Data Scientist

Hays Technology
London, United Kingdom
Last week
£600 – £1,000 pd

Salary

£600 – £1,000 pd

Job Type
Contract
Work Location
Hybrid
Seniority
Mid
Education
Degree
Posted
18 Apr 2026 (Last week)

Data Scientist - Operational & Optimisation-Focused AI

£700+ per day | Inside IR35 | Long-term programme (2-3 years)

I'm currently looking for Data Scientists to join a highly capable, collaborative team working on real operational problems at serious scale within a well‑established, commercially driven organisation.This is a role for someone who enjoys building things that actually run the business - not experiments that sit on a slide deck. You'll be working on postoptimization, decision‑making problems where the output of your models directly affects cost, performance, and customer outcomes every day.

Location & Contract

Rate: £700+ per day (Inside IR35, depending on experience)

Contract: Rolling 6‑month contracts, with a realistic 2-3 year roadmap of work

Working pattern: Hybrid - 2-3 days per week onsite in West London / Paddington area and West Drayton

Start: ASAP (subject to onboarding)

What the role is really about

In this role, you won't be siloed away from the business. You'll be embedded alongside engineers and operational stakeholders, working on problems where data science is central to how decisions are made, not just how performance is reported.You will:

Design and build optimisation, predictive, and prescriptive models that support live operational decision‑making

Work on problems where multiple constraints, trade‑offs, and dependencies matter (cost, service levels, experience, risk)

Take solutions from idea → model → production, and stay involved once they're live

Iterate based on real‑world performance and business feedback, not theoretical metrics

Explain why a model behaves as it does and help the business trust and use it

A good way to think about this role: you are shaping the engine that runs day‑to‑day operations, not creating insights for someone else to interpret later.

I'm particularly keen to speak to you if your background includes:

Hands‑on data science using Python, ML Frameworks and modern tooling

Experience with optimisation, simulation, machine learning, or advanced analytics applied to real systems

Clear examples of models you've personally built and put into production, not just prototyped

Working with engineers to deploy, monitor, and improve solutions over time

Operating in commercial, corporate environments where decisions have financial and operational consequences

Experience in supply chain, logistics, asset management, scheduling, or similar domains is useful - but what really matters is how you think about operational problems.

Why this role is worth a conversation

The work is meaty, operational, and genuinely impactful

You'll be surrounded by people who understand and value good data science

There's long‑term stability (not a short "fire‑and‑forget" contract)

You get to see your work run at scale, improve, and evolve

A quick but important note on CVs

This is a specialist role, and CVs that read as academic, R&D‑only, or proof‑of‑concept‑focused tend not to land well. Please make sure your CV clearly shows:

What you personally built

How it was used in production

What measurable impact it had on the business

CVs that make that clear tend to stand out very quickly. If you enjoy solving hard, real‑world problems and want your models to matter, I think this is well worth exploring.If you'd like to talk it through, I'd be very happy to have a conversation.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at (url removed)

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Data Scientist

Oscar Technology London, United Kingdom
£65,000 – £75,000 pa Hybrid

Data Scientist

Franklin Bates London, United Kingdom
£55,000 – £65,000 pa Hybrid

Data Scientist

Harnham - Data & Analytics Recruitment London, United Kingdom
£45,000 – £50,000 pa Hybrid

Data Scientist

Vertical Aerospace Bristol, United Kingdom
Permanent

Data Scientist

Faculty AI London, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Data Scientist

Advertising Standard Authority Old Street, London, United Kingdom
£45,000 – £60,000 pa Hybrid

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise AI Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Advertising AI jobs in the UK requires a different approach to most technical hiring. The candidate pool is small, highly informed and in demand across multiple sectors simultaneously. General job boards reach a broad audience but lack the specificity that AI professionals expect — and the filtering mechanisms they rely on. Specialist platforms, direct outreach and academic channels each serve a different part of the market. This guide, published by ArtificialIntelligenceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise AI roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about time-to-hire across different role types.

New AI Employers to Watch in 2026: UK and Global Companies Reshaping AI Careers

The artificial intelligence job market in the UK is evolving at an extraordinary pace. With record-breaking investment, government backing, and a surge in enterprise adoption, the landscape of AI employers is shifting rapidly. For candidates exploring opportunities on ArtificialIntelligenceJobs.co.uk, understanding who is hiring next is just as important as understanding what skills are in demand. In this article, we explore the new and emerging AI employers to watch in 2026, focusing on organisations that have recently secured funding, won major contracts, or expanded their UK footprint. From cutting-edge startups to global giants doubling down on Britain, these companies represent the next wave of AI career opportunities.

How Many AI Tools Do You Need to Know to Get an AI Job?

If you are job hunting in AI right now it can feel like you are drowning in tools. Every week there is a new framework, a new “must-learn” platform or a new productivity app that everyone on LinkedIn seems to be using. The result is predictable: job seekers panic-learn a long list of tools without actually getting better at delivering outcomes. Here is the truth most hiring managers will quietly agree with. They do not hire you because you know 27 tools. They hire you because you can solve a problem, communicate trade-offs, ship something reliable and improve it with feedback. Tools matter, but only in service of outcomes. So how many AI tools do you actually need to know? For most AI job seekers: fewer than you think. You need a tight core toolkit plus a role-specific layer. Everything else is optional. This guide breaks it down clearly, gives you a simple framework to choose what to learn and shows you how to present your toolset on your CV, portfolio and interviews.