Senior Research Data Scientist/Senior Research Software Engineer

The Alan Turing Institute; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 57,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

10% pension contribution

Flexible hybrid working

Family friendly policies

Job summary

The Alan Turing Institute is seeking senior researchers to lead and mentor a team in Research Engineering. You will work on cutting-edge software tools for data science and AI, collaborating with external PIs and clients to deliver impactful results.

You will contribute across the full research-to-software spectrum, mentoring junior colleagues and helping to drive projects in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment with flexible hybrid working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Pursuing or holding a PhD in a field combining computing and advanced statistics or numerical methods.
• Fluency in one or more programming languages used in data science/AI.
• Experience delivering technical research engineering work in relevant domains.

Responsibilities

• Apply state-of-the-art data science and AI techniques to client problems.
• Collaborate with researchers to develop high-quality, well-tested software.
• Present results through reports, papers, and open-source packages.

Skills

Programming languages

Data science

Statistical methods

Mentoring

Research engineering

Education

PhD candidate

Tools

Python

R

C++

Job description

THE ROLE

The Alan Turing Institute s Research Engineering Group work to realise cutting edge research as professionally usable software tools and to apply these to address real-world data science and modelling challenges.
The Group includes a team of research software engineers and research data scientists. We note the considerable overlap between these emerging roles and embrace the breadth of interdisciplinary skills and diversity of approaches entailed in these fields. We are open to candidates with either a Research Data Science or Research Software Engineering background. The successful candidate will be appointed to the role that best aligns with their skills, experience and interests.
In contrast to traditional research careers, we are committed expert collaborators, who join research teams to further the Institute's challenges.

We create software that implements research and use it to analyse client data in a readable, reliable, and reproducible fashion. We present conclusions of research and analysis to the research community and clients through presentations, research papers , blog posts , interactive data visualisations and open-source software packages . We work with state-of-the-art, high-performance computing and cloud platforms to realise collaborators' data science and artificial intelligence research at scale.

Senior team members are responsible for leading and managing the work of the team and interfacing with external PIs and collaborators. They are able to lead efforts in a hands‑on manner and mentor others in their work. They have deep technical (algorithmic methods, computational tools etc) expertise in multiple areas and able to force multiply the work of others.

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT

• Apply state‑of‑the‑art and novel data science and artificial intelligence techniques emerging from the Institute and elsewhere to problems faced by the Turing s clients.
• Collaborate with research colleagues to develop and maintain high-quality, well‑tested software embodying research outputs.
• Present, disseminate and explain our work via presentations, reports, and well‑documented software packages.
• Working under clear guidance, is responsible for the delivery of 1-2 research projects or service areas involving one or two additional team members on a routine basis, ensuring successful outcomes.
• Supports a more senior member of the team in scoping new technical projects.
• Develop new projects and ways of working in conjunction with colleagues, authoring research proposals and agreeing involvement for the group in activities across the institute.
• Ability to mentor and support junior colleagues and provide expert technical support and guidance.

ABOUT YOU

• Relevant industry or academic experience (for instance pursuing a PhD) in a field with significant use of both computer programming and advanced statistical or numerical methods.
• Fluency in one or more modern programming languages used in research in data science and artificial intelligence.
• Experience delivering technical research engineering work under at least one of the areas in Fundamental Research, Defence and Security, Environment and Sustainability, or a related area in National Resilience.
• Experience managing, structuring, analysing and visualising research data and the results of computational experiments.
• Evidence of the ability to coach/mentor others.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full‑time post is offered on a permanent basis. The annual salary range is £57,000 - £69,000, depending on experience. This offer includes excellent benefits package including private medical insurance, 10% employer pension contribution, flexible hybrid working and family friendly policies click here for details.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

We value diversity of background, experience, and perspective, and are proud to be an inclusive employer. We warmly encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from groups currently under‑represented in our sector. If you feel passionate about this role but don t meet every single requirement, we recognise that great candidates may bring strengths beyond the criteria listed.