Senior Data Scientist

BBC Group and Public Services; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

London weighting

Career development

Job summary

BBC Studios is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to work across its lines of business, driving data-driven decision making and education. You will lead projects from concept to production, applying ML methods and collaborating with stakeholders to translate business needs into practical solutions.

You will help advance the data culture within BBC Studios, promote the value of insights, and contribute to a modern analytics capability across the organisation.

Qualifications

• Experience in a data science or closely aligned role.
• A degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science or related field.
• Hands-on approach to problem solving from theory to details.
• Strong Python programming skills.
• Experience building machine learning models and deploying them into production.
• Ability to translate business problems and engage stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Work on a range of projects supporting BBC Studios’ lines of business.
• Develop data-driven capabilities including tagging and metadata to enhance discoverability and recommendations.
• Select appropriate algorithms and data sources to solve business problems.
• Discuss and implement solutions from proof of concept to production.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, clearly communicating insights and recommendations.
• Keep up to date with developments in generative AI and apply where appropriate.

Skills

Data science

Python

SQL

Machine learning

Stakeholder communication

Education

Degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science or related field

Tools

Python

SQL

Job description

JOB BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent
LOCATION: London TVC - 2 days a week in office
DEPARTMENT: Data Insights
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £60,000 - £65,000 on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. Plus London Weighting Allowance of £5,441.The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

WE ARE BBC STUDIOS

A globally renowned media company borne of the BBC. We make and distribute the world’s most sought-after TV, audio and digital content.

Our ambition is to be the home of the most powerful, entertaining, and inspiring stories for people all around the world.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The way BBC Studios operates has changed significantly over the last 5 years. It has moved into new areas of business and alongside that has developed the data capabilities required to support a modern organisation. We have built a successful data science team and are looking for a senior data scientist to join us, working across the different BBC Studios’ lines of business.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

We have built a successful data science team and are looking for a Senior Data Scientist. You will be working across all of BBC Studios’ lines of business to understand where data science can make a difference. As data remains a developing capability within BBC Studios, this role will be central to driving data education and supporting the organisation’s cultural evolution. This role will play a critical role in the education and culture change we are bringing to the business and act as a champion for the Data Science team, promoting its work and building understanding of the value data driven insights can bring to BBC Studio.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Work on a range of projects supporting all lines of business. For commercial News, it might be automated decision-making to chose between subscription prompts and adverts, or for TV commissioning it could be developing synthetic audiences as an alternative to traditional surveys.
• Develop Studios’ capabilities to power data driven decision making, including automated tagging and other metadata focussed solutions to enhace discoverability and recommendations.
• Use your domain knowledge to select the appropriate algorithmic approach and data sources to solve a given problem.
• Discuss and implement the solution, from proof of concept to production.
• Collaborate closely with stakeholders across the business, clearly communicating insights, impact, and recommendations.
• Keep up to date with latest development in generative AI and apply where appropriate.
  

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Experience in a data science or closely aligned role.
• A degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science or related field.
• A hands-on approach to problem solving, from understanding the impact down to mathematical details.
• Good programming skills with Python.
• Good working knowledge of SQL and experience querying large datasets.
• Experience building machine learning models and deploying them into production.
• Experience interacting with stakeholders and translating business problems into practical solutions.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate your interest in this position and understand how important this opportunity is to you. Due to the high volume of interest we may need to close the application period earlier than anticipated. This step is necessary to ensure we can provide a high level of attention and service to all applicants. Thank you for your understanding.

#BBCSTUDIOS

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

We are unable to accept applications via CV and only applications made online will be considered.

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

Information at a Glance

This is your BBC

At the BBC you can create and innovate in an inclusive environment while contributing to some of the world’s best loved content, and the BBC’s mission to inform, educate and entertain.

Find out more about BBC Studios

Life at BBC Studios

• A flexible 35-hour working week with 26 days annualleave (plus bank holidays) and the option to buy anextra five days.
• Defined pension (up to 10% employer contributions).
• Caring and parenting support, 24/7 remote GP access,life assurance and accident benefit.
• BBC Studios is a world leader in operating sustainably both on and off screen. Find out more about BBC Group’s science-based Net Zero targets here .
• Career development in a values-led purpose-driven culture.

Benefits may vary if you are joining on an FTC basis.

Learn more about life at the BBC and our values in our candidate pack.

Candidate pack

You belong

We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, so all our employees feel that they can belong, thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to join us. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

Find out more about diversity, inclusion and belonging in our strategy below.

Diversity, inclusion & belonging strategy

Disability confident

We are a disability confident employer. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via email and we’d be happy to discuss: [e-mail]

BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: 01420028, registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.