Principal Data Scientist I

RX Brasil; Greater London; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

Elsevier’s Data Science Life Sciences team seeks a Principal Data Scientist to provide strategic technical leadership across AI, NLP, and generative AI initiatives for knowledge discovery and decision support. You will shape architecture, standards, and governance while contributing hands-on on high-priority work when needed.

Lead multiple teams, mentor engineers, and ensure production-readiness through reusable patterns, robust reviews, and scalable workflows across RAG, retrieval, and

Qualifications

• Significant experience in data science, AI, machine learning, NLP, information retrieval, or a related field, including operating at a senior or principal level.
• Strong hands on background building AI/ML, NLP, generative AI, and retrieval based systems, with the ability to step into technical detail when required.
• Expertise with LLMs, including fine tuning, prompt engineering, grounding strategies, and responsible AI practices.
• Demonstrated experience defining technical standards, evaluation frameworks, or governance processes across teams, not just within a single project.
• Working knowledge of AI governance, model risk, and compliance requirements.
• Strong Python skills and solid machine learning fundamentals.
• Experience with large scale text or content rich datasets and modern AI/ML frameworks.
• Experience with RAG, semantic, vector, or hybrid search, and experimentation approaches that measure user impact.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms and modern software engineering practices.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with proven ability to represent technical work to senior and non technical audiences.
• Strong mentoring and leadership skills, with experience influencing and coordinating across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Technical Direction & Oversight Set technical direction and architectural standards for AI/ML, NLP, and generative AI solutions across teams, including LLM powered workflows, RAG systems, retrieval, ranking, and recommendation capabilities.
• Guide how scientific metadata, ontologies, taxonomies, and knowledge assets are integrated into AI workflows, favouring reusable, consistent patterns over one off implementations.
• Review code, architecture, and technical decisions across teams to ensure production readiness, stepping in hands on when needed.
• Unify disparate technical approaches into shared patterns, libraries, or frameworks, reducing duplication and divergence across teams.
• Standards, Quality & Governance Define and maintain shared standards, evaluation, and monitoring frameworks that ensure consistent quality, trust, and reliability across all teams.
• Lead or contribute to AI governance and compliance activities, including responsible AI practices, model risk assessment, and regulatory adherence.
• Conduct or oversee technical reviews and quality audits, identifying gaps and driving remediation.
• Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement Mentor and coach across multiple data science teams to raise capability and support consistent, high quality delivery.
• Bring uniformity and agility to distributed teams by harmonising tooling and delivery practices without stifling team level autonomy.
• Represent the data science function in senior management and governance meetings, communicating strategy, risk, and progress to non technical stakeholders.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior leadership, translating business priorities into technical direction.
• Collaborate across teams and functions to turn complex, ambiguous challenges into practical solutions.

Skills

Python

AI/ML

NLP

Generative AI

RAG systems

Stakeholder engagement

Leadership

Cloud platforms

Job description

About our Team

Data Science Life Sciences is a diverse team focusing on GenAI, ML, NLP. We mainly develop best-in-class enrichment pipelines for Elsevier’s life science .com products such as Reaxys, Embase and Pharmapendium.

About the Role

As Principal Data Scientist (AI/NLP & Generative AI), you will provide technical and thought leadership across multiple data science teams, shaping how we design and deliver advanced AI, NLP, and generative AI solutions for knowledge discovery and decision support. Your focus is on setting technical standards, quality, and governance across teams, representing data science in senior forums, and staying close enough to the work to guide architecture and delivery decisions. Hands on involvement will be occasional, on high priority or high risk work.

Responsibilities

• Technical Direction & Oversight Set technical direction and architectural standards for AI/ML, NLP, and generative AI solutions across teams, including LLM powered workflows, RAG systems, retrieval, ranking, and recommendation capabilities.


• Guide how scientific metadata, ontologies, taxonomies, and knowledge assets are integrated into AI workflows, favouring reusable, consistent patterns over one off implementations.


• Review code, architecture, and technical decisions across teams to ensure production readiness, stepping in hands on when needed.


• Unify disparate technical approaches into shared patterns, libraries, or frameworks, reducing duplication and divergence across teams.


• Standards, Quality & Governance Define and maintain shared standards, evaluation, and monitoring frameworks that ensure consistent quality, trust, and reliability across all teams.


• Lead or contribute to AI governance and compliance activities, including responsible AI practices, model risk assessment, and regulatory adherence.


• Conduct or oversee technical reviews and quality audits, identifying gaps and driving remediation.


• Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement Mentor and coach across multiple data science teams to raise capability and support consistent, high quality delivery.


• Bring uniformity and agility to distributed teams by harmonising tooling and delivery practices without stifling team level autonomy.


• Represent the data science function in senior management and governance meetings, communicating strategy, risk, and progress to non technical stakeholders.


• Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior leadership, translating business priorities into technical direction.


• Collaborate across teams and functions to turn complex, ambiguous challenges into practical solutions.

Requirements

• Significant experience in data science, AI, machine learning, NLP, information retrieval, or a related field, including operating at a senior or principal level.


• Strong hands on background building AI/ML, NLP, generative AI, and retrieval based systems, with the ability to step into technical detail when required.


• Expertise with LLMs, including fine tuning, prompt engineering, grounding strategies, and responsible AI practices.


• Demonstrated experience defining technical standards, evaluation frameworks, or governance processes across teams, not just within a single project.


• Working knowledge of AI governance, model risk, and compliance requirements.


• Strong Python skills and solid machine learning fundamentals.


• Experience with large scale text or content rich datasets and modern AI/ML frameworks.


• Experience with RAG, semantic, vector, or hybrid search, and experimentation approaches that measure user impact.


• Familiarity with cloud platforms and modern software engineering practices.


• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with proven ability to represent technical work to senior and non technical audiences.


• Strong mentoring and leadership skills, with experience influencing and coordinating across multiple teams.

Work in a Way That Works for You

We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organisation. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance, and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long-term goals.

Working Pattern

Working flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive

About the Business

A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice. At Elsevier, your work contributes to the world's grand challenges and a more sustainable future. We harness innovative technologies to support science and healthcare to partner for a better world.

If performed in NLD Amsterdam (Radarweg), the base pay range is €86,900 - €144,600. This job may be subject to a collective labor agreement in the Netherlands. Please consult with the hiring team for further details.

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Elsevier is a global leader in advanced information and decision support for science and healthcare. We believe that by working together with the communities we serve, we can shape human progress to go further, happen faster, and benefit all. We support continuous discovery and uphold the highest standards of content integrity, reliability, and reproducibility so the communities we serve can advance their field of science, healthcare or innovation with confidence. By combining high-quality content with powerful analytics, we transform complexity into clarity and deliver mission-critical insights that help professionals make better decisions when it matters most. We deliver insights that help research institutions, governments, and funders achieve their goals. We help researchers discover and share knowledge, collaborate, and accelerate innovation. We help librarians provide verified, quality information to universities. We help innovators turn knowledge into new products. We help health professionals improve patient care and educators train the next generation of doctors and nurses. Connecting quality content and innovative technologies, we make progress go further and happen faster. And by championing inclusion and sustainability, we ensure progress benefits all.

With 9,500 employees, over 2,300 technologists in 5 major tech hubs, and more than 60 locations across the globe, we are committed to supporting the scientific and healthcare communities around the world. We offer a diverse range of opportunities across technology, commercial, business, and early career jobs. If you are looking for a career that inspires progress in science, innovation and health, and allows you to grow every day, find your team at Elsevier. Elsevier is part of RELX Group. Let’s shape progress together. Join us. elsevier.com/about/careers

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