Senior Data Scientist

UK Home Office
Manchester
4 days ago
Create job alert

Salary: £46,062 plus an additional skills allowance of up to £11,338 pending assessment

Location: Croydon | Manchester | Sheffield (hybrid with 60% office attendance)

Close Date: 11:55pm Thursday 5th February

Job summary

Home Office Digital designs, builds and develops services for the rest of the department and for government. Every year our systems support up to 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and deliver 140 million police checks on people, vehicles and property.

Senior Data Scientists provide technical advice and guidance to project teams, specialising in various Data Science areas within government. You’ll work on high-profile projects, engaging with senior stakeholders to promote the value of Data Science. With expertise in advanced techniques, you’ll contribute to the wider Data Science community and mentor junior staff, fostering their development and ensuring best practices are followed across projects.

You’ll get to work with some of the largest and most varied datasets around, and benefit from a wealth of continuous professional development resources and career opportunities. You’ll play a key role in delivering joined-up, intelligent services that unlock the value from data and deliver better outcomes for the UK.

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will be a recognised authority on a number of data science specialisms within government, with some knowledge of cutting-edge techniques.

You will be challenged to undertake work in our Automation Centre on delivering AI at scale, supporting the roll out of emerging AI technology and products to help automate and streamline processes for teams across the Home Office.

Main responsibilities
  • Developing knowledge of cutting-edge techniques and sharing knowledge of data science within the Data Science team.
  • Creating data science products which are proportionate to the business benefit and achieve significant impact.
  • Presenting analysis and visualisations in a clear way to communicate complex messages to technical and non-technical audiences outside of the Data Science team.
  • Supporting the evolution of data governance and ensuring that both project teams and users of the products apply core Data Science ethical frameworks in their business area.
  • Designing, coding, testing, correcting and documenting moderate to complex programmes and scripts from agreed specifications and subsequent iterations, using agreed standards and tools.
  • Working with data engineers to map, produce, transform and test new data feeds for data owners and consumers, selecting the most appropriate tools and techniques.
Essential skills
  • Proficiency in Python or R and in version control (Git).
  • Cloud Platform experience (Azure, AWS).
  • A deep understanding of a range of Data Science techniques and the ability to apply them effectively.
  • Proven ability to work within multi-disciplinary teams, (e.g. engineers, architects).
  • Ability to clearly communicate complex analyses to both technical and non-technical audiences, ensuring impact and understanding.
  • Track record of identifying opportunities for innovation and actively sharing knowledge and best practices with colleagues.
  • A civil service pension with employer contribution rates of at least 28.97%.
  • In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
  • The ability to potentially adopt flexible working options that suit your work/life balance, plus the opportunity in future to take a career break.
  • 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service.
  • Eight days public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
  • 26 weeks maternity, adoption or shared parental leave at full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks’ unpaid, after qualifying service.
  • Maternity and adoption support leave (also known as paternity leave) of two weeks full pay, after qualifying service.
  • Paid leave for fostering approval processes, support when a child is substantively placed with you plus a foster to adopt policy.
  • Support for guardians and kinship carers.
  • Corporate membership of ‘Employers for Carers’ providing additional information and advice for carers, plus a ‘Carer’s Passport’ to discuss workplace needs and underpin supportive conversations.
  • Time off to deal with emergencies and certain other unplanned special circumstances.

Please click on apply now to be redirected to the full job advert and our application portal


#J-18808-Ljbffr

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist - National Security (TIRE) based in Cheltenham/Hybrid

Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist

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.

What Hiring Managers Look for First in Machine Learning Job Applications (UK Guide)

Whether you’re applying for machine learning engineer, applied scientist, research scientist, ML Ops or data scientist roles, hiring managers scan applications quickly — often making decisions before they’ve read beyond the top third of your CV. In the competitive UK market, it’s not enough to list skills. You must send clear signals of relevance, delivery, impact, reasoning and readiness for production — and do it within the first few lines of your CV or portfolio. This guide walks you through exactly what hiring managers look for first in machine learning applications, how they evaluate CVs and portfolios, and what you can do to improve your chances of getting shortlisted at every stage — from your CV and LinkedIn profile to your cover letter and project portfolio.

MLOps Jobs in the UK: The Complete Career Guide for Machine Learning Professionals

Machine learning has moved from experimentation to production at scale. As a result, MLOps jobs have become some of the most in-demand and best-paid roles in the UK tech market. For job seekers with experience in machine learning, data science, software engineering or cloud infrastructure, MLOps represents a powerful career pivot or progression. This guide is designed to help you understand what MLOps roles involve, which skills employers are hiring for, how to transition into MLOps, salary expectations in the UK, and how to land your next role using specialist platforms like MachineLearningJobs.co.uk.

The Skills Gap in Machine Learning Jobs: What Universities Aren’t Teaching

Machine learning has moved from academic research into the core of modern business. From recommendation engines and fraud detection to medical imaging, autonomous systems and language models, machine learning now underpins many of the UK’s most critical technologies. Universities have responded quickly. Machine learning modules are now standard in computer science degrees, specialist MSc programmes have proliferated, and online courses promise to fast-track careers in the field. And yet, despite this growth in education, UK employers consistently report the same problem: Many candidates with machine learning qualifications are not job-ready. Roles remain open for months. Interview processes filter out large numbers of applicants. Graduates with strong theoretical knowledge struggle when faced with practical tasks. The issue is not intelligence or effort. It is a persistent skills gap between university-level machine learning education and real-world machine learning jobs. This article explores that gap in depth: what universities teach well, what they routinely miss, why the gap exists, what employers actually want, and how jobseekers can bridge the divide to build successful careers in machine learning.