Senior Data Scientist

Location: Bristol, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle, Oldham, Birmingham or Yeading.

Salary: £44,241 per annum

Vacancy Type: Permanent

Closing date: Tuesday 31st March 2026

Do you thrive on curiosity, innovation and adaptability? Are you genuinely excited about delving into data, whether new or existing, and harnessing the power of advanced statistical tools and techniques such as machine learning, predictive analytics, and computational vision? Is transforming data into practical insights that drive operational and strategic decisions across DVSA something that fires your enthusiasm? Are you committed to using data ethically and responsibly? If this sounds like you, your next career move could be right here!

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will play a pivotal role in shaping analytical models that guide DVSA’s future. For example, you will design, develop and maintain forecasting models in Python that predict service demand, as well as innovative risk models that help us allocate frontline resources more effectively. You will also champion the ongoing professional growth of our talented data science team, sharing your expertise in the latest techniques and tools.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary.
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Conceptualising and developing high-impact data science solutions.
• Writing and reviewing code using best practices from software development.
• Further developing and maintaining existing risk and demand models.
• Applying your ingenuity to analyse diverse data sets with cutting-edge statistical methods, from machine learning to predictive analytics, using Python.
• Identifying trends and patterns, turning them into actionable insights that support the development and improvement of services.
• Presenting your findings to a wide range of stakeholders, from senior leaders to operational staff.
• Exploring and visualising data to uncover valuable insights.
• Offering recommendations that solve complex problems and empower strategic and operational decision making.
• Upholding the highest standards of ethical and appropriate data use.

Your impact will be felt in the continual refinement of demand forecasting, predictive modelling to track performance against key targets, and the creation of risk models that ensure our resources are used where they matter most.

We’re looking to fill two exciting Senior Data Scientist roles: one role sits within our MOT team, focusing on service analytics, risk modelling and fraud detection; the other sits within our brand-new Innovation Team, where you’ll help shape and validate groundbreaking Innovation use cases.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Required Experience:

• Developing and deploying AI and data science solutions to tackle business challenges at pace.
• Inferring, predicting or forecasting using appropriate machine learning techniques.
• Experience of designing and deploying LLM-powered analytics, for example for summarisation, topic modelling, or translation.
• Quantitatively evaluating data science and AI solutions using novel designs and data sets.
• Using cloud computing and infrastructure to develop and deploy solutions (e.g. AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Continually promoting professional development and sharing best practices.
• Presenting and communicating products and findings to a wide range of stakeholders, from senior leaders to operational staff.
• Considering ethics and data protection principles when developing AI and data science solutions (e.g. GDPR, use of ethics frameworks etc).
• Strong programming skills, with experience in Python (or similar experience with a desire to develop Python skills).
• Familiarity with essential data science tools and libraries (e.g. NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-Learn) and machine learning (e.g. PyTorch, Tensorflow, Huggingface, LangChain, LiteLLM).
• A high level of competence in applied maths, statistics and scientific methods.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Ability to work autonomously on data science projects and as part of the team.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for DVSA, please click apply to be redirected to our website to complete your application.