The Role 

As a Data Scientist, you will be a technical specialist, developing and implementing a range of machine learning models that deliver tangible value to our clients. You will engage with stakeholders to translate business requirements into analytical solutions using the most appropriate data science techniques.

You will translate technical output into transparent and actionable business insight to deliver client buy-in. You are a practical problem solver and continually scan the data science horizon for the latest advances in practical methodologies. You will have good experience in a range of statistical and data science methods. You will have experience in a variety of open-source languages (Python preferred), preferably in a cloud platform (one of AWS, Azure, GCP).

This is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate data scientist to grow their career across multiple commercial sectors. To apply and grow their analytics skills in multi-disciplinary project teams and collaborate in a fast-growing data science community at Optima. In return, you will benefit from our data-science practice’s continuous learning and knowledge share ethos, helping us all to stay at the forefront of a fast-paced data-driven world. Moreover, there is a clear path to career development and promotion in the role.

Skills and Experience: 

• Background in Maths / Stats or other numerate discipline.

• Preferably a MSc / other postgraduate degree in a quantitative discipline.

• Min 2.1 degree in a scientific / mathematical discipline (STEM).

• Ability to translate standard analytical solutions into transparent and actionable business insight.

• Stakeholder engagement skills and ability to present to an audience with varied business and technical background.

• Inquisitive mind and a practical problem solver.

• Happy to work either in a small team or individually on project.

• Confidence to learn new technology stacks and how to operationalize data science solutions.

• Experience in several predictive modelling and machine learning techniques, desirably in a commercial sector.

• Preferably an awareness of value levers in a commercial setting, for example income and loss drivers in banking, profit signatures.

• Good knowledge of Statistics (including design and analysis of experiments, uncertainty quantification, range of predictive modelling methods).

• Good knowledge of ML techniques (in both a supervised and unsupervised learning context).

• Knowledge of new and emerging techniques such as Large Language Models.

• Proficient user of Python and / or R.

The Company 

Optima Partners is an advanced data and business consultancy headquartered in Edinburgh, UK. We are a practitioner-led organisation that collaborates with top consumer brands to drive transformation and foster customer-centricity through our expertise in customer strategy, innovative design, and advanced data science and engineering.

We help our clients get closer to their customers, to truly understand them, and deliver exactly the right products, engagement, and experiences across all channels and interactions. We specialise in unlocking latent value within organizations through a three-pronged approach that focuses on identifying and enhancing value for customers, within the customer base, and within the business itself. In doing so, we foster sustainable value, paving the way for consistent business growth. 

We work with leading consumer brands to tackle and overcome complex business and customer problems to drive transformation and champion customer-centric agendas. We are proud to include some of the leading UK and global brands among our current clients such as Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide, Aviva, Biogen, Eon Next, OVO, Virgin Media O2, BT, HMD Global, Centrica, and GSK. We are obsessive about delivering value for our clients and work in a collaborative, engaged, and creative way with our colleagues and clients. We strive to support the transition of knowledge and capability into strategic teams. 

In the pharmaceutical sector, we are internationally recognized for our expertise in early-phase drug discovery, genomics, and human genetics. In late 2023, we proudly launched our new division, bioXcelerate AI, which stands at the forefront of revolutionizing life sciences and healthcare research. bioXcelerate AI uses state-of-the-art data science and proprietary algorithms to accelerate the transformation of data into actionable insights, redefining industry standards.