The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health. UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will: Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities. Job overview We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic Principal Data Scientist to the Advanced Analytics Data Science Team within the multidisciplinary AA Division in the Chief Data Officer Group. You will co-ordinate teams applying a range of cutting-edge data science techniques ranging from classical statistics to generative AI. You will: use your skills to develop, evaluate and deploy data science solutions and applications that directly impact health security have the opportunity to present and author papers on your work. Leading in the team, you will capitalise on the teams’ existing collaborations with organisations across government and industry. There is much cross collaboration with a wide variety of subject matter experts allowing for interesting and boundary pushing work. Advert Current projects led by Data Scientists in the team include: In this role you will: use large language models to identify discrepancies in guidance documents evaluate large language models’ suitability for assisting with different tasks in public health design novel algorithms to process large scale anti-microbial resistance data design and deploy novel public health focused applications The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the directorate. The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation. Working for our organisation We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all. Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers Detailed job description and main responsibilities Essential Criteria: A first- or second-class honours degree in a numerate discipline, computer science or IT equivalent which demonstrates core statistical skills or have worked in a statistical/data science field and are able to demonstrate continuous professional development in statistics/data science at the same level as a foundation degree/HND (Level 5) Strong proficiency applying analytical and statistical techniques across real-world codebases; practitioner level in SQL and in Python and/or R and/or Python with fluency in Git-based workflows (branching, code review) testing and reproducible environments. Support development of coding capability across the team. Experience in wrangling, cleaning and pre-processing data in readiness for analysis, including working efficiently with large/complex datasets. Promotes best practice across the team. Designs and deploys machine learning solutions appropriate to context, selecting sound validation strategies and critiquing model limitations. Embeds responsible practices and team wide standards. Lead a team of data scientists, ensuring high technical standards and professional development. Ensure effective delivery of programmes of work and manage competing demands under pressure. Construct and deliver compelling data stories using advanced data visualisation techniques, tailoring messages to business owners, senior leadership, and forums such as conferences. Mentor data scientists in best practice including software best practice; writing functions, modular code, use of git-based version control systems and embedding peer review. Ensure confidentiality issues and statutory information governance requirements are followed robustly by self and team. Well-developed problem-solving skills and user centred approach to developing solutions. Ensure evolving user requirements are translated into clear deliverable project outcomes. Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, communicate, present and capture requirements from technical and non-technical stakeholders. Negotiate confidently and advocate for the value of data science within wider organisational priorities. Exercise independent judgement to set direction within remit, proactively escalating critical decisions with clear options, trade-offs and risk assessment while ensuring alignment with organisational goals. Demonstrate a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Fosters an inclusive psychologically safe team culture and addresses inequities. Desirable Criteria: Understanding of techniques and applications of public health and healthcare intelligence including surveillance, needs assessment, audit and information support to commissioning. Utilise a range of data sources (clinical, epidemiological environmental and socio-economic data) to support efficient management of public health incident response and for research purposes including engaging with data owners, automating bespoke pipelines, and querying and linking data. Experience of producing analytical products (e.g., software packages, automated reports, dynamic visualisations/dashboards) for decision making. Experience implementing testing code and code refactoring to reduce computational timing/required resources. Experiencing of delivering or overseeing AI projects Selection Process Details Stage 1: Application & Sift This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviour & Experience. You will be required to complete an application form. Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application) 750 word Statement of Suitability linked to the essential criteria in the form of Behaviour statements linked to each of the three behaviours below (please write a maximum of 250 words linked to each of the three behaviours) Behaviours: Leadership Communicating and Influencing Making Effective Decisions This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge and provide evidence of your suitability for the role. Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 750, your supporting statement must be no more than 750 words. You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible) If we receive a large number of applications an initial sift against the lead behaviour, Leadership, will be conducted. Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we may longlist into 3 piles of: Meets all essential criteria Meets some essential criteria Meets no essential criteria Please note, only applications that meet some or all the essential criteria will be moved forward to the shortlisting stage. Please note feedback will not be provided at this stage. Stage 2: Technical Assessment You will be invited to remote Technical Test. Assessments will be held from the 17th November 2025, please note these dates are subject to change. You will be provided with a representative data science task and data set and have 90 minutes to construct a code-based solution. You will then have an interactive remote discussion with a panel. Here you will present your outputs and respond to questions interactively. This session is expected to last around 30 minutes. The assessment is predominately designed to test your coding and mathematical skills, and the marking will align to the GDD data science framework. If you pass this stage, you will proceed to the final interview stage. Feedback will be provided at this stage. Stage 3: Interview (success profiles) You will be invited to remote interview. Interviews will be held from the 24th November 2025, please note these dates are subject to change. This vacancy is being assessed using Success Profiles behaviours, technical skills and ability. During the interview we will assess you against the below: The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be: Leadership Making Effective Decisions Communicating and Influencing The Technical Behaviours from the DDAT data science profile will be: Data Science Innovation Delivering Business Impact Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Location: This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ’s. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQ’s (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London) Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). Security Clearance Level Requirement: Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard Successful candidates must pass a standard disclosure and barring security check. IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Link below: Artificial intelligence and recruitment | Civil Service Careers This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks. This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window) For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment. For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary. For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment. You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy. Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment. Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered. Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here. Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list. The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available. Interview expenses will not be reimbursed. UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there. Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. Benefits of working at UKHSA include: Generous annual leave: -26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service -28 days after 5 years of continuous service -32 days after 10 years of continuous service -Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King’s birthday Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions. Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving. Access to a retail discounts and cashback site. We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing. We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package. Hybrid Working UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home. Disability Confident Scheme The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview. If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form. Reasonable Adjustments The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should: Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs. You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/ International Police Check If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and could be time accrued over that period. Internal Fraud check If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service. Security Vetting Please check the Security Clearance needed for the role and follow the link for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels Future location UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK. The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.