Medical Statistician jobs in London

We are currently looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our Scientific Data & Insight Function within the Safety & Surveillance group.

This is a full-time opportunity, on a permanent basis. The role will be based in 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf London, E14 4PU.

Government departments and agencies are working towards implementing a minimum 60% attendance in office sites.

We are currently implementing a flexible, hybrid way of working, with a minimum of 8 days per month working on site to enable the collaboration and contact with partners and stakeholders needed to deliver MHRA business. Attendance on site is driven by business needs so depending on the nature of the role, this can flex up to 12 days a month, with the remainder of time worked either remotely or in the office. Some roles will need to be on site more regularly.

Who are we?

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency enhance and improve the health of millions of people every day through the effective regulation of medicines and medical devices, underpinned by science and research.

To deliver effectively on our central mission of protecting public health, we need robust vigilance processes that are able to quickly detect, monitor and evaluate safety signals across the product lifecycle, the ability to critically evaluate the benefit/risk balance of signals of concern and design effective risk mitigations, to communicate effectively to patients and the public and a healthcare system able to implement them. The Safety and Surveillance Group brings together into a single integrated structure expertise on the safety of all medical products with enforcement capabilities. These functions are supported by the Agency’s data and evidence generating capabilities complementing our signal generating abilities delivered via the common vigilance platform SafetyConnect.

Safety remains at the heart of all our decision making across the product life cycle. The central mission of the Safety & Surveillance portfolio is to protect the public by appropriately identifying, assessing and managing the risks associated with medical products. In every aspect of this work, we harness the best science, technology, information and professional practice to protect patients in new and impactful ways.

In support of this mission, the Scientific Data & Insight (SD&I) function is responsible for developing expertise in house to deliver evidence to underpin these new approaches. Quality and speed of regulatory decision making is dependent on having access to high-quality, representative data in a timely fashion but also being able to access and analyse in house data and information in the most effective way. A critical aspect of this work will include the exploration and application of new analytical methodologies including AI and machine learning methods such as natural language processing, large language models and computer modelling and simulation approaches. Hence developing and strengthening capacity and capability in data science within MHRA is a key strategic objective to ensure we are best placed to address the future evidence generation needs for both medicines and devices.

What’s the role?

The post holder is responsible for leading a team of data scientists. This involves developing innovative and novel analytical approaches, including state of the art machine learning, AI and simulation methods improve the agency’s activities in Safety and Surveillance.

Key responsibilities:

• Line manage and lead a team of device data researchers and data scientists in applying analytical methods to patient data collated through vigilance systems to support assessment of the safety of medicines and medical devices and advise on the refinement of AI tools for data processing.
• Support the implementation of new analytical approaches to better interrogate incident reporting data, including the development of automated analytical approaches.
• Interact across the Agency and with external stakeholders to optimise device data quality, encouraging collaboration across areas.
• Working with vigilance scientists, developers, and epidemiologists leading the design to optimise vigilance reporting systems, including the application machine learning where appropriate.

Who are we looking for?

Our successful candidate will have the following:

• Leadership: Effectively lead and develop data scientists; promotes collaboration, knowledge sharing, and a results‑driven team environment.
• Experience in analysing and interpreting data from various sources to support decisions.
• Experience in leading a team of data scientists and achieving through others.
• Strong experience of using machine learning or data science to analyse and model large datasets.
• A PhD in Data Science, Statistics, Machine Learning, Computer Science or a similar quantitative discipline or demonstrable equivalent professional experience.
• Expertise in using programming tools such as R, Python, or Julia to characterise or analyse health data.
• Demonstrable technical knowledge and skills in at least one of the following domains: mathematical modelling and simulations, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, Bayesian inference, stochastic simulation methods.
• Ability to communicate complex analytical techniques and conclusions to policy and senior colleagues.
• Comfortable establishing and maintaining a diverse network of contacts.
• Ability to establish the direction and goals for your work and team and are then able to manage the projects to achieve outstanding results.
• Enthusiasm for coaching and developing your team.

Method of assessment: A=Application, I=Interview, P=Presentation

Behaviour Criteria:

• Seeing the big picture (A, I, P)
• Leadership (A, I, P)
• Communicating and Influencing (A, I, P)

Experience Criteria:

• Experience of leading a team of machine learning scientists and achieving through others. (A, I, P)
• Strong experience of using machine learning or data science to analyse and model large datasets. (A, I, P)
• Strong experience of working collaboratively within multidisciplinary data science teams and delivering results in a timely way. (A, I, P)
• Demonstrable experience of communicating complex concepts and results effectively to a wide range of stakeholders. (A, I, P)
• Proven ability to independently produce well-focused scientific reviews and presentations. (A, I, P)
• Experience in writing grant proposals is desirable. (A, I, P)
• Experience of research using health related data sources and developing and implementing data analysis strategies. (A, I, P)
• Experience in leading projects to time demonstrating efficient and effective organisation and delivery skills. (A, I, P)

Technical Criteria:

• A PhD in Data Science, Statistics, Machine Learning, Computer Science or a similar quantitative discipline or demonstrable equivalent professional experience. (A, I, P)
• Expertise in using programming tools such as R, Python, or Julia to characterise or analyse data, preferably health data. (A, I, P)
• Deep understanding of data science best practice. (A, I, P)
• Proficiency in scalable data analysis, for example using high performance computing.
• Demonstrable technical knowledge and skills in at least one of the following domains: Machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, Bayesian inference. (A, I, P)

Candidates need to be members of the Government Operational Research profession or meet the membership criteria for the Operational Research profession (numerate degree at 2.1 or significant experience with quantitative analysis). Where candidates who are not members will undergo a standard badging assessment for the Government analytical profession at interview. The postholder must demonstrate in their CV that they meet the minimum requirements for badging.

We'll assess you against these professional skills during the selection process:

• Knowledge and application of OR skills and techniques
• Achieving impact with analysis

For more information, please see - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gors-technical-framework

For further details, please see the GORS website - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-government-operational-research-service/about/recruitment.

If you would like to find out more about this fantastic opportunity, please read our Job Description and Person Specification!

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We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

• Annual Leave: 25 days annual leave on entry, rising by one day for each completed year of service to a maximum of 30 days and pro-rata for part-time staff. PLUS 8 bank holidays
• Privilege Leave: 1 day
• Hours of Work: 37 hours (net) per week for full time staff in all geographical locations, including London and pro rata for part-time staff
• Occupational Sick Pay (OSP): One month full pay/one month half pay on entry, rising by one month for each completed year of service to a maximum of five months full pay/five months half pay
• Mobility: Mobility clause in contracts allowing staff to be mobile across the Civil Service
• Civil Service Pension Scheme. Please see the link for further information http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/ For enquiries relating to the Civil Service Pension Schemes please contact MyCSP's Pension Service Centre directly on 0300 123 6666
• Flexible working to ensure staff maintain a healthy work-life balance
• Interest free season ticket loan or bike loan
• Employee Assistance Services and access to the Civil Service Benevolent Fund
• Eligibility to join Motoring , Boundless by CSMA
• Variety of staff and Civil Service clubs
• On-going learning and development

Job contact :

• Name : The Resourcing Team
• Email : Careers@mhra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Careers@mhra.gov.uk