About the job

Job summary

We are currently looking for a Data Scientist (Scientific Data and Insight) to join our Scientific Data and Insight Team within the Safety and Surveillance Group 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. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas.  

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 4 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 8 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. Remote working is potentially available for some specific roles. Please discuss this with the recruiting manager before accepting an appointment. 

 

 

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.  

 

The group’s main aim is 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 function will be 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. In the future this will include the 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.

 

Job description

What’s the role?

The Agency is facing a rapidly evolving external environment involving increasingly complex products and utilisation of these products across an ever more diverse health system.  The post holder will have data science expertise to support and develop world-leading vigilance systems designed to gather, collate, and analyse data relevant to the safety of medicines, vaccines, and medical devices.

 

The post holder is responsible for using data science techniques to design and develop innovative and novel analytical approaches to interrogate datasets and generate evidence which is relevant for regulatory decision making. The post holder will ensure access to real world data in a timely fashion for regulatory needs and develop analytical approaches to make business activities more effective.

 

The post holder will work closely with other members of the Scientific Data and Insight function and regularly interact with colleagues across the Safety and Surveillance Group, including Clinical Practice Research Datalink, and wider Agency.

Key responsibilities: 

• Apply data science and machine learning approaches to large and complex datasets using programming languages such as Python, R, Stata and SQL to generate actionable insights and robust evidence.
• Communicate approaches and results clearly and effectively to a wide range of stakeholders, including using data visualisation methods. 
• Ensure that data science solutions robust, reproducible, and scalable by applying technical best practices. 
• Work cross-functionally to enable the delivery of innovative evidence-generation throughout the product life cycle and collaborate with external partners to enable data-driven discovery in medical product safety.

Person specification

Our successful candidate will: 

• Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Bioinformatics or a similar quantitative discipline or demonstrable equivalent professional experience
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, Stata and SQL and their applications in data science to analyse and model large datasets; experience in developing clear, effective, and reproducible code through data science best practices,
• Experience of communicating complex data science concepts and results; and of data visualisation and presentation of complex information.

• Experience of working collaboratively within multidisciplinary data science teams and delivering results in a timely way.

• Demonstrable technical knowledge and skills in at least one of the following domains: mathematical modelling and simulations, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, time series modelling, or bioinformatics.

 

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

Please note: The job description may not open in some internet browsers. Please use Chrome or Microsoft Edge. If you have any issue viewing the job description, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,869, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency contributes £11,574 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

We use the Civil Service Success Profiles to assess our candidates, find out more here. 

 

• Online application form, including questions based on the Behaviour, Experience and Technical Success Profiles. Please ensure all application questions are completed in full; your application may not be considered if any responses are left blank. Our applications are CV blind, and our Hiring Managers will not be able to access your CV when reviewing your application.
• Interview, which can include questions based on the Behaviour, Experience, Technical and Strengths Success Profiles.

 

If you require any disability related adjustments at any point during the process, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk as soon as possible. 

  

Closing date: 22/12/2023

Interview date: w/c 22/1/2024

 

If you need assistance applying for this role or have any other questions, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk 

 

Candidates will be subject to UK immigration requirements as well as Civil Service nationality rules. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here. 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check as well as animal rights and pro-life activism checks. People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.