Senior Data Scientist – Data Analytics and Science Hub AI Incubator
| Posting date: | 17 March 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £41,220 to £49,020 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National £41,220 - £45,400 London £44,500 - £49,020 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’. |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 31 March 2025 |
| Location: | London |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 393307/2 |
Summary
CAID, in partnership with Digital, Data Technology and Services (DDTS) is delivering the DASH programme to transform data science and analysis across the Defra group by delivering scalable, adaptable, future-ready and user-oriented services that nurture a highly skilled community of analysts and scientists.
CAID lead the community, capability and engagement elements and provide the data science expertise both within the programme and to support the analytical and science community. DDTS deliver the data and technology capabilities, primarily through the development and delivery of the DASH Platform, and its ongoing support and maintenance.
In response to the increasing demands and opportunities that evolving AI capabilities are bringing to Defra group and the successful uses of AI such as the AI4Peat project that DASH is already supporting, DASH is establishing a new AI incubator. This team will bolster and enhance the current support offer to data scientists in Defra group, and will expand the department’s capability, applying AI approaches to a wide range of use cases.
As a Senior Data Scientist in DASH’s AI Incubator specialising in deep learning, distributed computing, and geospatial data, you will play a critical role in delivering data-driven insights for environmental and policy challenges. This role will involve developing and implementing machine learning models, working with large datasets using distributed computing tools, and leveraging geospatial analysis techniques to support decision-making across Defra.
You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams both within DASH and across Defra group, providing technical expertise, developing scalable solutions, and ensuring the effective use of advanced analytics tools to maximize impact.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.
Encouraging diverse applicants
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups.
As a Senior Data Scientist, you will be expected to work on the following.
Deep Learning and Machine Learning:
- Develop, fine-tune and train deep learning models such as object detection, image segmentation, and classification to support Defra’s goals.
- Apply state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to tackle challenges in environmental monitoring and resource management.
Distributed Computing and Big Data:
- Work with large-scale datasets using distributed computing tools, such as PySpark, to enable efficient processing and analysis.
- Design and implement workflows for data extraction, transformation, and loading in cloud environments.
- Optimize data pipelines to improve performance and scalability while maintaining data integrity.
Geospatial Analysis:
- Conduct geospatial analyses to support environmental projects, using tools and libraries such as GeoPandas, Rasterio, and PySpark with Databrick’s Mosaic library.
- Develop workflows and models to process and analyse remote sensing data and geospatial datasets.
- Provide actionable insights through spatial data visualization, mapping, and reporting.
Collaboration and Support:
- Provide technical guidance and support to teams across Defra in the areas of machine learning, distributed computing, and geospatial analysis.
- Work closely with policy experts, scientists, and data engineers to understand requirements and deliver tailored solutions.
- Share knowledge and deliver training sessions to build internal capacity in advanced analytics and cloud computing.
Project delivery
- Lead projects autonomously and prioritize workload according to business needs.
- Provide leadership to more junior team members.
- Follow best practice project management and help shape the teams ways of working to best support users, for example, by sharing knowledge with the team using the right tracking channels, e.g., Jira.
Cloud Computing:
- Leverage cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure and Databricks, to build scalable and cost-effective data science solutions.
- Develop reusable workflows and templates for cloud-based geospatial and machine learning projects.
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