical note" and asked you to help distribute it as part of the change management process.
Technical Note:
"Tonight at 23:00, we are sunsetting the old dashboard auth module and migrating to the new SSO-based OIDC protocol. Users’ cached credentials will be invalidated. They must clear their browser cache (Ctrl+F5) and re-authenticate via the new IdP. Expect potential token expiry errors post-migration. See wiki-page DATA-291 for full spec.”
Your Task: This role requires you to "Assist in translating technical information into more accessible language".
- Rewrite the Communication: Rewrite this note into a clear, user-friendly email communication for a non-technical audience (e.g., business managers, analysts).
- Identify Missing Information: List 3-5 key pieces of information you would need to get from the technical team before you would be comfortable sending this communication.
Context: The Manager of the Data Analytic Hub wants to position Cape Town as a leader in AI. They have asked you to start the initial planning to host a large, 3-day "AI Horizons Cape Town" conference next year. The goal is to attract 500 international delegates and several world-renowned AI speakers.
Your Task: This is a major event requiring significant planning. Based on the "DATA EVENT PLANNING COORDINATION" KPA, outline your initial 5-step action plan. What are the first 5 major things you would do to move this from an idea to a concrete project?
- Consolidate all your answers into a single structured pdf document.
- Include visuals or diagrams if they help communicate your ideas.
- Email the repository link to us.