Salary: £48,000-£53,000

Job Title: Data Scientist

Business Function/Sub-Function: Data and Information

Location: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds

Please note this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Role Purpose

The Data Scientist with significant expertise who will support the reporting and data‑led decision‑making for student and staff data. You will have experience in using techniques such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to build powerful data products that enhance decision‑making throughout our organisation. You will use your business acumen to understand our sector and business goals and discover opportunities where data science can have a positive impact. As a great communicator, you’ll translate complex scientific and statistical techniques into compelling visions for organisational improvement. As a data scientist, you’ll develop high‑quality code and algorithms within GBS’s data and analytics platform. You’ll integrate them into business processes and day‑to‑day decision making.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with stakeholders within our university to understand their objectives. Use your expertise to identify opportunities where data science approaches can support our organisation.
• Use a scientific approach to solve challenges that face GBS. Provide scientific data products to improve student outcomes, the student experience, and operational efficiency.
• Build and fine‑tune machine learning models. Adopt a culture of continuous improvement measuring and improving results through evaluation of the effectiveness of the models.
• Effectively communicate findings to a range of stakeholders, including providing actionable insights that drive decision‑making.
• Work closely with the Data Quality Manager and system owners to ensure the data is accurate and timely.
• Adhere to our information security policies and ensure that you protect the use of our data within your algorithms.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Experience delivering data‑science solutions for large data sets.
• Experience in programming language such as Python, R and SQL.
• A strong understanding of Data Science techniques, including ML algorithms and statistical methods.
• Proficient in building ML pipelines with Python.
• A knowledge of sampling techniques and their implications for analysis.
• Drives and encourages the practice of continuous improvement and organisational change; positively embraces change and draws out new ideas, opportunities, and solutions.
• Ability to analyse and report on key performance indicators across complex and disparate data sets.
• Demonstrated experience in creating business value using data & analytics.
• An enthusiasm for engaging with non‑technical stakeholders and establishing best practice processes.

Key Result Areas

• Stakeholder Engagement & Requirements Gathering
  • High stakeholder satisfaction from business units (registry, IT, Academic Services).
  • Clear and validated requirements.
• Knowledge Transfer & Documentation
  • Comprehensive technical documentation delivered for all designed components.
• Data Quality & Data Security
  • Proactive identification and mitigation of technical and compliance risks.
  • No major security incidents linked to architectural design.
  • Adherence to data protection best practices and institutional IT policies.

Other Information

• Demonstrate commitment to GBS values and regulations, including equal opportunities policy.
• Demonstrate commitment to GBS’s Social, Economic and Environmental responsibilities and minimise environmental impact in the performance of the role and actively contribute to the delivery of GBS’s Environmental Policy.
• Show responsibility for Health and Safety, ensuring a safe and secure working environment for staff, students and other visitors.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned.