Job ref: 209466
TPR grade: TDD 9 - Lead Associate
About us
More than half the UK working population rely on The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to regulate their retirement savings. With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation that will impact on millions of lives for decades to come.
Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2 trillion of savings safe. We’re committed to bringing people into TPR who are ready to make a difference and put UK savers at the heart of what we do.
It is important to us that TPR remains a great place to work. We do all we can to help our people reach their full potential with learning, secondment, and development opportunities. We put our 900+ employees first, supporting flexible working and offer a diverse, lively, and inclusive environment. This includes our Disability Network, Family Network, LGBT+ Network (Proud), Minority Ethnic (ME) Network and Women’s Network, which offer spaces to connect.
Our new corporate strategy outlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the industry. We are at the start of that journey. Join us to find out what part you can play.
We operate a hybrid working model, with regular attendance in our Brighton office to connect with colleagues across the business.
Role
We’re looking for a Junior Data Scientist to help us put the saver at the heart of all that we do.
As a regulator, we have plenty of data – a pool which contains scheme information, metrics from the outside world, and our own internal sources.
What we’re looking for is someone who can turn that data into a compelling picture which helps guide our business decisions. You’ll need to be a lateral thinker – using complex maths and predictive models to create compelling visualisations. But more than that – you’ll need to be able to tell succinct stories with the images you’re creating, bringing insights to the fore which enable a data-driven business response.
No two days will be the same and occasionally the approach you take won’t be a binary option. But if the past is anything to go by, you’ll play a vital part in building bespoke data tools which will be used to help savers for many months and years to come.
Responsibilities
As Junior Data Scientist, you will:
- Support advanced analytics: Assist Senior Data Scientists in delivering advanced analytics, including machine learning and natural language processing.
- Analytical product delivery: Provide advanced analytical products to internal stakeholders with minimal supervision, ensuring high quality and accuracy.
- Data manipulation and modelling: Use a range of programming languages and statistical techniques to manipulate large, complex, and unstructured datasets, producing robust statistical and econometric models.
- Stakeholder communication and storytelling: Effectively communicate findings with key stakeholders throughout the business, translating complex data insights into actionable recommendations. Draw insights from data and present them with strong plain-English narratives, using clear and compelling data visualisations, with explanations for decision-makers.
- Mentorship: Develop Apprentice and Intern Data Scientists by specifying and overseeing discrete work packages aligned with their development plans.
- Programme management: Contribute to the implementation of change programmes and ongoing professionalism of the team as a hub of advanced data science expertise.
- Innovation, automation, and predictive modelling: Identify innovative areas for automation and insight, leading the delivery of analytical pieces with minimal supervision. Build predictive models that help TPR achieve its strategic goals by writing code that meets software development standards.
Essential and desirable criteria
Essential
- Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, STEM, or a similar quantitative subject, or equivalent professional experience.
- Proven ability to apply mathematics and statistical methods to solve problems, conduct exploratory data analysis and hypothesis testing to draw conclusions about your work.
- Working knowledge of writing, testing, and running code in open source programming languages (R, and/or Python) to build data, and Microsoft Power BI (or similar data visualisation tools).
- Experience of developing and deploying machine learning models to automate business processes and create efficiencies.
- Ability to manage data science projects, with support from other data scientists, including managing stakeholders and working with other contributors.
- Ability to communicate technical findings and approaches in a non-technical but rigorous manner.
Desirable
- Knowledge of delivering Data Science efficiently and at scale within a cloud platform, including developing and deploying AI models and working within a CI/CD environment.
- Experience with building and deploying interactive apps using an R or Python-based package (for example, Shiny, Streamlit, Flask).
Person specification
- Proactive and flexible.
- Ability to prioritise and use initiative, to deliver products on time.
- Problem solving and analytical skills, including owning your professional development.
- Communication skills at all levels.
- Attention to detail and accuracy.
Salary and benefits
As well as a salary starting from £36,450, we offer:
- Civil Service Pension arrangements, which are recognised as some of the best in the pensions world
- discretionary bonus arrangements
- access to performance related pay progression
- 25 days annual leave provision
- flexible working arrangements
- development opportunities
- enhanced parental leave arrangements
- a free employee assistance programme
- an excellent office location in Brighton
How to apply
To apply please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.uk quoting role reference number 209466 along with:
- a covering letter with details of how your skills and experience meet the role requirements
- a copy of your CV
- details of your notice period
Current employees in their first 12 months of employment who want to apply for this vacancy should first contact their line manager to discuss their application.
We are an inclusive employer and offer equal opportunities regardless of an individual’s age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention and development of people with disabilities and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview.
Applications will be considered on a part time and job share basis.
In accordance with Home Office guidance, the successful candidate will be required to provide their right to work in the UK before they start employment. Unfortunately, TPR is not able to offer sponsorship at the time. TPR is a UK-based organisation with a working location in Brighton, candidates must live in the UK to be employed by us.
TPR is an arm’s length government body and part of the public service.
Any offer of employment will be subject to the receipt of satisfactory background screening checks and criminal record checks (BPSS).
Whilst it is our aim to respond to all applicants, if you have not heard from us within 21 days of the advert closing, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Specific feedback will only be provided if you have attended an interview or assessment.
If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.uk.