Senior AI Scientist

Reporting To: Director of Data Science, AI

Company electronic devices; Enhanced salary sacrifice pension scheme; Private health insurance after completion of probation; Eligibility for a Blue Light discount card.

Closing Date: 20th November 2026. We will be interviewing on a rolling basis and reserve the right to close the job advert early if we receive a high number of applicants, so we encourage applying early.

Job Purpose: To use AI and data science to understand and improve MHI’s services, and to evaluate AI tools so they are used safely, responsibly and only where they add value.

Impact: Our Data Insights work directly shapes our services and drives our innovation pipeline designed to develop new products and solutions. For example, our recent work, in collaboration with Imperial Global Health Institute, showed an increase in 13s and under using the Shout service, which led to the development of a proof-of-concept early intervention specifically for 10-13 year olds.

Team: You’ll join the Data Insights team, working within a multidisciplinary team (~6-10 people) including data engineers, data scientists, data analysts, research psychologists and a policy lead, with close collaboration with our technical and security teams and links to our clinical and service delivery colleagues.

Data and tools: You’ll work with a unique dataset: anonymised text from more than 4 million Shout conversations, plus a growing dataset from The Mix’s services, including peer support and counselling. All data is held in a secure AWS environment, with Amazon SageMaker for model development and Amazon Bedrock for access to frontier AI models.

Responsible data use: Data are securely governed with access on a strict needs basis and research ethics sought where projects extend beyond research purposes for public interest as outlined in the data privacy policy.

Wellbeing: As a mental health service that supports those in crisis, we provide insights to colleagues working with sensitive and potentially distressing content. Wellbeing is important to us, and we provide private healthcare and an EAP service that offers mental health support. We also have a number of mental health first aiders that can provide confidential support.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct research: Investigate open questions about our services and the people who use them, designing studies that produce robust evidence with actionable reports.
• Analyse large-scale text: Apply ML and NLP methods to large volumes of free-text data, such as conversations from our crisis, peer support and counselling services, with careful attention to validity, reliability and bias.
• Prototype and test: Build technical prototypes to test whether AI approaches are viable, and work with colleagues to take promising approaches forward.
• Evaluate AI rigorously: Design and run evaluations of AI models and tools, including prototypes and pilots developed across MHI, validating automated methods against clinical expert judgement and safety testing for high-risk conversations.
• Promote responsible AI: Assess risks, including bias, privacy, safety and potential harm, and help develop appropriate safeguards.
• Shape strategy: Work with the Director of Data Science, AI.