Senior Data Scientist
Summary
Senior Data Scientist in the UK Government Digital Service's AI programme (home of the Incubator for AI), prototyping and rigorously evaluating generative and agentic AI tools like GOV.UK Chat. Day to day: build LLM/RAG/agent pilots, design evaluation and red-teaming frameworks, write well-tested Python, and advise on responsible AI adoption. Hybrid role based in Bristol or Manchester.
- Job grade: Grade 7
- Contract type: Permanent
- Business area: GDS - Products & Services
- Type of role: Digital, Information Technology
- Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed hours
- Number of jobs available: 1
Location
About the job
Job summary
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government - we are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.
Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:
- joining up public sector services
- harnessing the power of AI for the public good
- strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
- elevating leadership and investing in talent
- funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
- committing to transparency and driving accountability
We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.
We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.
The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.
Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need
Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.
Job description
GDS is helping government get real, responsible value from AI. As a Senior Data Scientist in the GDS Product and Services’ AI programme, you'll turn fast-moving AI capability into tested, trustworthy services that improve how people experience government.
You'll work with product, delivery, user research, design and engineering colleagues to find where AI can help, check whether the underlying data and content are good enough, and design and run pilots that prove through rigorous testing what works, what doesn't and why. That includes building evaluation methods for accuracy, safety and user value, and testing agentic approaches in controlled pilots before they reach the public. Your findings will shape how GDS and the rest of government adopt AI.
About the team
The AI programme sits within the GDS Products and Services directorate. It supports government to adopt AI safely, effectively and at scale. The team builds and improves GOV.UK Chat, which has been through large-scale public pilots, red-team and security testing, and a launch in the GOV.UK app. It is also experimenting with agentic AI, including how an assistant could take simple actions on a person's behalf. The team trials new tools, builds shared capability and guidance, and works with departments on practical use cases that meet public sector standards for security, transparency and ethics.
You can read about some of our work here:
As a Senior Data Scientist, you’ll:
- lead technical work on evaluation and experimentation within the AI programme, working with product, delivery, user research, design and engineering colleagues to build AI products that meet user needs
- prototype and assess new and emerging AI tools, including agent-based systems, and make evidence-based recommendations on whether they're worth adopting for government use cases
- shape problems with product and technical leads, helping to define scope and success measures, then design and run experiments and pilots using generative AI, agentic approaches and automation
- design robust, repeatable evaluation frameworks that show how well a tool or solution performs, where it fails and what risks it carries, including red-teaming and guardrails
- judge whether datasets and content are suitable and representative to use for a given purpose, and advise on gaps and remedies
- write and review secure, maintainable, well-tested code, and promote good engineering practice in data science work
- explain results, trade-offs and recommendations to audiences from engineers to senior officials, so decisions rest on evidence
- apply government standards on data protection, security, transparency and AI ethics, and contribute to responsible AI practice in the team and the wider Data and AI community
- mentor and coach data scientists and share good practice, helping to raise capability in the team
Person specification
We’re interested in people who:
- a track record of applying data science and generative AI methods to real operational or user problems, working in multidisciplinary teams
- sound analytical rigour: you've evaluated models, tools or experiments, including LLM or RAG systems, using methods such as benchmark datasets, human or LLM-based grading and red-teaming, and reached clear, defensible conclusions that shape product delivery
- the ability to explain technical findings, limitations and uncertainty to non-technical decision-makers
- good judgement on responsible use of data and AI, including governance, privacy, security and ethics
- strong engineering habits: Python, clean and tested code, CI/CD, version control, and practical use of AI-assisted coding tools to improve quality and speed
- hands-on experience building LLM-powered applications and AI agents, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), with an understanding of embeddings, vector search and retrieval quality, using modern AI development frameworks (e.g., Amazon Strands, LangChain, LangGraph), and cloud AI platforms (preferably AWS Bedrock)
- understanding of agentic design patterns, such as tool and function calling, memory and multi-agent set-ups, and of how to test them safely.
- experience in the public sector, regulated environments, research or fast-moving start-ups.
- context engineering experience across commercial and open-source models.
Benefits
There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:
- flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
- a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
- 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
- an extra day off for the King’s birthday
- an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
- career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
- a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
- job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
- advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
- death in service benefits
- cycle to work scheme and facilities
- access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
- access to an employee discounts scheme
- 10 learning days per year
- volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
- access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning
Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.
Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at
Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence
Selection process details
The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:
- a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
- A 60-minute video interview: behaviour-based questions plus a technical discussion.
Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.
While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.
In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:
- a track record of applying data science and generative AI methods to real operational or user problems, working in multidisciplinary team
In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.
For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:
- working together
- changing and improving
- making effective decisions
- developing self and others
- seeing the bigger picture
- communicating and influencing
We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Data Scientist role:
- understanding product delivery
- programming and build (data science)
- data science innovation
- delivering business impact
- developing data science capabilities
- data engineering
- applied maths, statistics and scientific practices
- data ethics and privacy
Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here
Recruitment Timeline
Sift completion: 30/11/2026
Panel interviews: W/C 7/12/2026
Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Sponsorship
DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.
Location
Whilst this role's location is Bristol / Manchester, if you are a current Civil servant working in DSIT and based in London, you are also able to apply for this role. If you are successful, you will retain your London location and pay.
Security
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
- Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
Further information
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.
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