Job Summary
Are you a skilled data scientist ready to make a real difference for children and young people? Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our Data Science team in Innovation Department.
This is a fixed-term, grant-funded position (supported by Charities Together) where you will be responsible for leading advanced risk modelling and machine learning projects aimed at enhancing services, efficiency, and outcomes for our patients and their families.Working primarily in Databricks using SQL and Python, you will develop models and analytical products on Trust datasets, turning complex data into clear, actionable insight.
You will work closely with clinicians, operational leads and digital colleagues across the Trust, translating real service needs into robust analytical solutions. This is a fantastic opportunity to apply your data science skills in a meaningful setting and supporting one of Europe’s leading children’s hospitals.
Main duties of the job
You will lead and manage multiple data science projects from requirements through to delivery, agreeing outputs, milestones and timescales with stakeholders. Your core work will involve designing, developing, validating and maintaining analytical and predictive models that address operational and clinical needs across the Trust.
Using Databricks as the primary development environment, you will build reproducible, auditable analytical workflows in SQL and Python, including data preparation, quality checks, feature engineering and modelling. You will also design and deliver reporting products and dashboards (for example in Power BI) to communicate clear, actionable insight to decision-makers.
A key part of the role is stakeholder engagement where you will work collaboratively with clinical, operational and digital teams to ensure your solutions are credible, fit for purpose and adopted in practice. You will communicate complex findings clearly through reports, presentations and visualisations to both technical and non-technical audiences.
You will maintain appropriate documentation and version control, comply with information governance requirements including UK GDPR and Caldicott Principles, and support colleagues through mentoring and sharing best practice.
Person Specification
Education and Training
Essential
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative discipline.
Desirable
- Further post-graduate qualification and/or relevant certification in data science, machine learning, cloud or data platforms.
Experience
Essential
- Proven experience leading and delivering advanced analytics/data science work end-to-end in an NHS/healthcare/acute trust context (or a demonstrably transferable regulated, data-sensitive environment).
- Demonstrable experience delivering analytics/data science work using Databricks (e.g., notebooks and SQL) with large datasets.
- Strong practical experience in SQL and Python (or R), including data preparation, data quality checks and feature engineering.
- Experience producing clear, actionable insight products (e.g., Power BI dashboards) and communicating findings to varied audiences.
- Experience working within information governance requirements and handling confidential/sensitive information appropriately.
Desirable
- Experience operationalising repeatable analytical workloads (e.g., scheduled jobs/workflows, monitoring, version control).
- Experience working with Azure (or equivalent cloud services) used for analytics delivery.
- Experience working in Agile/Scrum delivery environments.
- Experience mentoring and supporting colleagues and contributing to capability building within a team.
Knowledge
Essential
- Strong knowledge of statistics and machine learning methods and when to apply them, including appropriate evaluation and limitations.
- Understanding of the data science lifecycle, reproducibility, and the controls needed for safe delivery in healthcare settings.
- Understanding of data quality considerations and the impact of bias, confounding and missingness on analytical outputs.
Desirable
- Knowledge of responsible AI practices (e.g., bias/fairness, interpretability and monitoring) in healthcare contexts.
- Demonstrable experience with model lifecycle management and/or MLOps concepts, proportionate to the role.
Skills
Essential
- Advanced SQL capability and strong programming skills in Python or R.
- Ability to work effectively in Databricks to develop reproducible analysis and modelling workflows (SQL/Python).
- Ability to produce clear visualisations and reporting products (e.g., Power BI) to support decision-making.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including translating complex analysis for non-technical audiences.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including requirements gathering, expectation management and delivery planning.
Desirable
- Knowledge and practical experience of hospital systems and datasets (where relevant locally).
- PySpark experience.
- Experience with NLP and/or computer vision techniques (where relevant to Trust priorities).
- Experience using deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Highly organised, with the ability to manage competing priorities and work to deadlines.
- Proactive, collaborative and adaptable, with a commitment to continuous improvement.
- High attention to detail and commitment to quality.
- Professional, discreet and able to handle sensitive information appropriately.
- Willingness to mentor others and contribute to a positive team culture.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 02 June 2026
