Job summary

The lead data scientist / econometrician provides vital data and insights to inform decisions, driving improvements in healthcare and impacting millions of people. You will lead the delivery of a range of complex projects, focussing on data and analytical aspects. You will be the lead expert for your areas of specialism, giving specialist advice, guidance and leadership on the use of data and analytics to the HEU. You will work on various research projects as commissioned by our clients under a consultancy model, which will take up to 80% of your time (this may change as the work of the unit evolves). You will line manage three people and support the chief analyst in the management and strategic development of the data and analytics function of the HEU.

Main duties of the job

Lead and deliver complex data and analytics projects, including:

Forecasting admissions/discharges to optimise resources and reduce bottlenecks. Analysing health disparities by factors like socio-economic status and geography. Using NLP on unstructured data (, clinician notes) for insights into patient needs. Applying machine learning to predict outcomes like readmissions or disease progression. Developing econometric models to assess policy impacts on health and costs. Analysing complex datasets to identify trends and solve business problems. Addressing novel, complex issues, clarifying questions, and innovating solutions. Ensuring best practices in data analysis and econometrics. Managing analytical software/systems, including procurement and improvement. Developing data policies affecting HEU and CSU teams. Quality-assuring team outputs. Acting as a lead expert and working independently within guidelines. Leading business development and data-focused proposal writing.

About us

The HEU is an NHS consultancy of 17 team members across three teams: Health Economics, Service Delivery and Data and Analytics.

You will sit within the data and analytics team, led by the chief analyst and reporting to the lead data scientist/econometrician.

During projects you will work closely across the HEU team, with data scientists, analysts, project managers, and health economists.

You will engage with our clients, partners and stakeholders throughout projects, understanding their needs and communicating your work.

ML is committed to our process of redeployment at risk members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Plan, organise and deliver the data and analytic aspects of highly projects with highly complex technical aspects, in a project leadership role. Projects could include:

o Building predictive models to forecast patient admissions and discharges, helping optimise hospital resources and reduce bottlenecks in areas like emergency departments.

o Analysing disparities in health outcomes across different populations, identifying factors like socio-economic status, geography, or access to care that contribute to inequalities.

o Applying NLP techniques to unstructured text data, such as clinician notes or patient feedback, to extract key information and improve understanding of patient needs and outcomes.

o Using supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques to predict outcomes such as readmission rates, disease progression, or patient deterioration, aiding proactive care.

o Developing econometric models to evaluate the effects of healthcare policies or interventions on key outcomes, such as patient health, hospital utilisation, or treatment costs.

Analyse complex joined datasets to identify trends and patterns, and applies statistical models to solve business problems; make decisions on appropriate methods for data cleaning, processing, and analysis.

Work on highly complex novel issues and questions which may not have precedent about how they have been tackled before. This may include fully identifying multifaceted and unclear question being asked, with high levels of uncertainty, and identifying novel and new approaches to solve our clients needs.

Follow data analysis and econometrics best practices, ensuring others do too. Lead the ongoing development and improvement of these.

Manage systems and software used to deliver statistical analysis and other functions as required for projects. This includes identifying, procuring, implementing and improving software and systems which would improve the work of the unit.

Propose and develop policies and procedures relating to data and analytics, which affect the HEU or other teams in the CSU. Implement changes once agreed with the relevant person or group.

Appraise and quality assure the analytical outputs from the team.

Act as expert specialist in own area, and act as lead expert for the HEU and wider CSU colleagues.

Act independently within established guidelines, escalating and seeking advice as required.

Independently undertake business development meetings. Lead on proposal writing, with a focus on data science aspects of the work. This includes understanding the client aims and scope of project, identifying how we can achieve this, and calculating cost.

Team-working and function development

Provide line management, guidance and mentorship to three direct reports. This includes all aspects of line management including appraisals, performance management, regular communication and support, providing personal development, demonstrating best practices and assisting with technical challenges.

Identify, develop and implement strategies to develop the data and analytics function of the HEU and wider CSU, continually improving what we do and ensuring we stay ahead of the changing environment in data and analytics, and the NHS.

Act as a lead on committees and working groups representing the HEU, especially from a data and analytics perspective. This may be internally, such as in the CSU, and externally, such as with professional bodies.

Support the chief analyst with management of the data and analytics function in the HEU.

Supervise the completion of tasks by others. This may include more junior members of staff, or more senior.

Proactively provide training and share knowledge on areas of expertise to the wider Unit, identifying where gaps exist and where our work could be further developed.

Deliver training to clients on own area of expertise.

Work independently on projects within established guidelines, with minimal supervision needed. Provide advice and direction to junior and senior members of the team, setting the standard for how others should act and work on projects.

Communication and networking

Communicate and present complex information and insights to non-technical audiences in a way which can be easily understood. This may be written or oral, and may include communicating findings which may be unwelcome to the client.

Write high-quality reports which effectively communicate our findings in an engaging way, focussing on impact and achieving our clients goals.

Synthesise multiple sources to communicate on complex issues.

Understand client needs and objectives, working with the client and team to find solutions and achieve these goals. This may include negotiating with clients to achieve a positive outcome for all parties.

Make judgements where there are conflicting views and make decisions where necessary, working with all parties to achieve buy-in.

Contribute to other areas of the HEU to support our wider development as a unit and as a team, in a leadership role.

Proactively work with the senior communications manager to help promote our work, contributing to the communications plan of the HEU and sharing our work so that we contribute to the development of analytics in the NHS.

Present at conferences to large groups to promote our work and develop the analytical capacity of the wider NHS. This includes communicating complex information and techniques in a way which is easily understood by a general audience.

Project and financial management

Lead on medium and large sized projects and work with others to deliver projects to time, scope, budget and quality.

Plan and organise highly complex data analysis projects, ensuring that timelines are met; adjust activities based on evolving data requirements.

Manage project budgets, including the cost of own time and others spent on a project. Where potential for budget deviation is identified, identify/implement remedial actions to ensure project is delivered to budget. Support the team where this is escalated to you.

Contribute towards the formulation of the HEU budget.

Horizon-scan and identify potential issues before they occur, and resolve issues where they do occur.

Follow all business processes of the HEU.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Masters degree in a related STEM subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in multiple similar settings. Significant and varied experience of extracting data, manipulating, understanding, transforming, wrangling, cleaning, and storing health data, at a managerial level Ability to write well-designed code ( SQL or Python) which follows good coding standards. Possess foundational knowledge in data science, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques. Significant and varied experience working in data and analytics functions in the NHS, at a managerial level