Director Data Science

Better Placed Ltd - A Sunday Times Top 10 Employer!
London
2 days ago
Create job alert

Director, Data Science & Biomarkers (Healthcare AI)

London HQ - Mostly onsite 1-2 days WFH if required

£130,000 to £170,000 base + meaningful equity



My client is a well-funded, early-stage precision health company building a deeply technical AI platform at the intersection of biomarkers, healthcare data and machine learning.

They are now looking to appoint a Director, Data Science & Biomarkers as a founding-level hire. This individual will be the senior technical owner for applied data science and machine learning, with responsibility for taking core scientific ideas and turning them into scalable, production-grade systems.


This is a hands-on role first and foremost. The business needs someone who is comfortable coding, architecting and unblocking work in the early phase, while also setting technical direction and standards as the team grows.


The role

This position sits at the centre of product, clinical and engineering leadership. You will own the end-to-end data and ML stack for biomarkers and healthcare, from modelling and experimentation through to deployment in real-world products.


Roughly 60% of the role is applied data science and ML, focused on biomarker modelling, healthcare data and experimentation. The remaining 40% is ML engineering, backend development and architecture, ensuring models are productionised, scalable and robust.

Architectural ownership is key. This is not a pure research role.


What they’re looking for

  • A strong applied background in data science and machine learning, ideally within healthcare, biomarkers, biomedical data, wearables or adjacent domains
  • PhD-level depth preferred, with a track record of shipping work beyond academia
  • Proven experience taking ML models into real products or clinical workflows
  • Deep hands-on capability in Python and the modern data science stack, including PyTorch
  • Experience designing and owning end-to-end ML systems, including training and inference pipelines
  • Comfortable working in ambiguity and building from first principles in an early-stage environment


What you’ll be doing

  • Own and evolve the company’s core biomarker and healthcare ML systems
  • Drive applied modelling, experimentation and validation using healthcare data
  • Architect and implement scalable training and inference pipelines
  • Work closely with product and clinical stakeholders to translate science into outcomes
  • Remain hands-on initially, while gradually shaping team structure and technical direction


This role would suit someone who wants to stay close to the science and the code, but who also has the ambition to build something foundational. It’s an opportunity to take ownership of a critical technical pillar in a business aiming to define a new category in precision health.

For an informal discussion, apply with your CV.

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Director Data Science

Director Data Science

Principal Data Scientist

Director of Data Science

Director of Data Science

Senior Director of Data Science & Insights

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Neurodiversity in Machine Learning Careers: Turning Different Thinking into a Superpower

Machine learning is about more than just models & metrics. It’s about spotting patterns others miss, asking better questions, challenging assumptions & building systems that work reliably in the real world. That makes it a natural home for many neurodivergent people. If you live with ADHD, autism or dyslexia, you may have been told your brain is “too distracted”, “too literal” or “too disorganised” for a technical career. In reality, many of the traits that can make school or traditional offices hard are exactly the traits that make for excellent ML engineers, applied scientists & MLOps specialists. This guide is written for neurodivergent ML job seekers in the UK. We’ll explore: What neurodiversity means in a machine learning context How ADHD, autism & dyslexia strengths map to ML roles Practical workplace adjustments you can ask for under UK law How to talk about neurodivergence in applications & interviews By the end, you’ll have a clearer sense of where you might thrive in ML – & how to turn “different thinking” into a genuine career advantage.

Machine Learning Hiring Trends 2026: What to Watch Out For (For Job Seekers & Recruiters)

As we move into 2026, the machine learning jobs market in the UK is going through another big shift. Foundation models and generative AI are everywhere, companies are under pressure to show real ROI from AI, and cloud costs are being scrutinised like never before. Some organisations are slowing hiring or merging teams. Others are doubling down on machine learning, MLOps and AI platform engineering to stay competitive. The end result? Fewer fluffy “AI” roles, more focused machine learning roles with clear ownership and expectations. Whether you are a machine learning job seeker planning your next move, or a recruiter trying to build ML teams, understanding the key machine learning hiring trends for 2026 will help you stay ahead.

Machine Learning Recruitment Trends 2025 (UK): What Job Seekers Need To Know About Today’s Hiring Process

Summary: UK machine learning hiring has shifted from title‑led CV screens to capability‑driven assessments that emphasise shipped ML/LLM features, robust evaluation, observability, safety/governance, cost control and measurable business impact. This guide explains what’s changed, what to expect in interviews & how to prepare—especially for ML engineers, applied scientists, LLM application engineers, ML platform/MLOps engineers and AI product managers. Who this is for: ML engineers, applied ML/LLM engineers, LLM/retrieval engineers, ML platform/MLOps/SRE, data scientists transitioning to production ML, AI product managers & tech‑lead candidates targeting roles in the UK.