The Role Optima Partners is a forward-thinkingprofessional services firm on an exciting growth trajectory. As weexpand from 50 to 200 employees over the next two years, we arestrengthening our team and are now looking for a skilled andexperienced Head of Analytics & Data Science to lead and guidea team of data science professionals in the data space to help ourclients deliver on their chosen business priorities. As Head ofAnalytics and Data Science, you will play a leading role in drivingthe analytics & data science agenda in the Advanced DataPractice. Your primary role will be to develop and grow a team ofdata analysts and data scientists as they deliver across a variedportfolio of client facing projects. You will support businessdevelopment leads in creating and converting new opportunities, asthe technical authority on application of data science in use casesacross all our sectors. You will use your knowledge and practicalexperience to develop a best practice operating model to assurerobust and commercially viable machine learning solutions aredeployed and adopted with clients. You will line-manage members ofthe Decision Sciences and Machine Learning team, setting theirgoals, helping their personal development and enhancing overallcolleague satisfaction. This is a fantastic opportunity for apassionate and experienced data science practitioner looking toprogress their career in a leadership role, to drive forward anambitious data science agenda. In return, you will benefit from ourAdvanced Data Practice’s continuous learning and development,helping us all to stay at the forefront of a fast-paced data-drivenworld. Key Responsibilities - Line Management: Managing 8-10 teamdata scientists and analysts (via 2-3 lead/managers), looking aftertheir performance, PDP and career growth. Keeping abreast of theirworkstack, client engagements and contribution to the DSMLknowledge base. Looking after their wellbeing and pastoral care. -Client delivery: Delivery assurance on client projects, principallyin the role of a technical oversight or technical expert. Providingclient teams with best practice methods and standards in principledapplication of data science to achieve business goals. Ensuringrobust project management and consulting approaches are trained andadhered to, and providing oversight/quality checking of models andclient facing insights. - Business and Commercial Development:support the Director of DSML and Director of Solutions in maturingBD opportunities, by co-attending sessions (on-site or remote),co-authoring slide materials. Work with the Commercial function tosolidify our data science footprint in existing clients, ensuringstrong health of existing engagements and roll-overs, and providingrelevant information into commercial planning material. - FinancialDiscipline: support the DSML director in having an accurate view ofthe team’s key financial metrics (Metrics That Matter) supportingtight team discipline on commercial draw-down and reporting. Youwill work with the delivery team and client engagement managers toset standard ways of working and templated approaches to differenttypes of engagements. You will be a natural communicator, able toarticulate business problems/requirements to data scientists andengineers within delivery teams and data science/engineeringsolutions and concepts to business stakeholders. You will also havehad experience in delivering technical data projects or have astrong grounding in delivery of large-scale data projects and haveperformed a translation role between business and technicalstakeholders. Skills and Experience The Person - A highlymotivated, enthused, and energised attitude. - A solution-findingmindset that seeks solutions rather than spots obstacles. - Passionto foster a One-Team mentality, through driving and promoting adynamic team activity agenda. - A passion to nurture and growtalent in the Advanced Data Practice. Qualifications and EducationRequirements - Min 2.1 degree in a scientific/mathematicaldiscipline (STEM). - Preferably a MSc/other postgraduate degree ina quantitative discipline. - A postgraduate degree (MSc/PhD) in aquantitative discipline. - Desired: professional qualification ormembership of a data science-related body. Key Technical Skills -Ability to abstract complex business problems into data, model anddecisioning ecosystems, articulating clearly to business leadershow these assets fit together and address their problem. - Advancedknowledge of Statistics (including design and analysis ofexperiments, uncertainty quantification, range of predictivemodelling methods). - Advanced knowledge of ML techniques (in botha supervised and unsupervised learning context). - Proficient in arange of programming languages (Python and/or R preferable, SQL,C#, Java). - Solid grasp of popular and emerging technology stackfor building and orchestrating ML solutions and decisionalgorithms, such as Databricks. - A strong grasp of profit-lossdynamics and value drivers in a range of commercial settings. KeyBusiness Skills - Ability to spot commercial opportunities for datascience use cases in existing and new client conversations. -Excellent people skills, with ability to engage confidently withsenior/C-suite leadership within clients. - Strong coaching andmentoring skills. - Excellent written and presentation skills. TheCompany Optima Partners is an advanced data and businessconsultancy headquartered in Edinburgh, UK. We are apractitioner-led organisation that collaborates with top consumerbrands to drive transformation and foster customer-centricitythrough our expertise in customer strategy, innovative design, andadvanced data science and engineering. We help our clients getcloser to their customers, to truly understand them, and deliverexactly the right products, engagement, and experiences across allchannels and interactions. We specialise in unlocking latent valuewithin organisations through a three-pronged approach that focuseson identifying and enhancing value for customers, within thecustomer base, and within the business itself. In doing so, wefoster sustainable value, paving the way for consistent businessgrowth. We work with leading consumer brands to tackle and overcomecomplex business and customer problems to drive transformation andchampion customer-centric agendas. We are proud to include some ofthe leading UK and global brands among our current clients such asLloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide,Aviva, Biogen, Eon Next, OVO, Virgin Media O2, BT, HMD Global,Centrica, and GSK. We are obsessive about delivering value for ourclients and work in a collaborative, engaged, and creative way withour colleagues and clients. We strive to support the transition ofknowledge and capability into strategic teams. In thepharmaceutical sector, we are internationally recognised for ourexpertise in early-phase drug discovery, genomics, and humangenetics. In late 2023, we proudly launched our new division,bioXcelerate AI, which stands at the forefront of revolutionisinglife sciences and healthcare research. bioXcelerate AI usesstate-of-the-art data science and proprietary algorithms toaccelerate the transformation of data into actionable insights,redefining industry standards. #J-18808-Ljbffr
