Senior Data Scientist

Job summary

Working at HM Treasury puts you at the heart of government, making a difference to the UK economy and ultimately to people’s lives right across the UK.

Jobs at the Treasury are fast-paced, fun and can offer unparalleled perspective – not least the opportunity to advise Ministers on the decisions which directly determine the UK’s prosperity. Deep in our DNA is a commitment to empowering our people: maximising individual and collective impact, with interesting work no matter your role or seniority.

Day-to-day you could be supporting Ministers to decide the right level of a specific tax or line of government spending; helping maintain the stability of financial markets; analysing the long-term trends impacting the future of the economy; or enabling this work as part of our vital corporate functions.

We are a high-performing department and proud to have outstanding staff from a wide range of backgrounds. We are also a friendly, inclusive and sociable workplace that prides itself on fostering great team spirit. Our two largest offices are 1 Horse Guards Road in London, opposite St James’ Park, and the Darlington Economic Campus, which also contains eight other departments. We work seamlessly across all our sites, including Norwich, Birmingham and Leeds, as one Treasury.

We are both a 1,000-year-old institution and dynamic, forward-looking economics and finance ministry, with a strong direction set by our organisational strategy, the Future Treasury Vision. The 21st century offers huge opportunities and poses new challenges for the UK. Working at the Treasury is your chance to help the country chart the right course

Job description

NISTA

The Prime Minister has called for reform of the British state, seeking to go further and faster on renewal, and to ensure a more active government. To support these aims, the government has established the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) as its centre of infrastructure expertise, harnessing the policy and strategy insight of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and the delivery specialism of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and bringing them together to create a new, stronger and more powerful organisation capable of delivering these goals. NISTA has six objectives:

• Overseeing the government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy
• Identifying and coordinating infrastructure needs
• Unblocking barriers and streamlining delivery of the government’s major projects
• Setting standards and improving the government’s project delivery capabilities
• Providing effective assurance for the government’s priority projects
• Leading expertise on private finance

About the team

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to join a friendly and ambitious team who are always finding new ways to drive better use of data, right in the heart of central government?

The NISTA Data & Insight Team brings together data scientists, engineers, analysts and digital professionals who genuinely care about learning from each other, sharing ideas and making things happen. Together we turn rich, high-value project data into analysis, insights and tools that support people across government, from project delivery teams to senior leaders in HMT, the Cabinet Office and No10, to make decisions that shape how the UK delivers its biggest and most complex projects. Working with the Government Major Projects Portfolio, the 10‑year Infrastructure Pipeline and other project delivery data, your work will directly influence how major programmes are planned, delivered and improved.

Over the last two years, the team has undergone a significant transformation, digitising large-scale project data collection and overhauling our digital and data infrastructure. This enables us to create high-impact dashboards and analytics as well as drive the development of AI tools. It means we can develop and share quickly, resulting in rapid iterative development with our users. And we continue to evolve, improve our capability and develop our skills.

In this role, you’ll be joining a supportive, inclusive and collaborative environment, where you can grow your skills, tackle meaningful challenges and make a real impact on the future of government delivery.

As a Senior Data Scientist within NISTA's Data and Insight team, you will balance technical expertise with strong communication skills to develop bespoke data science products used across NISTA, HM Treasury, the wider UK government, and the private sector. Working closely with colleagues across NISTA's Data and Insight team, you will support junior team members, generate insight, and develop AI-enabled capabilities.

You will bring strong technical expertise in developing data science products across their full lifecycle, from initial development through to deployment and maintenance. This includes strong coding ability in Python, a solid understanding of version control using Git, and the ability to model best practice in these tools for junior colleagues. You will also collaborate with Data Engineers and Infrastructure Engineers to deploy these products, ensuring they are robust and scalable.

Working closely with subject matter experts across NISTA, wider Treasury and the Project Delivery Function, you will ensure the insight products we generate are high quality, relevant and user centric. This includes communicating the outputs clearly and engagingly, turning complex analysis into stories that help leaders make confident, evidence-based decisions and increase the value we deliver to decision makers across government.

You will be embedded within a Data Science team, supervising the work of junior colleagues, providing advice and steer to help them develop their skills and improve our product offering. As part of this, you will actively encourage a culture of data science experimentation and learning, supporting innovation days and Python clubs to upskill more junior colleagues. The role also offers significant opportunity to deepen your own expertise, both technically and in developing your project management skills, within a supportive, ambitious and forward-thinking environment.

Key Accountabilities for this role include:

• You will lead and develop your own products as part of our insights workstream:
  • Maintaining and developing a range of data science products (including Python Plotly Dash apps, Next.js apps and advanced analytical tools using ML and AI)
  • Mentor and support junior colleagues, enabling them to upskill their digital skills and empowering them to take ownership of tasks.
  • Work with a range of partners, including colleagues across multiple departments, to ensure our products are user-centric from the outset.
• Working to expand and develop our advanced analytical offering for the Project Delivery Function, including building and embedding advanced AI tools across government
• Providing guidance to team members on best practices in coding, analysis, and usage of data, including use of Git for version control.
• Fostering a culture of experimentation and learning, working within the team to upskill non-analytical colleagues and encourage innovation.
• Communicate complex data science outputs to senior leaders across government with confidence, enabling data-driven decision making.

The hiring manager will be running a candidate drop-in session to give you greater insight about the role and HM Treasury, and ask any questions you might have. If you would like to join us, use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Monday 14th September 13:00-14:00

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