Data Scientist

Hays Technology
London, United Kingdom
Yesterday
£600 – £1,000 pd

Salary

£600 – £1,000 pd

Posted
18 Apr 2026 (Yesterday)

Data Scientist - Operational & Optimisation-Focused AI

£700+ per day | Inside IR35 | Long-term programme (2-3 years)

I'm currently looking for Data Scientists to join a highly capable, collaborative team working on real operational problems at serious scale within a well‑established, commercially driven organisation.This is a role for someone who enjoys building things that actually run the business - not experiments that sit on a slide deck. You'll be working on postoptimization, decision‑making problems where the output of your models directly affects cost, performance, and customer outcomes every day.

Location & Contract

Rate: £700+ per day (Inside IR35, depending on experience)

Contract: Rolling 6‑month contracts, with a realistic 2-3 year roadmap of work

Working pattern: Hybrid - 2-3 days per week onsite in West London / Paddington area and West Drayton

Start: ASAP (subject to onboarding)

What the role is really about

In this role, you won't be siloed away from the business. You'll be embedded alongside engineers and operational stakeholders, working on problems where data science is central to how decisions are made, not just how performance is reported.You will:

Design and build optimisation, predictive, and prescriptive models that support live operational decision‑making

Work on problems where multiple constraints, trade‑offs, and dependencies matter (cost, service levels, experience, risk)

Take solutions from idea → model → production, and stay involved once they're live

Iterate based on real‑world performance and business feedback, not theoretical metrics

Explain why a model behaves as it does and help the business trust and use it

A good way to think about this role: you are shaping the engine that runs day‑to‑day operations, not creating insights for someone else to interpret later.

I'm particularly keen to speak to you if your background includes:

Hands‑on data science using Python, ML Frameworks and modern tooling

Experience with optimisation, simulation, machine learning, or advanced analytics applied to real systems

Clear examples of models you've personally built and put into production, not just prototyped

Working with engineers to deploy, monitor, and improve solutions over time

Operating in commercial, corporate environments where decisions have financial and operational consequences

Experience in supply chain, logistics, asset management, scheduling, or similar domains is useful - but what really matters is how you think about operational problems.

Why this role is worth a conversation

The work is meaty, operational, and genuinely impactful

You'll be surrounded by people who understand and value good data science

There's long‑term stability (not a short "fire‑and‑forget" contract)

You get to see your work run at scale, improve, and evolve

A quick but important note on CVs

This is a specialist role, and CVs that read as academic, R&D‑only, or proof‑of‑concept‑focused tend not to land well. Please make sure your CV clearly shows:

What you personally built

How it was used in production

What measurable impact it had on the business

CVs that make that clear tend to stand out very quickly. If you enjoy solving hard, real‑world problems and want your models to matter, I think this is well worth exploring.If you'd like to talk it through, I'd be very happy to have a conversation.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at (url removed)

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Data Scientist

Hays Technology London, United Kingdom
£600 – £1,000 pd

Data Scientist

Faculty London, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Data Scientist

Data Idols Farringdon, Greater London, London, EC1M 4BJ, United Kingdom
£85,000 – £95,000 pa

Data Scientist

Vallum Associates London, United Kingdom

Data Scientist

Randstad Technologies Recruitment London, United Kingdom

Data Scientist

Access Computer Consulting City of London, United Kingdom

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Data Science Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Advertising data science jobs in the UK requires a different approach to most technical hiring. Data science spans a broad and often misunderstood spectrum — from statistical modelling and experimental design through to machine learning engineering, product analytics and AI research. The strongest candidates identify firmly with specific subdisciplines and are frustrated by adverts that conflate data scientist with data analyst, business intelligence developer or machine learning engineer. General job boards produce high application volumes for data roles but consistently fail to match specialist data science profiles with the right opportunities. This guide, published by DataScienceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise data science roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

New Data Science Employers to Watch in 2026: UK and International Companies Leading Analytics and AI Innovation

Data science has emerged as one of the most transformative forces across industries, turning raw information into actionable insights, predictive models, and AI-powered solutions. In 2026, the UK is witnessing a surge in organisations where data science is not just a support function but the core of their products and services. For professionals exploring opportunities on www.DataScience-Jobs.co.uk , identifying these employers early can provide a competitive advantage in a market with high demand for advanced analytics and machine learning expertise. This article highlights new and high-growth data science employers to watch in 2026, focusing on UK startups, scale-ups, and global firms expanding their data science operations locally. All of the companies included have recently raised investment, won high-profile contracts, or significantly scaled their analytics teams.

How Many Data Science Tools Do You Need to Know to Get a Data Science Job?

If you’re trying to break into data science — or progress your career — it can feel like you are drowning in names: Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch, SQL, Spark, AWS, Scikit-learn, Jupyter, Tableau, Power BI…the list just keeps going. With every job advert listing a different combination of tools, many applicants fall into a trap: they try to learn everything. The result? Long tool lists that sound impressive — but little depth to back them up. Here’s the straight-talk version most hiring managers won’t explicitly tell you: 👉 You don’t need to know every data science tool to get hired. 👉 You need to know the right ones — deeply — and know how to use them to solve real problems. Tools matter, but only in service of outcomes. So how many data science tools do you actually need to know to get a job? For most job seekers, the answer is not “27” — it’s more like 8–12, thoughtfully chosen and well understood. This guide explains what employers really value, which tools are core, which are role-specific, and how to focus your toolbox so your CV and interviews shine.