Spatial Data Scientist

Oxford Economics; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Healthcare

Employee Assistance Program

Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave

Workplace Nursery Scheme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Hybrid/Flexible Working

Team Gatherings and Connection Boost!

Job summary

Oxford Economics, a global leader in city and regional economic analysis, seeks a Spatial Data Scientist in London to advance location intelligence research. You will design spatial models, forecast methodologies, and geospatial data pipelines across a range of datasets such as census and satellite indicators.

You will contribute to machine learning applications, map-based visualisations, and interactive dashboards while communicating complex results to non-specialists.

Qualifications

• Degree in economics, geography, data science, statistics, or related field (postgraduate preferred).
• Strong proficiency in Python for spatial data analysis and geospatial toolkits.
• Experience with vector/raster data, spatial indexing, and coordinate reference systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and build spatial economic models to analyse urban performance and geographic drivers.
• Develop city, regional, and sub-national forecasting methodologies.
• Build Python-based data pipelines to process large geospatial datasets.

Skills

Python for spatial data

Data visualization

Git workflows

Written communication

Project management

Geospatial concepts

APIs & cloud data

Education

Postgraduate degree preferred

Tools

geopandas

shapely

polars

folium

duckdb

OSMnx

Git

Job description

Oxford Economics is a global leader in city and regional economic analysis, combining advanced data science with deep economic expertise. Our Cities Team forecasts thousands of locations worldwide, integrating economic models with geospatial analytics to drive decision‑making across real estate, financial services, government, and beyond. We are seeking a Spatial Data Scientist to contribute to our growing portfolio of location intelligence research and geospatial modelling work.

Department: Cities & Regions

Location: London, UK

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build spatial economic models to analyse urban economic performance, spatial disparities, and geographic drivers of economic activity
• Contribute to the development of city, regional, and sub‑national forecasting methodologies.
• Build and maintain Python-based data pipelines to process, integrate, and analyse large geospatial datasets.
• Work with a wide range of data sources, such as Census data, satellite‑derived indicators, global buildings and transport datasets, administrative boundaries, and Oxford Economics forecasts
• Apply machine learning techniques for classification and regression tasks on spatial and economic data
• Conduct advanced spatial analyses, like geographically weighted regression, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and spatial autoregressive modelling
• Support the development of scalable location intelligence products, digital tools, and analytical workflows. Contribute to location intelligence tools and products, including map‑based visualisations and interactive dashboards
• Prepare clear written outputs to communicate technical findings to non‑specialist audiences
• Collaborate across the Cities Team and with other Oxford Economics teams on cross‑functional projects

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

We are open to candidates at an early‑to‑mid career stage, including those with postgraduate research experience, who can demonstrate strong quantitative and programming skills alongside an interest in cities, regions, and economic analysis. We are looking for someone technically capable, curious, and keen to develop in a research‑led environment.

• Degree in economics, geography, data science, statistics, or a closely related discipline (postgraduate preferred)
• Strong proficiency in Python for spatial data analysis. Experience working with packages like geopandas, shapely, polars, folium, duckdb, OSMnx and developing modern version‑controlled workflows using Git or similar systems.
• Experience working with vector/raster data, spatial indexing, and coordinate reference systems Experience building reproducible analytical workflows and data pipelines.
• Knowledge of socioeconomic concepts relevant to sub‑national analysis is highly desirable
• Experience working with APIs, cloud‑hosted datasets, or large tabular/geospatial data at scale
• Competent with data visualisation tools
• Strong written communication: ability to distil technical results into clear, accessible outputs
• Ability to manage own workload across multiple concurrent projects
• Genuine interest in cities, regions, urban economics, location intelligence, or related fields.

Desirable extras:

Knowledge of economics, economic geography, urban economics, regional economics, or economic forecasting. Experience with geospatial APIs (Mapbox, Google Maps Platform, OpenStreetMap, R5), exposure to EViews or similar econometric software, or experience building interactive web tools.

Job Benefits

• Private Healthcare
• Employee Assistance Program
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Workplace Nursery Scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Hybrid/Flexible Working
• Team Gatherings and Connection Boost!