Data Scientist

Job summary

The Role
This is a new generalist role aimed at growing our data science capability, and the adoption of data-driven methods (including but not limited to ML/AI) more widely within the business. You will work with a range of colleagues and teams to help solve complex business problems, unlock business insight and value from unstructured, semi-structured and structured data, support data-driven decision-making and develop new data products for internal and external (commercial) customers. The role will have a strong focus on applying advanced analytical techniques to detect, classify, extract and transform semi-structured data held within legacy systems.

Our Tech stack
Backend: Java, Python and Spring Boots
Frontend: JavaScript, React and Typescript
DevOps: AWS. CI/CD, Kubernetes and OpenShift
AWS: AWS SNS, Comprehend, EC2, Lambdas, RDS, SageMaker and Textract
Data: Python, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, SpaCy, AWS SageMaker, QGIS, Tableau, PowerBI

Job description

On a typical day you will…

• Work closely with a range of colleagues to identify, formulate and solve business problems using data.
• Explore, analyse and transform complex land and property data from a range of formats.
• Develop credible rule- or model-based methodologies to discover knowledge, extract structure from semi-, un- or poorly structured data, automate the creation of model training data, train and/or adapt ML/AI models, develop internal/external data products, data-driven tools and reports, and monitor data quality.
• Contribute to experiment design, determine suitable evaluation strategies and metrics to evaluate a range of outputs.
• Document methodologies to deliver reproducible and explainable work.
• Gather feedback and monitor the continued performance and accuracy of outputs, as applicable.
• Support development of the team by participating in team development activities, strategic discussions and communities of practice.
• Contribute to the delivery of data science projects using Agile data science methodologies.
• Build understanding of Registers of Scotland data, business processes, strategic objectives and the policy environment in which we operate.
• Communicate insights and results to technical and non-technical audiences using visualisation and data story-telling.
• Build awareness of technical and regulatory standards and developments in industry.

Person specification

Essential Criteria – Skills and Attributes for Success

Essential & Technical Experience:We will assess you against the following Experience skills during the application and assessment process:

Technical Experience

• Qualified in a quantitative field like Data Science, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• Proficient at problem solving using a broad range of data analysis/data science tools and approaches.
• Experience working with a range of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data types. Knowledge of graph and/or spatial data formats would be an advantage.
• Working knowledge of common Machine Learning model architectures and training processes.
• Working knowledge of using foundational models (LLMs) to create simple solutions.
• Competent in coding for data science using common Python libraries, e.g. spaCy, regex, sci-kit learn, pyTorch, numpy, pandas etc.
• Competent at SQL querying and interacting with databases using Python.
• Working understanding of ML Ops workflows.
• Some practical experience working with the AWS stack, including SageMaker.
• Demonstrates good coding practice.
• Comfortable working in a Linux environment.

Essential Experience

• Demonstrable business awareness, with an understanding of how data science can drive value and support strategic objectives.
• Familiarity with product delivery life cycles and workflow management tools.
• Ability to convey complex topics in a clear and concise manner.
• Understanding of Data and AI Governance considerations – ethics, transparency and explainability, licensing and regulation.
• Experience of working in a highly regulated sector would be an advantage.

Behaviours
At application stage, you will be scored against the bolded Behaviours and against all Behaviours for the assessment:

Changing and Improving

• Seek out and respond to feedback.
• Work with others to make improvements and implement change to team ways of working.
• Connect own work to business goals through improving understanding of business process and data.
• Continuously develop skills through continuous role and task-specific learning.

Communicating and Influencing

• Show positivity and enthusiasm towards solving complex data challenges.
• Clearly present and explain own work to stakeholders.
• Understand the business and its customers and how Data Science can deliver value to them.
• Confident in providing evidence to influence and support decisions, checking understanding of audience.

Working Together

• Work closely with a range of stakeholders including fellow data scientists, analysts, business analysts, product managers, subject matter experts, developers, ML/AI Engineers, Agile and developer coaches.
• Collaborate with others to create and use shared technical resources, tools and support.
• Contribute to formal and informal knowledge sharing sessions, communities of practice and peer review to share insight, experience and good practice.
• Build positive relationships with colleagues across teams and disciplines.

Managing a Quality Service and Delivering at Pace

• Manage work effectively in an Agile environment, focussing on stakeholder needs business priorities.
• Manage uncertainty by tracking progress, being flexible and remaining transparent about challenges.
• Apply good engineering and data science practice consistently across projects and activities.
• Document all work to ensure continuity of service.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £50,872, Registers of Scotland contributes £14,737 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Stage one - Application Process
To apply, click on 'Apply now' and complete the online application form.
You will need to submit:

• A CV outlining your career history and how you meet the essential criteria (max 4 pages).
• Submit your response in 3 application questions, these will assess some of the advertised behaviours and Technical Experience. Please use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) in your examples.
• When the campaign will close we issue a Hackerrank assessment invitation in order to assess the Essential & Technical Experience.

Please note:

• If we receive a high volume of applications, we may complete an initial sift on Essential & Technical Experience.
• We reserve the right to invite candidates to participate in a telephone interview prior to being further assessed.
• Applications that are not accompanied by CVs will not be scored or statements over 400 words will not be considered.
• We would strongly recommend that your statement is written in the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action & Result) and suggest preparing your answers using software such as MS Word or Google Docs, and then uploading the file.
• We strongly advise you review our policy on responsible use of AI in the application process. RoS may check answers with an AI detection tool and will contact you for a pre-screening call to verify your responses.
• Applications and appointments are subject to a strict merit-based assessment process, in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.

Stage two – assessment
If successful at application stage, you will be invited to an in-person interview which will include the following:

• Behaviour based interview, we will cover and assess all the advertised behaviours
• Technical Exercise interview, with this we will assess the Essential & Technical Experience

Behaviour based interview questions will be given to candidates 15 minutes before the start of the interview to allow candidates to prepare in advance. You will be able to take short notes with you into the interview from your preparation.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : talent@ros.gov.uk
• Email : talent@ros.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : talent@ros.gov.uk

Further information

For further information relating to RoS, including:

Additional details on pay & benefits
The Civil Service Code
Complaints process
Use of AI in the application/recruitment process,
Please view our additional information page online.

If you have any questions, please contact talent@ros.gov.uk

https://ros.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/868?c=ros

Attachments

HEO Data_Scientist - Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 121kB)