Junior Data Scientist

NRF United Kingdom; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Norton Rose Fulbright in London is seeking a Junior Data Scientist to join the R&D Data Programme. You will build foundational data capabilities, perform exploratory data analysis, and help translate data into evidence for AI-enabled products.

This is an early-career role with a hands-on multidisciplinary team across discovery, prototyping, engineering and productionisation.

Qualifications

• An MSc or equivalent Master’s in a quantitative field.

Responsibilities

• Profile and explore data to support R&D assets.
• Use SQL and Python to prepare and validate datasets in Fabric and Databricks.
• Contribute to exploratory data analysis and data profiling.
• Assist in evaluating baseline statistical and ML models.
• Support text analysis and information extraction under guidance.
• Prepare datasets, test cases and measurement frameworks for AI products.
• Collaborate with Data Programme engineers and data stewards.
• Document assumptions and ensure reproducible analyses.

Skills

Python

SQL

Data analysis

Statistics

Machine learning basics

Data visualization

Git

Pandas

Education

Master's degree in Data Science

Tools

Microsoft Fabric

Databricks

scikit-learn

Power BI

Spark

dbt

Job description

Practice Group / Department: Legal Innovation, Design & Technology - London Job Description

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm with more than 3,000 lawyers advising clients across locations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. We provide a full scope of legal services to the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions. Our vision is to be a world class business, profitable, ambitious, cooperative and considerate, supporting our clients and people through our global business principles of Quality, Unity and Integrity. With over 7,000 employees worldwide, our culture is the thread that connects us. Our strategy and culture are closed connected – defined by shared ambition, global collaboration and a one-team mindset. We believe pioneering work happens when people are empowered to think beyond boundaries, explore new opportunities and grow through diverse experiences. Alongside the right skills and experience, we are looking for people who are innovative, commercially minded, and motivated by the impact of the work they do – ready to share in our ambition and help shape what comes next. Because while individuals can do well, together we achieve something extraordinary.

Role Purpose

We are building a new R&D capability focused on developing data-driven and AI-enabled products for legal services and the wider business of law. The Junior Data Scientist will work within R&D alongside the Data Programme to build the foundational data capabilities that make priority firm data usable for R&D products, AI applications and wider firm use. You will help turn data into evidence, insight and stronger reusable data assets. This is an early-career role for someone with strong analytical fundamentals who enjoys exploring unfamiliar data, asking what else might be possible, and communicating useful findings clearly. You will support senior R&D, Data Programme and AI colleagues while taking meaningful ownership of exploratory data analysis, data profiling, analytical prototyping and the measurement of data and AI products. You will join a small, hands‑on multidisciplinary team working collaboratively across discovery, prototyping, engineering, productionisation and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Profile and explore internal and external datasets that contribute to Data Programme assets, identifying data‑quality issues, missingness, outliers, patterns, relationships and potential sources of bias or leakage.
• Use SQL and Python to prepare and validate analytical datasets in approved Fabric and Databricks workspaces, build reproducible analyses and create clear visualisations and summaries for technical and business audiences.
• Form and test hypotheses; identify where further data, enrichment, analysis or modelling could create additional value for an R&D product or business question.
• Support the development and evaluation of baseline statistical and machine‑learning models, including classification, regression, clustering, ranking or time‑series approaches where appropriate.
• Assist with text analysis, information extraction, embeddings, similarity analysis and the evaluation of AI‑assisted features under the guidance of senior colleagues.
• Help prepare datasets, test cases and measurement frameworks for AI and data products, including human‑review samples, error analysis and adoption metrics.
• Work with Data Programme engineers and data stewards to understand source data, document assumptions, define useful metrics and improve the quality and usability of data assets.
• Use Git, notebooks, tests and documentation to make analyses reproducible and ready for peer review rather than leaving work as one‑off exploration.
• Use AI agents and assistants responsibly to speed up data exploration, coding and documentation, while checking every result and maintaining independent analytical judgement.
• Engage constructively with lawyers and business colleagues, translating questions into practical analysis and explaining conclusions in accessible language.

Initial Focus

• Support the Data Programme in establishing foundational data capabilities through high‑quality EDA, data profiling and rapid analytical investigations in agreed Fabric and Databricks workspaces.
• Build confidence in data quality, metadata, metrics, baselines and user‑focused measurement for priority data and AI products.
• Surface informed ideas for what more can be done with available data, then help test those ideas with evidence.

What Success Looks Like

The Data Programme and R&D teams have a clearer, evidence‑based view of their data before investing in models or product features. Exploratory work produces useful insights, credible hypotheses and well‑documented next steps, not only charts or descriptive statistics. The data scientist develops into a reliable contributor to model development, product evaluation and scalable analytical practice.

Essential Skills and Experience

• An excellent academic record, including a minimum of an MSc or an equivalent Master's degree in data science, statistics, mathematics, computer science, economics, engineering or a closely related quantitative discipline.
• Strong Python and SQL fundamentals, including pandas or comparable data‑analysis tools and the ability to work with relational data.
• Sound grasp of descriptive statistics, exploratory analysis, data visualisation, hypothesis testing and the basics of supervised and unsupervised machine learning.
• Evidence of hands‑on analytical work through internships, research, coursework, personal projects or an early‑career role.
• Ability to reason carefully about data quality, sample selection, missingness, bias, correlation versus causation and uncertainty.
• Familiarity with Git, notebooks, reproducible analysis and basic testing or code‑review practices, together with an interest in building reusable data assets rather than one‑off analysis.
• Proficiency with AI agents and analytical assistants, with a disciplined approach to validation, data confidentiality and explaining how conclusions were reached.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Exposure to Microsoft Fabric or Databricks through coursework, projects, internships or early‑career work; familiarity with scikit‑learn, Spark, dbt, Power BI or comparable tools is useful.
• NLP, information extraction, embeddings, document analysis, network or graph analysis, or time‑series project experience.
• A portfolio, dissertation, research paper, competition entry or other evidence of rigorous analytical curiosity.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realise their full career potential. Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family‑friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. Find more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here. We are proud to be an equal‑opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know here.

Norton Rose Fulbright provides a full scope of legal services to the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions. The global law firm has more than 3,000 lawyers advising clients across locations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. With its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, Norton Rose Fulbright is recognised for its client service in key industries, including financial institutions; energy, infrastructure and resources; technology; transport; life sciences and healthcare; and consumer markets.