Data scientist

Data Science is a broad and fast-moving field spanning maths and statistics, software engineering and communications. Data Scientists blend experience and knowledge from a wide range of fields and organisations, and continuously seek to expand their range of technical skills. Data Scientists find information in diverse datasets to address complex problems and improve organisational processes. They are inquisitive, they explore and visualise data of all kinds, find and present ‘stories’ within the data in a meaningful way to a range of technical and non-technical audiences. They make recommendations to inform strategic and operational decision making through sourcing, accessing and manipulating data, and engineering data processes. They identify and address data biases, and handle private data ethically and appropriately, complying with (inter)national privacy regulations. They use the insights gathered about the data they have analysed to inform and achieve organisational goals. They achieve desired outcomes by planning, organising and managing resources effectively. Data Scientists are dynamic and adaptable, addressing varied problems with varied techniques. They actively explore innovative ways to use existing and new statistical, algorithmic, predictive, machine learning and artificial intelligence tools and techniques, to find significant and valuable patterns in data and transform this into information for their organisation. They gather new sources of data, and combine datasets to increase their value. Using a scientific approach, they perform statistical analysis, build and validate models from the data, use programming practices, and maintain data, tools and processes to implement robust and valuable data solutions. Data Scientists have an impact at a strategic and operational level by building and maintaining strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders, subject matter experts and colleagues at all levels. They engage with the wider Data Science community to share ideas, techniques and experiences. They can work in any sector, public or private, and will often work in a multi-disciplinary team with domain experts, Data Architects, Data Engineers, Analysts, and Technology Professionals.