Operational Research Data Scientist (Metaheuristics)

We have an exciting opportunity for a Data Scientist with Metaheuristic experience to join our Operational Research Data Scientist team.

At Tesco, our Data Science team focuses on modelling complex business problems and deploying data products at scale. Our work spans across multiple areas including physical stores, online, supply chain, marketing and Clubcard, where we encourage rotation amongst our Data Scientists so they can gain expertise in different subjects. 

We work on several domains and problem types: online, pricing, security, fulfilment, distribution, property, IoT and computer vision are just some. Our team members spend 10% of their week on learning and personal development. Multiple academic collaborations enrich the team expertise; knowledge-sharing events are regular.

Furthermore, we have got a great work-life balance, team days and relaxed but engaging culture.

This is a hybrid role and you can choose to be based out of either our London Farringdon or Welwyn Garden City office depending on your home location.

At Tesco, we believe in the power of spending more time together, face to face, than apart. So, during your working week, you can expect to spend 60% of your time in one of our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. We also recognise that life looks a little different for each of us. Some people are at the start of their careers, some want the freedom to do the things they love. Others are going through life-changing moments like becoming a carer, nearing retirement, adapting to parenthood, or something else. That’s why at Tesco, we always welcome a conversation about flexible working. So, talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

• Leverage your analytical mindset to find solutions to complex
• Understand difficult business problems and prototype solutions with minimal support.
• Apply, modify and design metaheuristic algorithms and mathematical models to solve business problems is a core component of the role.
• Validate, document and present the solution approaches and performances, as well as communicate complex solutions in a clear, understandable way to non-experts
• Promote data science across Tesco and promote Tesco across the external Data Science community. 
• Drive innovation and take ownership of aspects of the project development, help the Senior, Principal and Lead Scientists and the Product Managers manage the relationships with the business stakeholders 
• Help mentor more junior members of the team and/or interns.
• Be involved in the recruitment process of other data scientists

We are looking for ambitious individuals with a mix of mathematical optimisation, programming and statistics skills. 

• Extensive background in Operational Research and metaheuristics domain.
• Experience designing and modifying advanced heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms and applying those to large-scale real-world problems.
• Project and stakeholder management experience is preferred.
• Demonstrate a deep knowledge of state-of-the-art approaches and algorithms in combinatorial optimisation. You should be enthused to apply these techniques in a commercial or industrial setting. 
• Have a scientific mentality with the ability to ask the right questions, as well as answer them.
• A year or more of post-doctoral research in an area of operational research or similar equivalent industrial experience is preferable
• Solid understanding of mathematics and statistical principles.
• Strong programming skills are essential (Java and Python are preferred) as well as familiarity with software engineering best practices (such as version control, OOP, unit testing, CI/CD) and cloud technologies

We’re all about the little helps. That’s why we make sure our Tesco colleague benefits package takes care of you – both in and out of work. Click Here to find out more!

• Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary
• Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave (after 1 years’ service) at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, we also offer 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave
• Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing

Our vision at Tesco is to become every customer's favourite way to shop, whether they are at home or out on the move. Our core purpose is ‘Serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day’. Serving means more than a transactional relationship with our customers. It means acting as a responsible and sustainable business for all stakeholders, for the communities we are part of and for the planet.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) at Tesco means that whoever you are and whatever your background, we always want you to feel represented and that you can be yourself at work. In short, we’re a place where Everyone’s Welcome. We’re proud to have been accredited Disability Confident Leader and we’re committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support we can offer, please click here.

We’re a big business and we can offer a range of diverse full-time & part-time working patterns across our many business areas, which means that we can find something that works for you.  We work in a more blended pattern -combining office and remote working.  Our offices will continue to be where we connect, collaborate and innovate.