Data Scientist

Information Systems and Digital Services is central to where we are going as a university and what sort of experience we offer to both our professional colleagues and our students. The work we do impacts significantly on both the personal and learning experience of those who study here. We are committed to developing and maintaining highly usable, fast, flexible and personalised Information Systems services that reflect the changing needs of our growing university.

Lead Data Scientist Developer

Statistical analysis and Computing /Machine Learning/ Processing Large Data Sets /Big Data /SQL /Python or R /Data Lake/Azure DevOps

The Lead Data Scientist will be responsible for the statistical analysis and computing of the University's data. Ideally 1-2 years of experience working in the field of Data Science. The ideal candidate should have a creative and structured approach to problem-solving and strong mathematical skills and have experience of working with large data sets. The Data Scientist will be working in the Data Analytics team of data developers and data engineers that build and deliver the components of an effective Analytics platform, data warehouse database, utilising Azure Data Factory pipelines for data integration and Power BI for end-user data analytics and reporting.
This role will play a critical part in analytics team, experience of big data, KPI trends and data mining are essential. This role will encompass a mix of strategy development, and stakeholder relations; supporting the department to continue its journey to develop its data science platform on next-generation technology.

What you will be doing:

• You will be working with a dynamic Data Science and Analytics team.
• Apply statistical and sophisticated analytical techniques to optimise and improve business performance for specific business problems and use cases.
• Build and maintain the algorithms required to drive value for university.
• Provide regular support on data science projects and expand the University data science function.
• Deliver high quality data science by performing ad hoc analysis to predict, measure and interpret trends.
• Work closely with DevOps and Data Engineers to productionise and deploy machine learning models.
• Work in an agile, proactive manner delivering high-quality solutions in agreed timescales.
• Creating and validating predictive models for the business.
• Interpretation and visualisation of results to the business.
• Design and develop models and databases both relational and dimensional to support reporting requirements.
• Help mentor, steer an supervise your team from a technical standpoint and influence technical direction regarding data science.
• Help shape business requirements alongside the Business Analyst.
• Ensure that adequate steps are taken to protect data.
• Stay abreast of technology trends, state-of-the-art platforms, data mining techniques and industry trends to provide input on the client's strategic roadmap.
• Develop Proof of Concepts to prove that business requirements can be met by technical solutions.

Skills needed

• Experience working as a Data Scientist with a passion for technology.
• R/Python toolkits, preferably working with data pipelines (Or Hands-on experience coding in Python, or very strong skills in at least one other language and an ability to learn quickly.)
• Proficient with SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Expert in mining large and sophisticated data sets - both structured and unstructured extraction of data, transformation, and application.
• Demonstrable professional data analysis project experience
• Processing, cleansing, and verifying the integrity of data used for analysis.
• Knowledge of advanced statistical techniques and concepts.
• Ownership and build of predictive models and machine learning algorithms.
• A strong will and eagerness for learning and self-improvement of skills and knowledge.
• Understanding of GDPR.
• Understanding of data security.

Skills and Experiences (Desirable)

• Experience with Spark/Databricks
• Ability to bridge between technical and business stakeholder groups, translating needs to actions.

If you would like to join our people and share our ambition, we would love to hear from you.

Manchester Metropolitan University is committed to supporting the rights, responsibilities, dignity, health and wellbeing of staff and students through our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

We promote applications from all sections of the community, irrespective of background, belief or identity, recognising the benefits that a diverse organisation can bring and particularly encourage applications from groups which are underrepresented in the University workforce.

We recognise the benefits and importance of an environment that supports flexible working and are open to conversations about this, as well as any reasonable adjustments required throughout the application process.