Band 4 Data Science and AI Developer

Job description

Job Purpose

ONR is transforming how data and AI support its mission to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations. The Data Science and AI Developer will work with business users to develop and assure analytics, data science and AI solutions that deliver business priorities and support strategic and operational decision making.

About The Role

The Data Scientist and AI Developer will:

• Grow the data science and AI capability across the organisation.
• Identify opportunities to apply data and AI to deliver innovative solutions to business needs with colleagues, partners and the wider sector.
• Apply financial, ethical and data protection considerations to the collection and use of data in decision making.
• Coach and educate teams across the business to build trust in advanced analytics and strengthen AI competency and data literacy.
• Apply current and emerging technologies to business challenges.

Principal Responsibilities

• Explain the value of AI and data science to different audiences and work with colleagues to define the problems to be solved.
• Develop, test, deploy and maintain AI and analytical outputs in line with governance, assurance and quality frameworks, ensuring evidence is available to support scrutiny and challenge.
• Bring together data from multiple sources to build models, test ideas and generate insight.
• Maintain documentation, including risk assessments, approval records, monitoring evidence and model retirement decisions.
• Provide clear, defensible explanations of analytical methods and AI outputs for technical, operational and executive audiences.
• Develop, deploy and manage models, algorithms and AI solutions.
• Ensure data and AI products meet organisational requirements for information management, data protection, security and quality.
• Keep up to date with developments in data science, analytics and AI.

Line Management Responsibilities

None currently, however, at this level there could be an expectation to manage staff in the future.

Location / Travel

This post will be undertaken from a base at Bootle.

ONR operates hybrid working (working in the office and or at home) as part of our flexible working policy. There is an expectation that everyone will spend time in the office on a regular basis, recognising that some work is better done face to face. Managers will work with their teams on what works best to meet individual, team, business and organisational needs to enable collaboration, as well as balancing personal choice and wellbeing.

Work with Us

Our colleagues are from all walks of life with varied personal experiences and career journeys into ONR. We want the best people for our roles. As an inclusive employer we value  individuals’ contributions , regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social background, religion, or belief. Our  values  ‘supportive, open-minded, fair and accountable’ are central to this. We  invest  in our people to build capability, resilience, and promote wellbeing in our great teams, underpinned by our inherent focus on inclusion and excellence.

Security Clearance

BPSS

Person Specification

Inclusion

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We will consider reasonable adjustments to ensure the recruitment process is inclusive and barrier-free. If you require reasonable adjustments as part of your application, please contact ONR HR as soon as possible, preferably before the vacancy closes, by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] to discuss further.

We will also offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the guaranteed interview scheme.

We recognise we have a role to play in helping those leaving the Armed Forces and have a Veterans guaranteed interview scheme. We offer an interview to Veterans who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the scheme. Please see eligibility criteria below.

• served for at least one year in His Majesty's Armed Forces (as a Regular or Reserve).

• be in transition from, or ceased to be a member of, His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

• not already be employed by ONR.

Skills/Job Related Expertise

Essential

• Conducting data analysis using Python, R or equivalent tools to generate insight and support decisions.
• Developing and delivering modern AI approaches (e.g. LLMs, generative AI and retrieval augmented generation (RAG).
• Experience working with cloud platforms to deploy and operationalise models (CI/CD, monitoring, drift, incident response).
• Demonstrable ethical mindset and ability to identify/raise data ethics concerns.
• Experience applying governance and cyber security principles to data science, AI and cloud-based solutions.
• Working collaboratively and applying innovative approaches to problem solving.

Desirable

• Experience designing solutions with user needs and service context in mind.
• Familiarity with Microsoft development tools e.g., Fabric/Azure ML, and DevOps.
• Understanding of risk-informed decision making.
• Experience of producing clear, auditable technical documentation.
• Experience within government, nuclear, defence, energy or other regulated sectors.

Qualifications

A Batchelor’s degree in data science, computer science, engineering or maths or a related numerate discipline.

A masters degree or equivalent practical experience is advantageous.

For Further Information

For more information about this vacancy please contact:

E: [email protected]

How to apply

Please submit your application through the recruitment portal.

The closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday 6 th December at 23:45.

Please note that should we receive a sufficient volume of applications meeting the required standard, this role may be closed before the advertised closing date.

Interviews will take place W/C 14 th December 2026.

Your application should include:

• CV to include a full record of your education and professional qualifications and a full employment history.
• A suitability statement (maximum of 800 words) highlighting how you meet the ‘essential skills and experience” required for the role, which will be used at shortlisting in conjunction with your CV.
• Where applicable highlight if you have any experience under ‘desirable skills and experience’ within the application form.

Throughout our shortlisting process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the essential criteria (and the desirable if applicable).

Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Important guidance when providing CV’s – please upload text-based CVs with no graphics or pictures to ensure the anonymisation function works correctly.

Please note - if whilst completing your application, you use special characters such as (‘; “- _ *) within your examples, Hireserve will convert these characters into symbols. We are currently unable to change this. 

Whilst these examples will appear on your application, this will not prevent it from being reviewed at the shortlisting stage.