Lead Data Scientist

Job summary

At DSIT we�re all about improving people�s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.

We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.

We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.

We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.

We do all this to enable the Government�s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.

Above all, we focus on improving people�s lives. Whether it�s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.

Our Inclusive Environment

We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support�candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the and the

Find Out More

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Job description

We have recently established a Data Science team at the centre of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The team's mission is to engage with every corner of the department to uncover opportunities where innovative and experimental data science techniques can enhance existing products, processes, and analysis or generate entirely novel insights. This spans across sectors from telecoms to quantum to AI, all while embracing the possibility of failure as a path to discovery. Through this, we will help set the strategic direction for a department that prioritises data, evidence, and real-time monitoring, and ensure that DSIT becomes data-confident.

This role offers an unparalleled opportunity to shape and define your position within an established team, pitching project ideas and exploring novel collaborations. Your contribution will help further a team culture that fosters creativity and innovation in leveraging the latest developments in data science, such as generative AI and LLMs, to deliver transformative insights. You will be joining at a critical time, with the chance to influence how data science shapes the department's impact in a still-evolving landscape.�

We are looking for highly motivated individuals to join us as we refine our operating model to enhance DSIT's data science capability. Technical skills are necessary for the role, but we are equally interested in your ability to be a proactive, independent thinker, eager to contribute to a team culture of innovation and collaboration. Our work will touch on exciting policy areas and involve collaboration with analytical teams across the department (such as the Government Office for Science), arms-length bodies ( UK Research and Innovation and the UK Space Agency), and executive agencies (, Building Digital UK). This means we will have the opportunity to explore many fascinating projects, either independently as a team or in collaboration with the analytical teams embedded across the department. Innovation is enshrined in the name, delivery plan, and ethos of the department, so we will have every opportunity to explore new ideas, trial novel approaches, and have the freedom to carve our own path.

DSIT has expanded in scope and size, with colleagues from Government Digital Service (GDS), the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and the Incubator for AI ( joining the department, which presents more exciting opportunities for collaborative working and shared learning across technical teams. Over the past six months, we have been refining our delivery models, and we are now evolving our team structure. We are advertising three Grade 7 Project Leads and three Grade 7 Technical Experts. The Data Science team will consist of three discrete projects teams. Each data science team will have one Grade 7 project lead, one Grade 7 technical expert, and one to two SEO or HEO data scientists. These teams will carry out discrete projects, but aren't bound to a single domain area, meaning they will be exposed to DSIT policy areas across different workstreams. The Data Science team also handles ad-hoc analysis, with resources allocated based on availability and delivered via short-term matrix management.

Grade 7 Project Leads will be expected to lead projects from idea inception to scoping, data discovery, and delivery. Within this, we expect them to have excellent agile project delivery skills, stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, and product implementation experience. It is a bonus if they have experience in user testing or understanding user journeys. They will also be expected to line manage SEO and HEO data scientists. These roles are by no means no-code roles, and the individuals will still need strong technical skills and be expected to set the direction of, and contribute to, the technical elements of the projects they are leading.�

Regardless of the role, we are looking for individuals who take ownership of deliverables with stakeholders, and actively engage across the department to identify new opportunities. You should feel comfortable making suggestions that may challenge the status quo and have a high level of technical experience to actively coach your team in their technical development. You will be given opportunities to feed into strategic decision-making and there will be ample opportunity to remain hands-on with technical work yourself. Additionally, sharing insights across the department and beyond is a critical part of this role, forming key partnerships with strategy, policy, and science colleagues to maximise impact on policymaking across government. Another key component is forming strong networks with analysts within DSIT, other government departments, academia, and beyond to ensure that the department is able to bring the latest insights into its work.

We have a vision for the team to be highly collaborative and proactively inclusive, with the flexibility to respond quickly to urgent asks while building out longer-term data science projects and products. We have access to multiple data science platforms and sandbox areas, meaning you can access truly novel tools and be working on cutting-edge data science techniques. Additionally, learning and development is a core focus of the team, with an afternoon a week reserved as protected time specifically for self-directed learning and development. We celebrate and value this L&D, and actively cascade outputs between members of the team.

Person specification

The work within the team is intended to be experimental and innovative. Because of this, the projects that you will get to work on will be varied. You will have the opportunity to use a range of data science techniques, and to propose new approaches that provide insight and improve data practices. The following gives an indication of the kind of work we are currently pursuing.

- Developing chatbots through the use of large language models to support the department�s ability to deal with large amounts of unstructured text data.�
- Developing the department�s natural language processing capability to generate new datasets to track DSIT�s core interests.�
- Developing web apps to ensure insights are being delivered to stakeholders in the most digestible format to enable data-led decision-making.�
- Ensuring reliable pipelines to ingest data into the department and delivering it in a usable format to analytical teams.�
- Building out the data science capability across the department � supporting analysts to add coding to their analytical toolkit, thinking about how we can embed data science across all areas of the business and supporting DSIT�s ambitions to be using data in the most innovative way in government.�
- Deploying advanced analysis techniques, such as machine learning, to support policy development across the department, including exploring novel datasets.
- Delivering visualisations directly to the Ministerial team to support delivery of the department�s top priorities.

Technical skills are essential for this role, but we equally value non-technical skills because your responsibilities will also include the following:�

- Leadership in the data science space - confidently talking about the benefits of data science approaches and inspiring curiosity and creativity in others.
- Approaching problems analytically, eager to explore the depths of data science and engineering challenges to support organisational objectives.�
- Designing and managing user research to develop scalable and maintainable data science solutions. �
- Communicating relevant and compelling stories to get across complex messages to non-technical audiences.
- Awareness of data ethics, privacy laws, and responsible AI practices to ensure data is used and managed ethically.
- Constructively challenging the status quo to look for ways to improve our work.�
- Building multidisciplinary partnerships across the department and beyond.

Skills and Experience�

Leadership: Experience leading a team to deliver impactful data science projects.�

Adaptability: Confidence to challenge the status quo, independently explore new methodologies, embracing trial and error to push boundaries of data science.�

Programming Languages and Coding Standards: Proficiency in Python, R and SQL for statistical modelling, machine learning and database management.�

Statistical Analysis and Mathematics: Strong foundation in statistics and mathematics, applied throughout the data life cycle. Ability to critique statistical analyses and choose appropriate techniques for different datasets.

Machine Learning: Experience with supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms.

Data Visualisation and Version Control: Proven skills in using advanced data visualisation tools and libraries. Strong background in version control systems (especially Git) for code management.

Cloud Computing and Data Engineering: Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, Google Cloud Platform or Azure) for data storage, computing, and machine learning. Understanding of data engineering requirements for data science products and reasoning behind them. Ability to put reusable processes and checks in place.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Leadership Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Applied maths, statistics and scientific practices (expert) Data science innovation (expert) Programming and build (expert)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of �52,320, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes �15,157 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours. Automatic enrolment into the , with an average employer contribution of 27%. A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30. An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue. Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.