Principal Data Scientist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity to be involved at the cutting edge of life sciences innovation in east London. This role is for a talented Principal Data Scientist to lead the data science elements of PharosAI at Barts Health. They will join a growing team which is focused on AI and reproducible applications of healthcare data to deliver innovative health care products and services to the front line. Barts Health has been awarded £4.3m as part of £18.9m in funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to support the PharosAI project by providing expertise in AI development and ensuring that data from the Barts Health Data Platform as well as Barts' local tissue bank informs the building of the new AI models. These datasets will allow commercial and academic researchers to interrogate, develop and validate AI algorithms for the benefit of people in North East London, the UK and beyond. The project touches both on artificial intelligence and clinical patient benefit.

Interview date :1st July 2025

Main duties of the job

Barts Life Sciences is our programme for using research, innovation and technologies to transform health and care services. This covers a broad range of activities from discovery science, product development and testing, and the application of new technology. Life sciences in Whitechapel is firmly based on the principles of partnership and collaboration, with patients, a large number of highly engaged primary care providers, a wide range of commercial and other academic partners, local government and the local community. These partnerships will be founded on a common ambition and desire to achieve profound health, economic and social benefit for the people of east London, the UK, and internationally.

There is a requirement for the successful candidate to additionally cover the Barts Life Sciences Lead Data Scientist role as maternity cover. This will involve providing line-management to the existing highly-competent and experienced Data Science team until May 2026, when the incumbent Lead Data Scientist returns from maternity leave. At this point, the successful candidate will focus exclusively on PharosAI.

As part of Barts Life Sciences, the postholder will have access to data and computation power, knowledge and innovation to lead the project’s development and genuinely impact patient care. We have a close network of clinical teams across the Trust, research groups at Queen Mary University of London and engaged patient groups to priorities and spread project outputs.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

“Although this position is a 32 months fixed-term contract, the actual contract duration will be adjusted to account for the time taken to advertise the post, complete the hiring process, and finalise pre-employment checks. This means the contract will begin when the candidate starts the role and may be slightly shorter than 32 months.”

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

To arrange a call to discuss this opportunity in more detail, contact Dr Sophie Williams, Lead Data Scientist) ()

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria

Experience of developing and implementing research and technical policies that have an impact on other disciplines and research programmes

Significant experience establishing and leading impactful complex data science projects with multiple stakeholders within a hospital context

Experience

Essential criteria

Ability to plan and undertake detailed workplans from high-level research ideas, within time- and budget- constraints

Experience managing, motivating and training technical and non-technical staff

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Knowledge and experience of regulations appropriate to use of patient data in research

Communication

Essential criteria

Experience of presenting research findings to conferences or other large groups

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Qualifications A PhD or equivalent professional experience in a field with relevance to data science Essential 2