Airport Capacity Planning Data Scientist

We are seeking an experienced Capacity Planning Data Scientist to join the Airport Capacity & Planning team at Vanderlande, embedded within Heathrow Airport’s baggage handling operations. This is a technically demanding role at the intersection of data science, operations research, and airport systems engineering.

Role Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain machine learning models, simulation tools, and analytical frameworks that directly inform capacity planning decisions across one of the world’s busiest airport baggage systems—processing in excess of 80 million bags annually across four terminals.
• Design, build, and validate machine learning models (e.g. XGBoost, GBM, random forests) for forecasting baggage volumes, capacity utilisation, and recirculation rates across all terminals.
• Engineer temporal and lag-based features from high-volume trace datasets (180M+ historical rows, 80,000+ daily ingestions) to improve model accuracy.
• Conduct hyperparameter tuning, cross-validation, and model selection using rigorous statistical methods; target production-grade performance metrics (e.g. R[2] > 0.95, low RMSE/MAE).
• Develop time-series decomposition and anomaly detection pipelines to identify emerging operational bottlenecks.
• Build and calibrate discrete event simulation (DES) models of terminal baggage systems to stress-test capacity under various demand scenarios.
• Produce peak-flow analyses, what-if modelling, and scenario planning outputs to support infrastructure investment decisions and airline schedule changes.
• Translate complex analytical outputs into clear, actionable capacity recommendations for operational stakeholders and airline partners.
• Develop interactive Shiny applications and dashboards for real-time and historical performance monitoring.
• Create publication-quality reports and presentations using LaTeX and PowerPoint for senior leadership, airline customers, and Heathrow Airport Ltd stakeholders.
• Present findings to non-technical audiences, distilling complex statistical concepts into clear operational insights.
• Stay current with advances in applied machine learning, operations research, and airport technology.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI/ML techniques (e.g. GPU-accelerated training, LLM-assisted analysis) to improve operational decision-making.
• Contribute to the team’s code standards, documentation, and reproducible research practices.

Role Qualification and Skills

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Data Science, Statistics, Operations Research, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a closely related quantitative discipline.
• Demonstrable portfolio of applied machine learning projects with real-world datasets.
• Advanced proficiency in R programming, including tidyverse, data.table, caret/tidymodels, xgboost, and Shiny.
• Strong SQL skills with experience querying large-scale relational databases (Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience with DuckDB or similar columnar/analytical databases for high-performance local analytics.
• Solid understanding of supervised learning algorithms (gradient boosting, ensemble methods, regularised regression) with practical deployment experience.
• Experience with feature engineering for time-series and operational data, including lag features, rolling aggregates, and temporal encoding.
• Proficiency in data pipeline development using Azure Data Factory, or similar orchestration tools.
• Proven ability to translate business problems into analytical frameworks and deliver actionable recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership and external stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving mindset with attention to statistical rigour and reproducibility.
• Ability to work effectively within a team of 9 analysts while managing independent workstreams.
• Experience in aviation, airport operations, logistics, or baggage handling systems.
• Familiarity with discrete event simulation tools and methodologies.
• Knowledge of LaTeX for technical documentation and report generation.
• Experience with GPU-accelerated machine learning (CUDA, cuML) or high-performance computing environments.
• Exposure to version control (Git) and collaborative development workflows.
• Familiarity with Python as a secondary language for interoperability.

What we offer

• 28 days annual leave (excluding public holidays).
• Bupa Medical Cover.
• YuLife – Wellbeing membership with fast access to GP appointments, promotion of health and wellbeing along with daily quests to gain Yucoins that can be swapped for shopping vouchers.
• A challenging work environment with lots of opportunities for career progression.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Yellow Nest is a salary exchange scheme that reduces childcare costs for parents and employers.
• Pension with Aviva.
• Access to Achievers, an award-winning recognition platform that inspires to recognise your coworkers where points are awarded that can be exchanged for a range of goods and discounts.

Diversity & Inclusion

Vanderlande is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regards to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age marital status or disability status. If you feel there is a barrier that potentially prevents you from applying, we are always happy to discuss or explore, any reasonable adjustments can be made to support your application.

Are you looking to develop your career and satisfy your ambitions at a company where you can aspire to new heights, enjoy personal growth and thrive on achievement? We are the global market leader for future-proof logistic process automation at airports – from London Heathrow to Singapore Changi – and in the parcel market for leading players such as UPS and FedEx. Furthermore, we are also a leading supplier of solutions for warehousing giants, including Walmart, which seamlessly integrate innovative systems, intelligent software, and life-cycle services.

If you aspire to a position of responsibility and want to make a difference by facilitating the delivery of what matters most to consumers, passengers, and businesses, the next step on your path to global opportunities is to join Vanderlande. As part of our network and unique culture of freedom and flexibility, you will be able to express yourself and become connected to our dedicated people, building strong relationships and rising to the challenge of industry-leading projects.

To achieve our collective goals, you will seize the initiative and have a hands-on role working in a positive environment to deliver tangible, state-of-the-art products and improve the competitiveness of our highly visible customers. As an integral part of our team, you will have the enthusiasm and be driven to reach our destination before your next journey with Vanderlande begins.

So, if you would like to join a profitable and growing company that will enable you to reach your goals and focus on your future, please get in touch with us. You will grow, take ownership and make every day better as you continue on the road to success with your spirit of adventure – and fulfil your ambitions for personal development through our Academy.