Data Scientist (Part-time) in London

Contract details: for 1 year, 18.5 hours a week (0.5 FTE)

Good Growth is responsible for delivering and implementing the Mayor’s environment, transport and economic strategies and for the effective implementation of the London Plan. The Directorate is also responsible for regeneration, enterprise, growth, capital projects and design work.

About the team

London is a city recognised as the global capital for arts and culture. Our theatres, music venues, museums and galleries are renowned across the world. Our creative industries are vital to London’s success and the recording studios, rehearsal spaces, artists’ workspaces, grassroots music, and LGBTQ+ venues all contribute to this success. The Culture, Creative Industries and 24‑Hour London portfolio at the Greater London Authority focuses on supporting London’s cultural and creative economy, strengthening cultural infrastructure, and ensuring the city functions as a global, inclusive 24‑hour city. This includes overseeing major projects such as Creative Enterprise Zones, London Borough of Culture, the Fourth Plinth commission, and initiatives that support the night‑time economy.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Culture, Creative Industries and 24‑Hour London (CCI24) Unit delivering the Mayor’s and the Strategic Licensing policy. You’ll be at the heart of a fast‑paced, cross‑organisational effort to design and implement new licensing powers—with the ambition to launch by Autumn 2026. We are looking for a dynamic and driven Data Scientist to be part of the delivery of this major project by providing high‑quality information and advice to monitor and evaluate the implementation and service delivery of the Strategic Licensing pilot, and to further develop the GLA’s reputation as an authoritative and well‑regarded source of reliable information and data on these issues.

What your day will look like

• Using data science techniques to generate insights that support the design and delivery of London’s new Strategic Licensing powers.
• Working closely with policy leads, analysts and external partners to translate complex questions into clear, actionable data projects.
• Analysing large, complex and multi‑source datasets (including time‑series data) to understand trends in London’s licensing, cultural and night‑time economy.
• Developing and maintaining reproducible data pipelines, ensuring high‑quality, regularly updated analysis that informs decision‑making.
• Applying statistical modelling and machine learning techniques to evaluate the impact of the Strategic Licensing pilot.
• Exploring and experimenting with new datasets, tools and methods to improve how licensing data is used across the GLA.
• Creating compelling data visualisations and communicating findings clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Collaborating with London boroughs, consultants and industry stakeholders to innovate in the use of data across the licensing system.
• Contributing to London’s open data community by publishing datasets, sharing insights and promoting best practice.
• Supporting and mentoring colleagues by sharing knowledge on coding, data science tools and analytical techniques.
• Participating in cross‑functional project teams, helping to shape a high‑profile, city‑wide policy programme.

Skills, knowledge and experience

To be considered for the role you must meet the following essential criteria:

• Ability to understand business and policy problems and to address them using data characterised by high‑volume, high dimensionality and from multiple sources – particularly time‑series data.
• Experience using predictive, statistical or other mathematical techniques including supervised and unsupervised machine learning, and the ability to determine the best technique to solve a particular problem.
• An excellent grasp of standard statistical techniques for data analysis and exploration, such as regression and cluster analysis, and experience using these techniques to solve real‑world problems.
• Strong proficiency in applying statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms using a variety of software/codebases, e.g. R, GIS, Python to build reproducible processes.
• Ability to identify and effectively communicate data stories using data visualisation techniques and software.
• Quickly research and learn new programming, modelling tools and techniques.
• A postgraduate degree in a quantitative field strongly related to data science, i.e. one that involves applied mathematics/statistics and coding or equivalent professional experience.

Stakeholder Focus

• Listen to understand requirements without making assumptions.
• Demonstrate an enthusiastic and ‘can‑do’ attitude to all requests.
• Provide timely, accurate and personalised responses.
• Provide a polite and helpful first point of contact for stakeholders.
• Learn from feedback to improve personal service to others.

Planning and Organisation

• Prioritise work in line with key team or project deliverables.
• Make contingency plans to account for changing work priorities, deadlines and milestones.
• Identify and consult with sponsors or stakeholders in planning work.
• Pay close attention to detail, ensuring team’s work is delivered to a high standard.
• Negotiate realistic timescales for work delivery, ensuring team deliverables can be met.

Problem Solving

• Process and distil a variety of information to understand a problem fully.
• Propose options for solutions to presented problems.
• Build on the ideas of others to encourage creative problem solving.
• Think laterally about own work, considering different ways to approach problems.
• Seek opinions and experiences of others to understand different approaches to problem solving.

Research and Analysis

• Proactively seek new information sources to progress research agendas and address gaps in knowledge.
• Grasp limitations of or assumptions behind data sources, disregarding those that lack quality.
• Analyse and integrate qualitative and quantitative data to find new insights.
• Translate research outcomes into concise, meaningful reports.
• Identify relevant and practical research questions for the future.

The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA Competency Framework

This role is based at London Fire Brigade’s Head Office (Union Street SE1 0LL).

Benefits

In addition to a good salary package, you will be paid every four weeks, providing frequent salary payments. We also offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest‑free season ticket loan, interest‑free bicycle loan and a career‑average pension scheme.

Equal Opportunities

London’s diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently under‑represented in our workforce. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part‑time work as this role is open to job share.