The Institute’s Research Engineering Group work to realise cutting edge research as professionally usable software tools and to apply these to address real-world data science and modelling challenges.
The Group’s staff are research software engineers and research data scientists. We note the considerable overlap between these emerging roles and embrace the breadth of interdisciplinary skills and diversity of approaches entailed in these fields. We are open to candidates with either a Research Data Science or Research Software Engineering background. The successful candidate will be appointed to the role that best aligns with their skills, experience and interests.
ROLE PURPOSE
In contrast to traditional research careers, we are committed expert collaborators, who join research teams to further the Institute's challenges. We collaborate with scholars across the Institute’s research community to enhance the applicability of research for particular problems. We work with clients in industry, government and the third sector to turn their data challenges into research questions. We value expertise across many domains, with current members of the Group having backgrounds in psychology, mathematics, digital humanities, and other areas. We rely on this diversity to design tools, practices, and systems to harness the power of data science around the world.
We create software that implements research and use it to analyse client data in a readable, reliable, and reproducible fashion. We present conclusions of research and analysis to the research community and clients through presentations, research papers, blog posts, interactive data visualisations and open-source software packages. We work with state-of-the-art, high-performance computing and cloud platforms to realise collaborators' data science and artificial intelligence research at scale.
Senior team members are responsible for leading and managing the work of the team and interfacing with external PIs and collaborators. They are able to lead efforts in a hands-on manner and mentor others in their work. They have deep technical (algorithmic methods, computational tools etc) expertise in multiple areas and able to force multiply the work of others and collaborate with people outside the team to deliver projects and services that fit within the existing scope of the Institute.
HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT
- Apply state-of-the-art and novel data science and artificial intelligence techniques emerging from the Institute and elsewhere to problems faced by the Turing’s clients.
- Collaborate with research colleagues to develop and maintain high-quality, well-tested software embodying research outputs.
- Present, disseminate and explain our work via presentations, reports, and well-documented software packages.
- Contribute to the life of the Institute and support its community:
- Working under clear guidance, is responsible for the delivery of 1-2 research projects or service areas involving one or two additional team members on a routine basis, ensuring successful outcomes, liaising with clients and colleagues to understand and prioritise goals, balancing client value with outputs, and promoting the project or service across the institute.
- Support a more senior member of the team in scoping new technical projects, making recommendations or suggestions as needed in this process and scoping projects with oversight from the more senior team member.
- Develop new projects and ways of working in conjunction with colleagues, authoring research proposals and agreeing involvement for the group in activities across the institute.
- Ability to mentor and support junior colleagues and provide expert technical support and guidance.
ABOUT YOU
- Relevant industry or academic experience (for instance pursuing a PhD) in a field with significant use of both computer programming and advanced statistical or numerical methods.
- Fluency in one or more modern programming languages used in research in data science and artificial intelligence.
- An understanding of the importance of good practices for producing reliable software and reproducible analyses.
- Experience delivering technical research engineering work under at least one of the areas in Fundamental Research, Defence and Security, Environment and Sustainability, or a related area in National Resilience.
- Demonstrable experience of managing challenging stakeholder relationships and resolving conflict effective.
- Ability to lead one’s own work independently, including planning and execution, and to collaborate productively as part of a team.
- Demonstrated enthusiasm and ability to rapidly assimilate new computational and mathematical ideas and techniques on the job and apply them successfully.
- Experience managing, structuring, analysing and visualising research data and the results of computational experiments.
- Evidence of the ability to coach/mentor others or act as “buddy” providing advice, guidance, and feedback to help team members work more effectively.
Please see the job description for a full breakdown of the role and person specification.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV (maximum 3 pages) and a cover letter (maximum 2 pages) as PDF documents. Your cover letter should focus on the following:
- Demonstrable experience managing conflict and resolving stakeholder tensions.
- Can coordinate delivery of a project, support other team members, and ensure that the work being done meet the needs of external stakeholders, adapting where necessary.
- Ability to make independent decisions that impact a small project or service area for its duration or longer time frames, considering the wider impact of the decision.
- Evidence of the ability to coach/mentor others or act as “buddy” providing advice, guidance, and feedback to help team members work more effectively.
If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us at [email protected].
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This full-time post is offered on a permanent basis. The annual salary is £57,000 - £69,000 (depending on experience) plus an excellent benefits package including private medical insurance, 10% employer pension contribution, flexible hybrid working and family friendly policies - click here for details.
The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. We expect staff to come to our office at least 4 days per month. Some roles may require more days in the office; the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.
We encourage professional development and aim to support colleagues in attending relevant workshops and conferences where possible.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
We value diversity of background, experience, and perspective, and are proud to be an inclusive employer. We warmly encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from groups currently under-represented in our sector. If you feel passionate about this role but don’t meet every single requirement, please apply – we recognise that great candidates may bring strengths beyond the criteria listed.
We are committed to making sure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive. This includes making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or long-term condition. Please contact us at [email protected] to advise us how we can assist you.
Please note all offers of employment are subject to obtaining and retaining the right to work in the UK and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check. Full details on the pre-employment screening process can be requested from [email protected].