Data Scientist
Job Description:
Please note this role will close at 00:01 on 27/1, so we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on 26/1.
Team Overview:
Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day. We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio. We also oversee the universal postal service, look after the airwaves used by wireless devices, and help to make sure people don’t get scammed and are protected from bad practices.
We have recently taken on the regulation of video-sharing platforms, and we are preparing for a role in protecting people from online harms. Protecting consumers is at the heart of what we do.
Our culture is clear - we live by our values: Empowerment; Excellence; Collaboration; Agility and Respect. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture at Ofcom. We focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.
The Data Innovation Hub works with colleagues across the whole organization to improve Ofcom’s capability to process, analyse and extract insights from data. This includes developing capabilities in various aspects of machine and deep learning as Ofcom prepares for and then takes on new duties as the UK’s regulator for Online Safety.
Purpose of the Role
As a data scientist the successful candidate will work within the Data Innovation Hub to help deliver a program of work that will develop and share fundamental understanding of the algorithms that underpin online services to help meet Ofcom's Online Safety objectives. The successful candidate will use their knowledge of Machine Learning and Deep Learning techniques to develop pilot projects in the areas of content moderation and/or recommender systems, including underlying work in Natural language understanding or video/image processing. This will contribute to work throughout the Online Safety program including transparency reports and platform monitoring.
Requirements of the Role
- Working collaboratively with colleagues in the Data Innovation Hub, policy and operations teams to deliver innovative projects.
- Delivering pilot projects to explore ML and DL techniques in areas such as NLU, analytics and Generative AI.
- Working on visualization tools like Power-BI, Plotly, Bokeh, D3 and Matplotlib.
- Exploring the availability and capabilities of “off the shelf” models
- Investigating how models can be tailored to specific use cases, including using fine-tuning, active learning and other techniques.
- Using best coding practices to generate reproducible work in an agile way.
- Documenting research, including developing appropriate assessment techniques.
- Working with data engineers to source, access, manipulate and engineer data across a range of sources and data formats.
- Helping other teams understand the variety of machine learning and deep learning methods and how they can be effectively applied to solve problems.
- Ensuring compliance with our relevant data and information security principles
- Supporting colleagues in engagement with internal and external stakeholders on a range of deep learning and machine learning related topics.
- Ensuring compliance with our relevant data and information security principles
- Supporting colleagues in engagement with internal and external stakeholders on a range of deep learning and machine learning related topics.
Skills and Knowledge and Experience
- Demonstratable practical experience developing ML and DL models, preferably in one or more of the following areas:
- natural language understanding
- image classification
- video classification
- multi-modal (speech, image, text) classification
- content moderation systems
- Demonstratable practical experience programming using Python, Scikit learn, Tensorflow or Pytorch, huggingface.
- Applying scientific methods through experimental design, exploratory data analysis and hypothesis testing to reach robust conclusions, including reviewing the work of others.
- Strong interpersonal skills and evidence of ability to interact effectively with a range of stakeholders to communicate technical concepts and analytical results.
- Working as part of a team and independently, demonstrating flexibility and adaptability, and supporting a culture of collaboration and trust.
Qualifications
- BSc or preferably MSc in Elec Eng, Comp Sci, Maths etc including relevant professional experience, or relevant PhD and no further experience.
Ofcom is a forward-thinking, inclusive employer and recognises the value of diversity to truly make communications work for everyone. Our vision is to ensure Ofcom is a place where our people can work hard and be themselves. We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability. We strive to be representative of the whole of the UK and our aim is to be an employer of choice for everyone.
We champion flexible working patterns including job shares where we can. Discover more about working at Ofcom at www.careers.ofcom.org.uk
As a Disability Confident employer, we offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for our advertised jobs. When you apply, you can let us know if you would like your application to be considered under this scheme (sometimes known as ‘guaranteed interview scheme’). Find out more about the scheme here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/jobs/disability-confident-scheme
We are proud supporters of Women in Data®. Connect, engage and belong to the largest free female data community in the UK – visit: www.womenindata.co.uk to join our community.