Principal Data Scientist

Organisation Leeds United FC Salary Up to £90,000 per annum Location Elland Road Stadium, Elland Road, Leeds, LS11 0ES Contract type Permanent (Full time) Closing date 6 June 2025 Job Description Role Summary
The Football Department at Leeds United is working to create bespoke intelligence to enhance player recruitment. We are looking for individuals who will lead our most challenging R&D projects and provide technical leadership on our data science and modelling capabilities.

Role Responsibilities
• Lead advanced research projects to enhance our analytical capabilities, evolving football analytics in the professional game i.e. On and Off Ball Value, Scanning Metrics from Pose Data
• Lead the development and implementation of cutting-edge predictive models, machine learning and deep learning algorithms, and statistical techniques (e.g. Markov chain & Bayesian Inference).
• Enhanced feature development through biomechanical and physics-based modelling
• Provide leadership in designing and implementing robust R&D infrastructure, ensuring scalability, security, and efficiency in handling large volumes of data.

Required Relevant Experience
• 5+ years professional experience in sport (club/data provider/consultancy), with a good understanding of the landscape of football analytics
• Led R&D and data science projects from ideation to model deployment at scale.

Required Technical Skills
• High-Level proficiency in using Python for feature development and modelling
• Confident in working with large 2D tracking and desirably “Pose” estimation datasets
• Proficient football literacy and able to discuss the game at a technical level for development of football models and explaining them to non-technical stakeholders in an intuitive way
• Experience working with cloud infrastructure (e.g. AWS Lambda).