Research Science Specialist - Scientific AI

McKinsey & Company; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global management consulting firm based in Greater London is looking for a skilled individual to join their Scientific AI team. The role involves applying scientific expertise and advanced analytics to enhance innovation in various sectors, including Life Sciences and Sustainability. Candidates should possess a PhD or equivalent experience in relevant fields, along with strong project management skills and a proven publication record. This position offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits, emphasizing continuous learning and professional development.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package

Opportunities for mentorship

Environment for continuous learning

Qualifications

• PhD degree preferred with 1+ year experience or a master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience in biology, chemistry, bioengineering or computer science.
• Deep expertise in your scientific domain, including familiarity with key data sources and methodologies.
• Experience in understanding and translating technical publications.

Responsibilities

• Apply expertise in scientific disciplines and AI to drive innovation.
• Conduct domain-specific research and provide deep research expertise.
• Mentor and coach junior team members to contribute to capability growth.

Skills

Deep expertise in scientific domain

Excellent project management skills

Strong publication record

High level of professionalism

Ability to work in ambiguous environments

Education

PhD degree in scientific field or medical degree

Master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience

Job description

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.

In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else.

When you join us, you will have:

• Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
• A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
• Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.

As a member of McKinsey's global Scientific AI team, you will apply your expertise at the intersection of scientific disciplines (e.g., protein engineering, chemistry, computational biology, medical/medicine domain expertise, materials science, biostatistics, physics) and artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning, generative AI, foundation models, causal inference) to shape and scale the firm’s scientific innovation capabilities.

You’ll be working in one of our offices in Europe in our Life Sciences practice. As a member of McKinsey's global Scientific AI team, you will help revolutionize how clients approach research and development in innovation-driven sectors such as Life Sciences, Specialty Chemicals, Global Energy & Materials, Agriculture, Advanced Industries, and Sustainability. Your work will include applying cutting-edge research methods, leveraging diverse data sources, and utilizing advanced analytics to help clients unlock new value through science-driven innovation.

Your time will be divided between internal capability building, research to inform product development, and direct engagement with client teams. You will help shape new tools, develop research-backed insights, and bring scientific rigor to client engagements.

You will conduct domain-specific research, landscape research, data analysis, transformation, and analytics to support the design, development, and maintenance of innovative assets.

You will deliver distinctive domain-specific knowledge to client service teams and clients, including the identification of the approach for domain-specific solutions, but also provide scientific and technical leadership in the creation, dissemination, and evolution of proprietary knowledge and assets including supporting manuscript drafting/publication.

You will be expected to provide deep research expertise and help shape the problem to support complex client and client service team challenges including expertise on cutting edge approaches and collaborate with product development teams by offering knowledge insights and data extraction capabilities, contributing to product roadmaps at a cellular or system level.

By keeping up to date with domain specific trends, you'll be able to lead ideation sessions, formulate hypotheses, and drive experimentation as part of interdisciplinary teams to deliver high-impact results. You will also mentor and coach junior team members, contributing to team development and capability growth.

• PhD degree preferred with 1+ year experience or a master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience in biology, chemistry, bioengineering or computer science (preference for PhD degree in scientific field or medical degree)
• Deep expertise in your scientific domain, including familiarity with key data sources, databases, and latest cutting-edge methodologies (i.e., experimental and/or computational)
• Experience in understanding and translating technical publications and published code to assess suitability
• Strong publication record or evidence of scientific thought leadership
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to drive complex, cross-functional initiatives to completion
• High level of professionalism, integrity, and independence
• Comfort working in ambiguous and fast-paced environments, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences