Job summary
- Main area
- Digital
- Grade
- AfC Band 5
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 sessions per week
- Job ref
- 384-JH-EMF20541-B5-A
- Employer
- Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Surrey Foundation Trust
- Town
- Guildford
- Salary
- £33,677 - £40,996 (per annum) includes high cost area supplements (HCAS)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 11/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Junior Data Scientist
AfC Band 5
Job overview
We are seeking to appoint a motivated, curious and technically capable Junior Data Scientist to join our expanding Data Science team.
This is an exciting opportunity for an early-career professional to play a key role in developing data science solutions that support innovation and improve organisational outcomes. Working alongside experienced data scientists and engineers, you will contribute to building models and data products that drive insight and automation across the organisation.
You should have a strong foundation in programming (Python or R), with experience using data science libraries such as pandas, scikit-learn or similar. A good understanding of statistical methods and machine learning concepts is essential. Experience working with SQL and handling data in cloud or distributed environments would be advantageous, as would familiarity with tools such as Git, Docker or ML frameworks.
The post requires the successful candidate to be inquisitive, methodical and eager to develop their technical expertise. You should be comfortable working with ambiguity, able to experiment and iterate, and capable of communicating technical concepts clearly to a range of stakeholders. Flexibility, problem-solving ability and a passion for data science are key to success in this role.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will support the development, testing and deployment of machine learning models, working with large and complex datasets from a variety of sources. You will be involved in data exploration, feature engineering and model evaluation, helping to translate data into actionable intelligence. The role will also contribute to the creation of reproducible workflows and scalable data pipelines.
Working for our organisation
Royal Surrey is a compassionate and collaborative acute and community Trust. Recognising that our 5000 colleagues are our greatest strength, we offer a comprehensive health and wellbeing program along with a commitment to developing and advancing your career. Our diverse and welcoming Royal Surrey family will ensure you that you feel valued from your initial interview through your entire tenure.
We are clinically led and provide joined up care by bridging the gap between hospital and community services alongside regional specialist cancer care. Our main acute hospital site is in Guildford with community hospital sites at Milford, Haslemere and Cranleigh. We provide adult community health services in homes across Guildford and Waverley.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have given us an overall rating of Outstanding.
Royal Surrey has a strong reputation and history to build on. We are proud of our achievements and we are investing in our colleagues through our commitment to supporting professional development as well as investing more than £45 million in our physical environment and new equipment in the next few years. There has never been a better time to join us.
Although it isn't the Trusts normal practice, adverts may close early, so you are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible.
A video about the Royal Surrey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96pMboIYdo
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will support the delivery of high quality data science insight that underpins the Trust’s operational, clinical, and strategic objectives. Working under the guidance of senior analysts and data scientists, the role involves extracting, preparing, validating, and analysing complex datasets from clinical and corporate systems, applying statistical and data science techniques to generate accurate, timely, and meaningful analytical outputs.
The post holder supports both The Royal Surrey County Hospital and Ashford and St Peters Hospital by applying foundational data science techniques to clean, analyse, and model healthcare data that informs operational and clinical decisions.
The role involves preparing high quality datasets, performing exploratory analysis, and contributing to predictive or statistical models that enhance service performance and patient outcomes.
The post holder assists in developing automated data pipelines, reproducible analytical workflows, and visualisations that improve the accessibility and reliability of Trust intelligence.
Working with senior data scientists and analysts, the post holder helps translate complex analytical findings into clear insights that support evidence based improvement across clinical and corporate teams.
The role contributes to strengthening the Trust’s data science capability by supporting machine learning projects, improving data quality, and adopting modern analytical tools and methods
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree level education or equivalent work experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Experience working with structured datasets, including cleaning, transforming, and validating data for analysis.
- Knowledge of core statistical concepts and their application to real world analytical problems.
- Advanced use of analytical or data science tools such as Python, R, SQL, or similar technologies
- Understanding of data visualisation principles and experience producing clear charts, dashboards, or reports.
- Experience of machine learning fundamentals and the ability to create own models.
- Experience working with large or complex datasets from multiple sources, ideally within a healthcare or public sector environment.
- Knowledge of data quality issues and methods for identifying, investigating, and resolving inconsistencies.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of analysing data in a Secondary Care context
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Gareth Bunyan
- Job title
- Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
For any further information please contact [email protected].
If you have problems applying, contact
- Address
-
Royal Surrey Foundation Trust
- Telephone
- 01483 571122 Ext 2478
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