Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better.

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The Cities and Regions Programme seeks to advance its four core missions (mobility, land use, liveability, and digital twins) which are of fundamental importance to the Grand Challenges of the Institute, develop a technology platform that enables the delivery of the missions, and build social infrastructure around the Science of Cities and Regions. These goals are only possible by building further capacity at the Turing; increasing its relevance to stakeholders and university partners; consolidating its connectivity to other Turing programmes and activities; and producing world-leading applied research and innovation.

The Lead Research Data Scientist position involves technical leadership of projects or service delivery of a small team in areas that support significant research programmes in the Institute. The role takes responsibility for shaping the strategic direction of the project or service, delivering project outputs, and managing relationships with external stakeholders. The postholder will also work closely with the Research Programmes and play a significant role in the development and scoping of novel projects for the team that supports the research mission of the Institute.

The role will sit within the Cities and Regions Programme and work closely alongside the programme directors, three Group Leaders, and research team focused on the themes of Liveability, Mobility, and Digital Twins. It will have a major focus on developing complementary tools and techniques which are interoperable with the framework of an emerging Cities and Regions Technology Platform, in the design and delivery of which the Lead Research Data scientist will take substantial responsibility.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPOSIBILITY

• Provide technical leadership and project management on multi-person projects (2 to 4 people), guiding the project directions synergistically with other related efforts and align with the strategic research goals of the Institute. members, and take responsibility for their completion over the lifetime of the project.
• Act as the primary person responsible for delivery of a service area of strategic importance to the Institute. The Lead Research Data Scientist is expected to shape the effort to align with the strategic goals of the Institute, coordinate team activities, manage delivery of several independent areas, solicit feedback, and tailor services in response to the changing operational needs of the Institute.
• Provide leadership for the team involvement in external projects within one or more domain challenge areas
• Be responsible for making decisions regarding the design, functionality and capabilities of the Cities and Regions Technology Platform, working with stakeholders and research leaders to articulate the requirements
• Recruit, build and line manage a team, including managing one to ones supporting individuals’ optimal performance and promote professional development

The technical scope of the role involves:

• The application of start of the art techniques in geographical data science and spatial AI e.g. network optimisation, agent-based modelling, reinforcement learning, machine learning in GIS, spatial data visualisation
• Efficient implementation of complex AI algorithms for onboarding, analysis and exploitation of spatial data including synthetic generation, model-based outputs and indicators, handling sparsity, and missing data
• Innovative approaches to managing spatial data, including in real time and at very high resolution
• Distributed computing approaches to optimise resource allocation and computational speed of novel methods and algorithms.
• Novel approaches to multi-dimensional classifiers and segmentation
• Perform technical trials and evaluation of new technology components.
• Managing of data scientists/research associates working on projects in geographical data science and spatial AI
• Ensure compliance with the secure handling of data and health and safety with all aspects of their work.

• PhD (or equivalent experience and/or qualifications) in a relevant area, which will include Computer Science, Geographical data science, Physics, Engineering, Mathematics or related discipline.
• Undergraduate-level degree or higher in computer science, engineering, GIS, data science, mathematics, statistics or related-discipline
• Strong mathematics/physics, computing or geographical background, and preferably a strong AI background
• Strong background in one or more of the following areas: spatial data visualisation, machine learning, reinforcement learning, large language models, spatial statistics
• Experience developing software in a scientific computing context, ideally in Python, including the use of established libraries such as NumPy, Tensorflow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, pandas, geo-pandas,. Experience in development suites, systems and versioning products (e.g., Git, IDEs, Linux).
• Development of algorithms that enable adaptability to changing conditions in open world problems
• Interest in and/ or knowledge of multi sensor datasets
• Developing for high performance hardware (CUDA, MPI, OpenMP)
• Experience with public cloud platforms and related technologies
• Experience leading a project to a successful conclusion.
• Experience leading a research project with a focus on machine learning for GIS, spatial statistics and data modelling, classification or geovisualisation
• Ability to provide technical leadership of projects that support significant research programmes in the Institute.

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 and covering letter. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please email [email protected].

If you are applying for more than one role at the Turing, please note that only one Cover Letter can be visible on your profile at one time. If you wish to apply for multiple roles and do not want to overwrite your existing Cover Letter, please apply for the role using the button below and forward your additional cover letter directly to [email protected] quoting the job title.

If you are an internal applicant and wish to apply, please send your CV and Cover Letter directly to [email protected] and your application will be considered.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 23:59pm

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full-time post is offered on a permanent basis. The annual salary is £62,666 - £67,200 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work- turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits

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.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The Alan Turing Institute is committed to creating an environment where diversity is valued and everyone is treated fairly. In accordance with the Equality Act, we welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to building a diverse community and would like our leadership team to reflect this. We therefore welcome applications from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds. 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 find out how we can assist you.