Lead Data Scientist

Cox Automotive has more data than any other business in the UK has about the used vehicle market. Globally we have more data about used vehicles than any other organisation. The Data Intelligence team mission is to mobilise that data to provide actionable insight to our clients and our people, and as we become the authoritative source of vehicle market insight, we will transform the way the world interacts with cars.

We’re a start-up with the backing of the major corporation. We move fast. We break things. We develop hacks of hacks of hacks to deliver results quickly in parallel to developing robust, scalable solutions. But you don’t have to worry about the business being unable to secure its next round of funding. Nor will the awesome work you do be buried within the bowels of a massive organisation, unclear as to whether it is used (or valued) by anyone. Your work will be used by major car manufacturers, dealer groups, and leasing companies – and your colleagues.

We’re growing quickly, having gone from one person in September 2015 to a team of 10 (+2 interns), and expect to have about 20 people on the team by the end of 2016. We’re deploying cutting edge and best-of-breed technology, using Tableau for data visualisation, and standing up our cloud-based Hadoop stack to take advantage of the latest big data innovations.

We’re looking for a Lead Data Scientist who knows how to build and lead the emerging data science function, introducing predictive analytics and optimisation into Cox Automotive UK and the UK automotive industry more generally. With the support of a large organisation and the flexibility of a small, self-contained, agile team, this is a great opportunity to stop talking and get things done. You need to be a self-starter who knows his/her stuff and is happy to crack on with the work without needing micro-management.

This is a management position within the Data Science team in the Data Intelligence group, sitting on the Data Intelligence senior leadership team. Location preference is London, although for the right candidate this can be flexible. The team has members in Leeds, Bristol, Adlington and London.

As Lead Data Scientist your main responsibilities will be:

• Owner of our predictive analytics strategy that will provide actionable insights to our business and our clients to power informed decisions.
• Responsible for major analytics decisions as well as day-to-day data science work, including managing and growing the data science function. This includes engaging with the market and 3rd party vendors, looking out for new technology, techniques and tools that will enable us to develop statistical models and machine learning algorithms more quickly and efficiently.
• Developing algorithms, and then maintaining, implementing, monitoring and versioning them on the appropriate platforms. You will need to roll your sleeves up and get stuck into the data (as opposed to simply being a manager).
• With the data engineering team, optimally prepare data for analysis, including modelling, transforming, manipulating, cleansing and managing.
• Working collaboratively with the BI analysts and data engineers, you will integrate the data into the data exploration and analysis tools used within the company, manipulating and transforming the data as required.
• Troubleshooting when data issues arise, as the Data Intelligence team provides business-critical information to our clients and internal stakeholders.
• Coaching and mentoring your team members
• Evangelise the benefits of data science around the business, including internal trainings and lunch and learns.

As Lead Data Engineer you will have:

• Strong communication skills. You need to be a data geek who can translate the work of the team into terms that executives understand.
• PhD in a traditional STEM field or a quantitative social science such as psychology, economics, or political science.
• Experience working in a fast moving commercial environment and excellent organisational skills. You will be spinning lots of plates.
• A demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, as well as to manage workflow in accordance with project timelines is required
• Strong business/commercial sense to combine with analytics to help drive product R&D; ability to demonstrate an understanding of the commercial impact of their activities
• Expert knowledge of at least one of the following programming languages or equivalents: Python, R, Scala, Java
• Experience with common data science toolkits, such as scikit-learn, pandas, R, Weka; excellence in at least one of these is highly desirable
• Very good understanding of SQL and NoSQL (plus) database technologies; understanding of big data technologies: Hadoop, Spark (plus)
• Good knowledge of statistics: hypothesis testing, confidence intervals and A/B tests Ability to demonstrate good understanding of statistical models/machine learning algorithms
• Significant experience coaching and mentoring – and be someone who gets satisfaction teaching others
• Experience working in an Agile development

You’ll enjoy the following benefits:

• Centrally-located office right outside of Euston station
• Team nights out each month
• Paid attendance at conferences Internal training opportunities (Want to learn Scala? Improve your presentation skills?)
• Chance to work with and learn from your counterparts globally, including secondment opportunities
• Purchase up to two cars/year for personal use at wholesale auction at the employee rate of £25/car. (And since you’ll have access to the data, you can build your own dashboard to alert you when the car you want is for sale!)

This opportunity will be based at our London Euston office.

The closing date for applying for this role is Friday 9th September 2016.