Data Science Manager

John Lewis Partnership; London; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job description

Apply on JLP Jobs - the official careers website for John Lewis Partnership, John Lewis & Partners, and Waitrose & Partners.

About the role

The core of this role is to help the Partnership make insight-driven, better informed, customer-centric decisions specifically in our Commercial, Retail and Supply Chain domains. You will work closely with teams across these domains, understanding their challenges and identifying opportunities for improvement. Your analytical skills and customer knowledge will be used to enhance decision-making speed and quality.

A Data Scientist in this role will typically address problems such as Demand Forecasting, Price Optimisation, and other Constrained Optimisation tasks like markdown optimisation to reduce food waste or setting safety stock levels in Distribution Centres. This role is within a central Data Science team supporting John Lewis, Waitrose, and John Lewis Money. We seek someone passionate about solving diverse business problems using a broad range of techniques that impact daily operations. You will play a hands-on role in developing and deploying solutions alongside stakeholders, Data Scientists, and ML Engineers.

At a glance

This is a hybrid role, primarily based at home and the London/Head Office, with occasional visits to other locations as needed. Currently, the team works from the office once a week, with additional ad-hoc meetings based on business needs.

Expected Salary: £59,000 - £85,000

Contract type: Permanent

What you will do

You will work effectively with stakeholders to improve business decisions using data science methods, managing your roadmap and deliverables within a specific business domain in Commercial, Retail, or Supply Chain. Your responsibilities include:

• Analyzing complex data sets to support actionable insights and recommendations.
• Identifying opportunities to drive business impact with data science.
• Transforming data and building models to optimise customer experience, revenue, costs, and other outcomes.
• Conveying the benefits and use cases of statistics and machine learning to diverse audiences.
• Designing end-to-end solutions for business problems, from problem definition to implementation and adoption.

Internally, this role is known as Insight Manager, Data Science.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proficiency in data science with Python and SQL, and mentoring abilities.
• Experience with ML Ops tools (Dataiku, Vertex AI), Git, and software engineering best practices.
• Passion for solving business challenges with innovative data science techniques.
• Excellent communication skills and experience working in cross-functional teams.
• Business acumen to identify key problems and optimize KPIs.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• People management experience.
• Retail and grocery industry experience.
• Agile methodology experience.
• Experience with Cloud technologies, preferably GCP.

Next Steps

• Complete the application form with a CV and answers to questions, saving questions to Google Docs beforehand.
• Internal applicants can view the job outline at https://bit.ly/InsightsMgrDS.
• Successful candidates will undergo a virtual first interview followed by a detailed second interview.
• Let us know about any adjustments needed for the recruitment process.

#LI-HEADOFFICE #LI-Hybrid #LI-LS1

The partnership

We’re the UK’s largest employee-owned business, home to John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re committed to building a happier world, focusing on retail excellence, innovation, and diversification. As Partners, we share ownership, contribute to our success, and foster an environment of kindness, respect, and inclusion. We believe in embracing differences and creating a space where everyone can thrive and grow.

Important points to note:

Some roles may require pre-employment vetting, including DBS checks or financial probity assessments. We encourage prompt completion of any vetting documents to avoid delays. These checks are carried out by registered bodies.

Apply early as vacancies may close if we receive a high volume of applications.

We support flexible working arrangements, including flexible hours, job sharing, or shorter contracts. Discuss these options with the hiring manager during your interview.