Senior Data Scientist NLP AI Research

London - UK

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: 3 days ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: D

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent Full-time

DEPARTMENT: BBC R&D

LOCATION: London Hybrid Manchester - Hybrid

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: Up to 69700 depending on relevant skills knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Were also happy to discuss flexible working. If youd like to please indicate your preference in the application though theres no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

BBC R&D is hiring a Senior Data Scientist / Researcher to join our AI Research team working at the forefront of AI news and broadcasting. Youll tackle complex high-impact challenges - from automated fact verification and contextual language understanding to developing editorially aligned LLM - and see your work embedded in BBC News products journalistic workflows and editorial decision-making.
Youll join a talented collaborative group of researchers and engineers who work closely with BBC News teams and partner with leading universities turning novel ideas into tools for journalists and programme makers at one of the worlds most respected public service broadcasters.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM
BBC R&Ds dedicated AI Research team is a group of 25 researchers data scientists and engineers that explores the use of AI principally in the areas of Natural Language Processing Large Language Model research and Computer Vision. This team collaborates closely with other Applied Research Areas within BBC R&D as well as teams in BBC Product Technology News Archive and iPlayer. We work closely in partnership with world-leading academic groups to help to drive innovation in the research space and accelerate the adoption of AI within the BBC.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:
THE ROLE REQUIRES
- Innovate and solve complex problems. Apply creative thinking and sound judgment to develop innovative solutions to technical challenges often exploring diverse approaches.
- Prototype and evaluate technologies. Design build and test prototypes to explore research questions and assess new technologies through trials lab tests and user feedback.
- Drive impact through knowledge transfer. Translate research outcomes into practical solutions for the BBC or broader industry via operational systems open-source contributions or standards input.
- Collaborate across and beyond the BBC. Work closely with internal teams and external partners including universities and manufacturers to deliver impactful results on joint projects.
- Communicate and represent the BBC. Share findings through internal documentation external publications and research conferences.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

Advanced Degree in Relevant Field: Bachelors Masters or Ph.D. in Machine Learning Computer Science or a closely related discipline.
Good knowledge of modern LLM theory: Strong understanding of the theoretical foundations of large language models including attention mechanisms as well as training and inference techniques (e.g. PEFT KV-cache RoPE etc.).
Expertise in NLP & ML Tools: Hands-on experience with cutting-edge NLP models (GPT family Google Gemini Claude BERT) and proficiency in frameworks like PyTorch TensorFlow and Scikit-Learn.
Strong Programming & Development Skills: Excellent Python coding abilities and familiarity with software engineering best practices.
Applied ML & Experimentation Experience: Proven track record in designing experiments building training pipelines and translating business needs into technical solutions.
Modern MLOps & Cloud Knowledge: Competence in cloud deployment data management and MLOps workflows including versioning and performance evaluation.

DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED

Hands-on experience deploying systems to Azure and/or OpenStack with a strong grasp of cloud-native architectures and best practices.
Proven web application development expertise from building responsive UIs to integrating complex backends.
Skilled in managing and evolving large-scale codebases with a focus on maintainability scalability and clean architecture.
Collaborative approach to innovation working closely with Data Scientists ML Engineers and researchers to translate cutting-edge ideas into production-ready solutions.
Successful academic background participation in published documents within your area of specialism.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience along with transferable strengths wed love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

Before your start date you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges in line with our Contracts of Employment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

Required Experience:

Senior IC

JOB DETAILS JOB BAND: DCONTRACT TYPE: Permanent Full-time DEPARTMENT: BBC R&DLOCATION: London Hybrid Manchester - HybridPROPOSED SALARY RANGE: Up to 69700 depending on relevant skills knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external marke...