Principal Product Data Scientist - Operations Delivery Intelligence

British Airways; Greater London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 104,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff travel benefits

Discounted airfares

Job summary

British Airways, a leading national carrier, seeks a Principal Product Data Scientist for the Operations Delivery Intelligence division. You will own production-grade DS products, lead end-to-end delivery, and drive data-driven optimisation across operations, using Python and modern ML tooling.

The role emphasizes collaboration, scalability and clear stakeholder communication. You will join ODI squads to build industrialised decision-support software that improves operational outcomes, with

Qualifications

• Expert capability in applied ML, optimisation and operational research techniques.
• Strong Python expertise with production-quality data science software delivery.
• Experience with cloud platforms and modern ML tooling.
• Solid software engineering discipline including testing, CI/CD and version control.
• Ability to structure complex business and technical problems and propose pragmatic solutions.
• Clear communication across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaborative working style with continuous improvement focus.
• Systems-thinking mindset with attention to detail.
• Curiosity, resilience and adaptability in fast-moving environments.
• Masters or 6+ years in data science/ML/OR or equivalent industry experience.
• 4-6 years working on production ML or optimisation software at scale.
• Experience in developing industrialised software, especially DS/ML software products.
• Experience in relevant domains (transportation, airlines, operations, networks).

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical owner of one or more production-grade DS product codebases.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of decision-support software across the full product lifecycle.
• Understand complex operational problems and identify data-driven optimisation opportunities.
• Drive modelling and system design decisions balancing time, behaviour, debt and value.
• Prototype and deliver industrialised ML/optimisation models in Python.
• Build robust data ingestion, cleaning and processing pipelines.
• Implement orchestration pipelines and CI/CD deployment processes.
• Ensure software quality through logging, error handling and testing.
• Harden algorithms against edge cases and quantify product adoption.
• Engage with stakeholders to gather requirements and feedback.
• Contribute to feature prioritisation and roadmaps.
• Support integration of decision-support products into operations.
• Communicate modelling approaches and results clearly to audiences.
• Mentor junior team members and contribute to agile ways of working.

Skills

Applied ML & optimisation

Production-grade data science

Python programming

CI/CD & testing discipline

Stakeholder communication

Problem structuring

Mentoring teammates

Agile working

Education

Masters in data science / ML / OR or 6+ years equivalent

6+ years production ML/optimisation experience

Tools

Python

Git

CI/CD

Cloud

ODI

Machine Learning

Network

Support

Job description

Salary: £64,000 - 104,000 per year

Requirements:

• Expert capability in applied machine learning, optimisation and operational research techniques
• Strong Python expertise with experience delivering production-quality data science software
• Experience working with cloud platforms and modern ML tooling
• Strong software engineering discipline including testing, CI/CD and version control
• Ability to structure complex business and technical problems and propose pragmatic solutions
• Clear communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
• Collaborative working style with a focus on continuous improvement
• Systems-thinking mindset with attention to detail
• Curiosity, resilience and adaptability in fast-moving environments
• Strong commitment to delivering measurable business value
• Masters degree or greater in data science, ML, or operational research, or 6+ years of highly relevant industry experience
• 4-6 years working on production ML or optimisation software products at scale
• Experience in developing industrialised software, especially data science or machine learning software products
• Experience in relevant business domains (transportation, airlines, operations, network problems)

Responsibilities:

• Act as the technical owner of one or more production-grade data science product codebases
• Lead the end-to-end delivery of decision-support software across the full product lifecycle
• Understand complex operational business problems end to end and identify opportunities for data-driven optimisation
• Drive modelling and system design decisions, balancing implementation time, system behaviour, technical debt and business value
• Prototype, build and deliver industrialised machine learning and optimisation models in Python
• Design and build robust data ingestion, cleaning and processing pipelines
• Implement orchestration pipelines and CI/CD deployment processes
• Ensure software quality through logging, error handling and automated testing
• Harden algorithms against operational and data edge cases
• Quantify product adoption and value capture
• Engage with business stakeholders to gather requirements and feedback
• Contribute to feature prioritisation and roadmap discussions
• Support integration of decision-support products into operational business processes
• Communicate modelling approaches, trade-offs and results clearly to technical and business audiences
• Mentor and support junior team members
• Contribute to agile ways of working, including Git versioning, code reviews and delivery predictability

Technologies:

• CI/CD
• Cloud
• Git
• Support
• Machine Learning
• Network
• ODI
• Python

More:

We are British Airways, the nations flag carrier, connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain for over 100 years. We are seeking a Principal Product Data Scientist to join our Operations Delivery Intelligence (ODI) directorate, working within integrated operations product squads to build and embed industrialised decision-support software products that improve operational outcomes across the airline. We offer competitive rewards, staff travel benefits including unlimited basic and premium standby tickets on British Airways flights, and up to 30 discounted Hotline airfares per year for yourself, friends and family. We also encourage internal growth and development across our business. We are committed to inclusion and diversity, creating a culture where everyone can be themselves and contribute to our journey to become a Better BA.