Reporting to: Senior Data Scientist
Team: Strategy and Communications
Contract type: Degree apprenticeship – 36 months (expected)
Salary: Starting from £22,165 per annum dependent on skills and experience, plus excellent benefits package
Location: Brighton (hybrid)
Closing date: 5 February 2023
About us
More than half the UK working population rely on The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to regulate their retirement savings. With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation that will impact on millions of lives for decades to come.
Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2trn of savings safe. We’re committed to bringing people into TPR who are ready to make a difference and put UK savers at the heart of what we do.
It is important to us that TPR remains a great place to work. We do all we can to help our people reach their full potential with learning, secondment, and development opportunities. We put our 900+ employees first, supporting flexible working and offer a diverse, lively, and inclusive environment. This includes our Disability Network, Family Network, LGBT+ Network (Proud), Minority Ethnic (ME) Network and Women’s Network, which offer spaces to connect.
Our new corporate strategy outlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the industry. We are at the start of that journey. Join us to find out what part you can play.
We operate a hybrid working model, subject to government guidelines, where regular attendance in our Brighton office is required. Attendance in the office is team and role dependent.
Role
We’re looking for a Data Scientist Apprentice to help us put the saver at the heart of all that we do. While working alongside our data science experts, you will gain first-hand, practical experience to help you reach your potential. We will provide on-the-job coaching, mentoring and support to enable you to complete your Data Scientist Level 6 Apprenticeship (BSc in Data Science).
As a regulator, we have plenty of data – a pool that contains scheme information, metrics from the outside world, and our own internal sources.
What we’re looking for is someone who can turn that data into a compelling picture that helps guide our business decisions. You’ll be using complex maths and predictive models to create compelling visualisations and tell succinct stories with the images you’re creating, bringing insights to the fore which enable a data-driven business response.
No two days will be the same and occasionally the approach you take won’t be a binary option. But if the past is anything to go by, you’ll play a vital part in building bespoke data tools which will be used to help savers for many months and years to come.
We know that increasing representation at senior levels starts with attracting and nurturing great people from the beginning of their career and are keen to see applicants from a variety of backgrounds. If you think data science could be the career for you but you’re not 100% sure you meet the criteria, then please do get in touch. Recruitment/appointment will be based purely upon merit.
Responsibilities
Working alongside our data science experts and developing your own skills you will:
- develop analyses and products that help us understand our business and the regulated community
- draw insights from data and present them with plain English narratives and explanations for decision-makers
- solve complex problems using both internal and external datasets
- build predictive models that help TPR achieve its strategic goals
- help mentor and develop Intern Data Scientists
What training will the apprentice take and what qualification will the apprentice get at the end?
Our Data Scientist Degree Apprenticeship Programme encompasses maths, statistics, software engineering and communications training.
This programme includes core and specialist courses that are invaluable for anyone wishing to upskill or enter a data science role, including linear algebra and probability, data analytics, data mining, data visualization and data synthesis.
Apprentices will learn to navigate both the business and IT worlds with ease, building their mathematics, computer science and trend-spotting expertise and unearthing big business insights from unstructured information and data.
On successful completion of the apprenticeship, the apprentice will receive a BSc (Hons) Data Science.
Training is delivered by Northeastern University - London via blended learning, both virtual and in person.
What is the expected career progression after this apprenticeship?
Typical career progression would be to Junior Data Scientist within our data science team or Junior Analyst role in our Analytics team.
Essential and desirable criteria
Essential
- Good communication skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical people.
- Ability use media to present insights and analysis.
- You should possess a minimum of two A Levels (including one STEM subject) – grades A to C; five GCSEs (or equivalent) – grades A to C / 4 to 9 including Maths, Physics and ICT. (Alternative experience and qualifications may be considered).
- The apprentice must be able to demonstrate the required attitudes, behaviours and interpersonal skills associated with the professional workplace.
- The apprentice must be willing to commit an amount of personal time to study.
Desirable
- Experience of applying scientific methods and experimentation.
- Ability to write code, test, correct and document simple scripts.
Person specification
- Proactive and flexible.
- Problem solving and analytical skills.
- Attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to prioritise and use initiative.
- Attention to detail and accuracy.
Salary and benefits
As well as a salary of £22,165 we offer:
- Civil Service Pension arrangements, which are recognised as some of the best in the pensions world
- discretionary bonus arrangements
- access to performance related pay progression
- 25 days annual leave provision
- flexible working arrangements
- development opportunities
- enhanced parental leave arrangements
- a free employee assistance programme
- an excellent office location in Brighton
How to apply
Please submit your application on the Find an apprenticeship website.
We are an inclusive employer and offer equal opportunities regardless of an individual’s age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention, and development of people with disabilities, and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview.
Please be aware, as we are transitioning into a hybrid working model, we are currently holding interviews through Microsoft Teams.
In accordance with Home Office guidance, the successful candidate will be required to provide their right to work in the UK before they start employment. Unfortunately, TPR is not able to offer sponsorship at the time. TPR is a UK-based organisation with a working location in Brighton, candidates must live in the UK to be employed by us.
The Pensions Regulator is an arm’s length government body and part of the public service.
Any offer of employment will be subject to the receipt of satisfactory background screening checks and criminal record checks (BPSS).
If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.uk.