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.

Please find more information about us here.

The Defence & Security programme at the Turing is looking to expand a high performing team of research engineers working on real-world problems aligned with securing the UK. Following in the footsteps of the institute’s namesake, Alan Turing, the team operates at the intersection of mathematics, engineering and computing and works in close collaboration with the Turing’s National Security partners.

As a team, we bring together cutting-edge research and motivating mission challenges, using our data science, software engineering and stakeholder management skills to create next generation capabilities for our partners. Day to day, we collaborate with technical and subject matter experts from our partner organisations as well as academics, software engineers, and data scientists from across the Turing’s research community. We present our work to a range of audiences including research colleagues, senior decision makers and non-technical stakeholders. We work with state-of-the-art cluster and cloud platforms to realise our collaborators' data science and artificial intelligence research at scale.

We are a cross-disciplinary team and encourage applications from both generalists and specialists including those who self-identify as software engineers, computer scientists, machine learning practitioners, mathematicians, statisticians or more widely as data scientists or data engineers. In particular, applicants focussed predominantly on either applied research or software engineering are most welcome as well as applicants interested in operating at the intersection.

The team practices an agile, experiment-driven approach and values a positive, supportive, and collaborative environment in which ‘radical candor’ and ‘lifelong learning’ are encouraged. We embrace failure as a learning opportunity and necessary precursor to success. We are empowered to take ownership of our work and operate with a high level of autonomy in our roles, to deliver measurable impact to our partners.

This role will be based at the hub8 working space in Cheltenham.

DV security clearance is an essential requirement for this role. Eligibility criteria and further information on the process can be found on the UK Government security vetting website.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Understand the problems of the Turing’s partners and develop appropriate approaches to solving these problems.
• Perform experiments and develop capabilities, which might include building and deploying machine learning models; applying data science, statistical and algorithmic techniques to data; building microservices, data processing/engineering systems and platforms or developing user interfaces and/or visualisations.
• Develop, implement and adapt 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 partners.
• Present, disseminate and explain our work including Documenting capabilities, processes, and systems for effective and efficient reuse across multiple domains; Presentation at Defence and Security programme events including monthly meetups and wider Turing events; Presentation at Partner reading groups, conferences and to Partner stakeholders; Publication, support and maintenance of research/prototype software.
• Work at pace, in a highly collaborative environment, using industry standard tooling for testing, version control and collaboration to create software artifacts that can be shared with Turing’s partners.
• Contribute to a culture of technical excellence within the Institute, for example by leading sessions for internal reading groups.

In addition, for senior staff only, successful candidates may:

• Provide technical project management and leadership for research projects, ensuring successful outcomes; Liaise with clients and colleagues to understand and prioritise project goals, and balancing client value with research outputs.
• Line-manage other staff within the group, supporting their career development aspirations.
• Take ownership of a particular domain challenge area or methodology for the group.
• Develop new projects in conjunction with colleagues, authoring research proposals and agreeing involvement for the group in activities across the institute.

• Undergraduate-level degree or higher in computer science, data science, mathematics, statistics or a related-discipline.
• Professional experience in a field or sector with significant use of both computer programming and advanced algorithmic, statistical or numerical techniques.
• Fluency in one or more modern programming languages used in data science. In particular, we predominantly work in Python, but demonstrable use of other programming languages (e.g. modern C++, Java, Scala, Julia, R, Javascript, Rust, Go) together with a facility for learning new languages.
• An understanding of the importance of good practices for producing reliable software and reproducible analyses (e.g. version control, issue tracking, automated testing, package management, literate analysis tools such as Jupyter).
• (SENIOR ONLY) Experience leading a project to a successful conclusion.
• (SENIOR ONLY) Demonstrable experience managing conflict and resolving stakeholder tensions.

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, no photo) and covering letter (maximum 2 pages) telling us:

• Your past experience working with code and/or data.
• Why would you like to become part of the Turing’s Defence and Security Programme?
• How your skillset would complement the activities of the team.

If you wish to share links to blog posts, public code repositories or research papers containing work that you have made significant contribution to, please add a link to those in your cover letter.

As these roles require Developed Vetting (DV) clearance, you are required to include the following information as part of your cover letter.

• Your current nationality
• Your nationality at birth
• Other nationality (include dual nationality if applicable)
• Confirmation that you have been residing in the UK for the past 5 years (if you haven’t, please provide details of when and where you resided and the reason)
• Country where you were born.
• County in which you were born.
• Town where you were born.

Please note, if these details are not provided, we will be unable to progress with your application.

For questions about the role and the recruiting process please get in touch with us at [email protected]. If you would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 3862 3536, or 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: SUNDAY 26 MAY 2024 AT 23:59 (LONDON, UK BST)

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early or to interview suitable candidates before the closing date if enough applications are received.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full-time post is offered on a permanent basis. The annual salary is £44,180 - £49,749 for the Data Scientist and £53,020 - £60,564 for the Senior Data Scientist, plus excellent benefits including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits.

This role is based at our Hub8 office in Cheltenham. 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.

Should the appointed candidate currently hold a DV clearance, a security clearance allowance will be applied, or upon the successful completion of DV clearance.

These roles require Developed Vetting (DV), the highest level of security clearance. If you do not already hold DV clearance, you will be required to undergo the process and obtain DV clearance to continue in the role. National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Please familiarise yourself with this process before submitting your application.

To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen. Obtaining and holding a Developed Vetting (DV) clearance will be an essential requirement for this role. Candidates who are not granted, or unable to hold DV clearance will be ineligible to undertake this role.

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.

Reasonable adjustments to the interview process will be made for any candidates with a disability.

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].