Women in Trading - Data Scientist

Octoenergy; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

UK perks hub

Hertility benefits

Inclusive culture and support

Job summary

Octopus Energy Trading is seeking a data scientist to help build and deploy forecasting models for the GB electricity market. You will work with Trading, Renewables, and analytics to combine internal and external data, develop end-to-end forecasting pipelines, and contribute to data-driven trading decisions.

The role emphasizes collaboration, curiosity, and delivering practical insights that move toward a Net Zero future, with training and support provided for broad skill sets.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python.
• Understanding of forecasting techniques and iteration of baselines.
• Hands-on ML experience.
• Ability to communicate approaches, strengths, and limitations.
• Understand commercial and industry concepts.
• Team-oriented and impact-driven mindset.
• Interest in Net Zero and deploying models in real work.
• GB electricity industry experience is useful but not required.

Responsibilities

• Explore data types needed to trade the GB intraday power market.
• Build, improve and maintain forecasting models for demand and renewables (GB focus).
• Identify high-quality data sources for forecasts.
• Develop forecasting framework and tooling; automate processes with checks and alerts.
• Use forecasting models to improve price forecasts and trading decisions.
• Collaborate with Trading, Renewables, and other teams to share knowledge.
• Develop software and front-end systems within the team.

Skills

Python

Forecasting

Machine Learning

Communication

Team player

GB electricity industry (useful)

Job description

Supporting women in Trading in the energy industry:

At Octopus Energy, we’re on a mission to make energy fair, clean, and simple for all using technology. To get there, we need brilliant people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives helping us change the industry.

Women make up around 49% of the overall UK workforce, yet they occupy only about 20% of UK data science roles and under 20% of positions on trading desks. In senior quantitative and leadership roles, that representation shrinks further. We want to help change those numbers by creating a collaborative and supportive environment at Octopus Energy Trading, one where women in data science can build confidence, sharpen their technical craft, and step into lead roles.

We are actively encouraging applications from women to join our team across technical and trading roles. Forget traditional Trading floors! We have a unique culture within Trading; one of collaboration and genuine care about our colleagues.

You don't need extensive experience working in Trading or Energy. We’ll give you the training, support and tools you need to thrive. Previous Data Science experience is needed, but we’d also love to hear from people with a broad set of skills.

About Octopus Energy Trading:

At Octopus Energy Trading, we’re on a mission to reshape the future of energy. As part of Octopus Energy Group, we’re creating an innovative approach to trading that will accelerate the transition to a Net Zero world. With the growth of renewables and a push toward decarbonising heating and transport, greater flexibility in the grid is essential. We are building cutting-edge technology to optimise everything from domestic EV charging to grid-scale batteries, to meet the global demand for energy flexibility.

We’re looking for collaborative creators and curious problem-solvers to join us on this journey, bringing a diversity of experience and ideas to shape a more efficient, flexible, and sustainable energy system.

With an increase in variable and distributed supply, using data for trading and forecasting has never been more important. Octopus has always had a tech-first approach, and our trading and analytics tools are all built in-house. We are looking for a data scientist who’s comfortable building data pipelines bringing together internal and external data to create market leading insights using both classical and ML techniques. This will include looking at demand, renewables and transmission system fundamentals forecasts focussed to begin with on the GB intraday power market.

• Exploring the types of data needed to effectively trade the GB intraday power market
• Building, improving and maintaining models to forecast electricity demand and renewable generation, primarily in GB but developing into all of Western Europe;
• Finding high quality, novel data sources to base our forecasts off of;
• Development on forecasting framework and tools;
• Maintaining and automating forecasting processes, whilst building in checks and alerting;
• Utilising these forecasting models to build or enhance our price forecasts
• Collaborating with Trading, Renewables, Flexibility and other teams to utilise our combined knowledge and data.
• Developing software and front end systems within our small team.

• Proficiency in Python;
• A good understanding of what forecasting techniques to use and the ability to build a simple baseline and quickly iterate;
• Ability to communicate your approach, including its strengths and limitations;
• Able to quickly understand commercial and industry concepts;
• Team player excited at the idea of impact across varied projects;
• Passion for driving towards Net Zero;
• Keen to see your models deployed and impacting real-world operations;
• Hands-on experience applying Machine Learning techniques;
• Experience in the electricity industry in GB would be useful but not required.

Why you'll love it here

• Octopus Energy Group is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We won best company to work for in 2022, on Glassdoor we were voted 50 best places to work in 2022 and our Group CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people. We’ve also been placed in the top 10 companies for senior leadership

• Visit our UK perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits

• Hertility - Access discounted hormone, fertility and menopause support, including at-home testing, consultations and tailored guidance. Hertility can help you better understand your reproductive and hormone health, with support available across different stages of your journey, from fertility and family planning through to perimenopause and menopause.

• We believe great teams are built from different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives. We’re committed to creating an environment where everyone feels welcome, supported and able to do their best work.

Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we hire. Across Octopus, we're looking for genuinely decent people who are honest and empathetic. Our people are our strongest asset and the unique skills and perspectives people bring to the team are the driving force of our success. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone.

Where necessary, we sometimes use AI tools to help with parts of our hiring process, like reviewing applications or assessing responses. We’re lucky to receive a huge amount of interest, so these tools help our recruiters manage that volume, not replace them. Ultimately, every hiring decision (for example, whether to progress your application or not) is always made by a real person in our Talent team. If you’d like to know more about how we use your data, you can reach out to us via email at [e-mail]. We’re happy to help!