The Opportunity

We are looking for an early-career Data Scientist to join our team and support the development and delivery of a range of data-driven products used across the public sector. 

This is a hands-on, production-focused role where you will contribute to the full lifecycle of data science—from building data pipelines through to generating insights and supporting live systems. You will work alongside experienced data scientists, software engineers, and product managers, with structured support as you build confidence working in production environments. 

In your first year, your work will focus on developing and maintaining data pipelines, supporting existing digital products, and contributing to short-term projects to provide data-focussed support to non-technical teams. Over time, you will take increasing ownership of data science development backlogs for established products, while continuing to work as part of a collaborative team to deploy and manage changes safely. 

This role is well suited to someone who enjoys solving real-world problems with data, is comfortable working across a range of technical tasks, and is interested in how emerging AI tools can transform the way data science is carried out. 

The Team

You will join a small, multidisciplinary team working at the intersection of data science, data engineering, and software development. Work is delivered in collaboration with product managers and stakeholders across the public sector, including the NHS, central government, and voluntary sector organisations. 

The team follows modern software development practices, including version control, code review, and CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that all changes to production systems are robust, tested, and delivered safely. As an early-career member of the team, you will receive ongoing support and guidance while working on real systems used in operational settings. 

Given the small size of the team, there is an excellent opportunity for everyone to contribute to approaches and introduce new techniques, more so now than ever with rapid developments in AI. 

Key Responsibilities

Data pipeline development

• Build and extend data pipelines using Python, following established templates and patterns

• Contribute to the ingestion, transformation, and validation of data within a shared data platform

• Support the ongoing improvement of pipeline performance, reliability, and scalability

Product development and deployment

• Contribute to a collaborative development process using GitHub, including code review and version control

• Write clear, maintainable, tested and well-documented Python code suitable for production use

• Support testing and deployment activities within established CI/CD processes

Data analysis and consultancy support

• Support short-term projects with a focus on data by helping non-technical teams put data at the heart of end-to-end solutions

• Clean, analyse, and interpret data to generate insights for stakeholders

• Develop dashboards and visualisations (e.g. Power BI) to communicate findings clearly

Stakeholder support and continuous improvement

• Respond to client user requests, such as queries about data outputs

• Work with stakeholders to understand requirements and improve existing products

• Stay informed about developments in data science and AI, exploring opportunities to improve ways of working

About You

Essential

• Experience using Python for data analysis or data processing, including libraries such as pandas or NumPy

• Understanding of data analysis workflows, including data cleaning, transformation, and exploratory analysis

• Motivation to develop skills in working with production data systems and modern development practices

• Ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

 Desirable

• Experience working with data pipelines or ETL processes

• Familiarity with version control (e.g. Git) and collaborative development workflows

• Exposure to CI/CD processes or deploying code into production environments

• Experience creating data visualisations or dashboards (e.g. Power BI, Tableau)

• Basic understanding of web applications or frameworks (e.g. Django)

• Previous experience (academic, professional, or personal) working on real-world data projects

 Personal Attributes

• Strong problem-solving skills, with attention to detail and a willingness to debug issues

• Comfortable working as part of a team, with a willingness to learn from others and take on feedback

• Interest in emerging AI approaches, such as LLMs or workflow automation

About Social Finance

We are an ambitious not for profit organisation that helps to design, fund and scale better solutions to complex social problems. Our vision is a fairer world where together we unleash the potential of people and communities.

We do this by working in partnership with local and national governments, funders, communities and the social sector to tackle complex and enduring social problems in the UK and across the world. Our skills include financial analysis, data and digital insight, outcomes-focused partnerships, strategy, research and design. We combine these specialisms in different ways to address specific social challenges. We create effective solutions that blend the expertise of communities and professionals to deliver better outcomes in issues such as homelessness, domestic abuse, children’s services, health, employment and skills.

Our multi-skilled team of over 120 people come from diverse backgrounds in the public, private and charity sectors, all sharing a passion for making change happen. We provide a high-quality training and development programme in-house with great opportunities for career progression. We’re a friendly and intellectually curious bunch, always up for a debate.

Our work improves the lives of people and communities in the UK and across the world. We are experts in systems change – shifting the way a whole system works around a specific social issue in order to ensure long-lasting change. Examples include:

• Employment & skills: Scaling evidence-based employment services through IPS Grow.

• Health & social care: Investing in health transformation, such as in End-of-Life Care services.

• Children & young people: Maximising access to education by building more inclusive systems.

• Housing & homelessness: Developing innovative funding models to help meet government new homes supply.

• Our approach is a collaborative one, where we bring the best capabilities and people from across the organisation together to solve the challenges we face.

Our Values

Everyone at Social Finance believes that change for communities is possible. To help us achieve it, we have three core values that guide everything we do. We are curious, empathetic and pioneering.

Working at Social Finance

The fixed salary for this position is £40,000 per annum. Working for a mission driven organisation is more than just what we pay though, it’s about our culture, our approach and what else we offer.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

We actively encourage applications from under-represented and minoritised groups, including those with lived experience of the social issues we are working to address. We are an equal opportunities employer.

We support a range of flexible working options and welcome UK based applications from outside of London/the Southeast so far as they can meet the in-person meeting requirements for the role. We can also accommodate secondments and part-time working.

We work on some projects where our clients may require different levels of DBS checking for our employees. Candidates deemed suitable for a role after interview will be asked to declare any unspent convictions to ensure that we are able to resource them to projects appropriately.

Read more about working for Social Finance on our website.

How to Apply

We use Applied, an application platform developed by the Behavioural Insights Team, to record your application. Applied uses behavioural and data science to improve hiring decisions and minimise unconscious bias in the recruitment process.  

You will be asked to upload your CV, which will then be blind-reviewed, removing information about your name, location etc. You will also be asked to respond to situational based questions which will allow you to express your ability. Your answer to each question will be viewed in isolation. Please therefore ensure there is enough detail in that single response, without any references to your other responses. 

Important Dates

Closing date for applications: Thursday 8 July 2026 at 5pm.

We are aiming to hold first stage 30-minute virtual interviews week commencing 13 July 2026