Data Scientist

Transform research funding with hands-on data science innovation.

Are you ready to dive into the dynamic world of machine learning and data-driven solutions? Are you passionate about contributing to impactful projects and collaborating with experts? Join us as a Data Scientist at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Coordinating Centre. In this role, you’ll work closely with the Senior Data Scientist to deliver innovative data science projects that enhance research funding processes, improve operational efficiency, and drive real-world impact.

Who are we?

The NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth. We are also a major funder of applied health research in low and middle-income countries.

Further information can be found at: www.nihr.ac.uk. You are encouraged to review our operational priorities and to watch this introductory video.

What will you be doing?

As a Data Scientist, you’ll contribute to the development, deployment, and optimisation of machine learning solutions that address complex challenges. Key responsibilities include:

• Developing machine learning models: Clean, process, and prepare data to build, test, and deploy models for tasks such as text classification and summarisation.
• Enhancing data infrastructure: Collaborate on creating and maintaining robust data pipelines to improve data accessibility for analysis.
• Integrating and deploying solutions: Work with the Senior Data Scientist to ensure models are securely deployed via APIs or batch processing, adhering to organisational best practices.
• Communicating insights: Generate reports and visualisations to present findings effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Fostering innovation: Stay informed about emerging techniques, tools, and best practices in data science to support continuous improvement.

Who are we looking for?

We’re seeking a hands-on, detail-oriented data scientist with a strong foundation in machine learning and a collaborative mindset. Essential qualities include:

• Proven experience with Python (preferred) or R, using libraries such as pandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch, and TensorFlow.
• Familiarity with SQL for data extraction and transformation.
• Experience building and deploying machine learning models, with exposure to natural language processing (NLP) models being a plus.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a solution-oriented approach to meeting deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex findings to diverse audiences.

Desirable qualifications include knowledge of cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure), data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Qlikview, or Tableau), and awareness of MLOps principles.

What can we offer you?

We recognise that our staff are at the heart of what we do so we make sure we look after you! As well as a generous benefits package (full details - here!), as an organisation we prioritise your wellbeing as reflected in the Mind Workplace Wellbeing awards, where we have achieved Gold for the fifth year in a row!

Our hybrid working approach helps you with your work life balance and offers you the chance to split your time between office and home working. We strive for cohesive and collaborative teams so our expectation is you spend around 20% of your time in the office. We also know that personal development is important and have a range of ways to support you.

For further information/an informal discussion: contact hei-peopleservices@soton.ac.uk

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