Principal Data Scientist / Lead Data Science Manager We are partnering with a high impact engineering and technology consultancy to hire a senior data science leader who combines deep technical expertise with strong people leadership and real world delivery experience. This role suits someone who enjoys staying hands on while leading teams, shaping data driven products and working closely with senior stakeholders to solve complex, high value problems. The role You will take ownership of end to end data science delivery across multiple projects, from early concept and methodological design through to production deployment and client adoption. You will act as the technical authority on projects, guiding teams on modelling approaches, data strategy and solution design while ensuring outputs are commercially valuable and robust. Alongside delivery, you will play a key role in building and developing a high performing data science function. This includes mentoring early and mid career data scientists, contributing to hiring decisions, supporting career development and helping shape longer term capability and growth plans. You will work directly with senior stakeholders and project sponsors, translating complex analytical outputs into clear insights, recommendations and decisions. There is also an opportunity to contribute to bids, proposals and the technical shaping of future work. What you will be doing Leading the design and delivery of data science and machine learning solutions including statistical modelling, NLP and bespoke algorithms Owning data products through the full lifecycle from concept to rollout Managing and mentoring multidisciplinary teams of data scientists and engineers Providing technical oversight, code review and methodological guidance Engaging with senior business stakeholders to define problems and demonstrate value Translating analysis into clear insights through visualisation, reports and presentations Supporting recruitment, resourcing and capability development within the data science team Contributing to proposals, technical scoping and future pipeline development What we are looking for Significant experience in senior or principal level data science roles Strong background in applied machine learning and statistical modelling in production environments Proven experience leading and mentoring data science teams Comfort working hands on with complex datasets while also operating at a strategic level Experience delivering data driven solutions within engineering, infrastructure, transport or similarly complex domains Excellent stakeholder communication skills with the ability to bridge technical and non technical audiences Technical skills Python and modern data science libraries such as pandas, scikit learn and NLP tooling Strong statistical modelling background SQL and experience working with large, complex datasets Cloud platforms such as Azure or AWS Experience with Databricks or similar data platforms Exposure to Spark, geospatial data or time series analysis is highly desirable Why this role Genuine technical leadership rather than a pure management post Opportunity to shape teams, strategy and delivery standards High trust environment with complex, meaningful projects Clear scope for long term growth and influence We would underscore the need for management experience in this role. You should be able to clearly demonstrate where you have lead teams recently. Technical nous and management skills are both of equal importance here. For more information on the client / team. Feel free to contact Ryan Quinn directly on LinkedIN. Skills: Data Science Director Manager Benefits: Work From Home Bonus