At a Glance
- Tasks: Develop an AI-powered platform for biodiversity literature and support data-engineering activities.
- Company: World-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre.
- Benefits: Generous holiday, pension scheme, life insurance, and staff discounts.
- Other info: Hybrid working model with opportunities for professional development and team collaboration.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on biodiversity research while working with cutting-edge AI technology.
- Qualifications: Strong Python skills and experience in data and machine-learning pipelines.
The predicted salary is between 37800 - 46200 £ per year.
About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website. Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things. We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world. Diversity and inclusion matter to us.
Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment. We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.
About the role
We are seeking an experienced Data Scientist for a 12-month project to develop an AI-powered knowledge extraction and discovery platform for the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). Working within the AI & Innovation team and with international BHL partners, you will help transform tens of millions of pages of biodiversity literature into a searchable, machine-readable research resource. You will support data-engineering activities including OCR processing, annotation workflows, data quality assurance, entity normalisation and preparation of training and evaluation datasets for LLM-based extraction.
About you
We are looking for a data scientist with strong Python skills and experience building reproducible data and machine-learning pipelines. You will be confident working with OCR-derived and unstructured text, annotation workflows, entity normalisation and data quality assurance, and preparing datasets for NER, LLM extraction, training and evaluation. Familiarity with structured outputs, schema validation and knowledge graphs is desirable. You will be a collaborative, proactive team member, comfortable working with scientists, curators, technical teams and international partners.
Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.
What we offer
- 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
- Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
- Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
- Life insurance
- Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
- Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
- We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
- Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures.
- Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi
Hybrid working
We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.
Data Scientist - AI for BHL employer: National History Museum
The Natural History Museum is an exceptional employer, offering a vibrant work culture that champions diversity and inclusion while fostering a sense of belonging among its 1100 staff. With generous benefits such as 27.5 days of holiday, a robust pension scheme, and numerous training opportunities, employees are encouraged to grow and thrive in their roles. Located in the heart of London, the Museum not only provides a unique environment for meaningful work but also allows staff to engage with world-class collections and contribute to vital scientific research.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Data Scientist - AI for BHL
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We think you need these skills to ace Data Scientist - AI for BHL
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Projects:In the world of data science, your projects can speak volumes about your skills. Make sure to showcase a few key projects in your CV or portfolio, especially those that highlight your ability to work with data sets, build models, or use relevant tools like Python, R, or SQL. Don’t forget to include links to any GitHub repositories if applicable!
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✨Brush Up on Your Statistics
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✨Get Comfortable with Python and R
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✨Prepare for Case Studies
Expect to encounter real-world case studies during the interview. We might be asked how we’d approach a data problem or analyse a dataset to extract insights. It's essential to think out loud and demonstrate our problem-solving process so that the interviewer can see our logical thinking in action.
