Summary
A lead data scientist is a leader, coach, and champion of data science. They have responsibility for managing and developing teams, building organisational capability, and setting and communicating direction.
At this role level, you will:
have experience in identifying opportunities to deploy extensive knowledge of data science techniques, and in challenging the status quo
design and implement scalable data science outputs and products, driving collaboration with others in support of organisational objectives
select the most appropriate tools and technologies
navigate ethical and data challenges
communicate and present effectively
challenge delivery plans and priorities
Work Activity Components
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Model evaluation and advice (Level Five)(DATS) | Provides expert advice to evaluate the problems to be solved and the need for data science solutions. |
Technical Skills
| Title | Details | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Big Data | The discipline associated with data sets so large and/or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. The data files may include structured, unstructured and/or semi-structured data, such as unstructured text, audio, video, etc. Challenges include analysis, capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, manipulation, analysis, visualization and information privacy. | Proficient in |
| Business Environment | The business environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations, such as customers, suppliers, partners and competitors), in particular those aspects of the business that the specialism is to support (i.e. localised organisational awareness from a technical perspective). | Proficient in |
| Programming Languages | A set of codes and syntax (supported by software tools) that enables the unambiguous translation of specified functionality into source code for the creation of computer programs. | Proficient in |
Training
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Advanced Tools for Numerical Analysis | Complex tools and techniques associated with the analysis, modelling and streamlining of numerical analysis models that aggregate a number of sub component numerical analysis routines, methods and approaches. |
| Coaching | Concepts, methods and techniques for providing coaching in subject specialisms to individuals or groups (e.g. GROW model). |
| Team Dynamics | Team dynamics are critical for organisational success. Without positive team dynamics, the organisation cannot fully leverage employee potential and tap into their skills and experience. An understanding of team dynamics facilitates employee productivity and satisfaction while allowing teams to meet business objectives. Team dynamics methods, tools and techniques, such as Belbin, help individuals understand their role within a particular team, help develop strengths and manage weaknesses as a team member and improve overall team contribution and effectiveness.. |
Professional Development Activity (PDA)
| Title | Details | PDA Group |
|---|---|---|
| Deputising | Standing in for supervisor or manager on a temporary basis during periods of absence. | Broadening Activities |
| Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues | Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc. | Increasing Knowledge |
| Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation | Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to health and care, country and global issues. | Increasing Knowledge |
| Job Shadowing and Special Assignments | Undertaking temporary periods or secondments in other roles, particularly those that offer a new perspective on own function or exposure to other environments and cultures. | Broadening Activities |
| Management Development | Undertaking learning and best practice of the skills appropriate to managing all or part of an organisation, including business and financial management, benefits management, people management, management of change and strategic planning. This will require both on and off the job learning and may include participation in an appropriate development programme such as MBA or DMS (Diploma in Management Studies). | Developing Professional Skills |
| Mentoring | Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development. | Broadening Activities |
| Negotiating and Influencing | Undertaking learning and practice of negotiating with and influencing others. | Developing Professional Skills |
| Participation in Professional Body Affairs | Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level. | Participation in Professional Activities |
| Project Assignments | Participating in a project team, working group or task force established to deliver a solution to a specific problem or issue - especially valuable if the group is inter-disciplinary. | Broadening Activities |
| Research Assignments | Exploring a topic which is not part of own normal responsibilities and presenting findings to colleagues and/or management | Increasing Knowledge |
Qualification Components
| Title | Awarding Bodies |
|---|---|
| FEDIP Advanced Practitioner | The Federation for Informatics Professionals |
Additional Frameworks
National Competency Framework for Data Professionals in Health and Care
Behaviours
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Delivering outcomes (B1.1) (Level Four) | You are able to gather the skills of a diverse multi-disciplinary team in order to achieve an agreed outcome. |
| Communicating within a hierarchy (B1.2) (Level Four) | You are able to challenge the use of hierarchical arguments where logic supports a different course of action and call out the use of emotional or coercive influence. |
| Generating consensus (B1.3) (Level Four) | You are consistently able to gather a consensus of opinion to support your arguments and often know what people will support prior to discussion. |
| Logical arguments (B1.4) (Level Four) | You are able to construct a clearly predicated argument with logically consistent conclusions whilst providing robust refutations of counterarguments. |
| Negotiation (B1.5) (Level Four) | You are able to negotiate exchanges over multiple poles of interest in order to achieve a specific result even when those involved have hidden agendas, while allowing everyone to share multiple viewpoints. |
| Generating support (B1.6) (Level Four) | Your team and colleagues will often go above and beyond to support your initiatives. |
| Influence (B1.7) (Level Four) | Your opinion is often sought early by peers dealing with politically sensitive issues. |
| Equality (B2.1) (Level Four) | You make extra efforts to ensure that, where the voices of certain groups are not being heard, you take the time to give them a voice. |
| Challenging discrimination (B2.2) (Level Four) | You are able to engage with sensitive ED&I issues and deal with them with the utmost dignity, respect and fairness. |
| NHS Constitution (B2.3) (Level Four) | You promote the behaviours and values listed in the NHS Constitution. |
| Supporting others (B2.4) (Level Four) | You view the wellbeing of you and those around you with high priority. You take every step to ensure that people within your domain know that it's okay not to be okay. |
| Open environment (B2.5) (Level Four) | You are an ally for underrepresented and marginalised groups and model an open environment by facilitating sessions for these individuals to share their lived experiences with you and your colleagues. |
| Challenging disrespect (B2.6) (Level Four) | You support staff to understand the impact of disrespectful behaviour and support them in challenging it. |
| Written communication (B3.1) (Level Four) | You are able to produce original written material that is accessible, referenced and publishable, including the production of literature reviews. |
| Discussing complex ideas (B3.2) (Level Four) | You are able to engage in complex technical debates with other specialists whilst using accessible and accurate language. |
| Delivering complex ideas (B3.3) (Level Four) | Your confidence in your expertise enables others to feel confident and at ease with your contribution. |
| Understanding new ideas (B3.4) (Level Four) | You are able to design all insight into complex information in a way that is both accurate and concise. |
| Reading audiences (B3.5) (Level Four) | You are able to read large audiences to assess how well they have understood a series of multi-disciplinary concepts. |
| Problem sharing (B4.1) (Level Four) | You look to provide multi-disciplinary solutions for maximum adoption throughout the organisation, while respecting pre-agreed boundaries. |
| Seeking opinions (B4.2) (Level Four) | You regularly create multi-disciplinary teams to address complex problems. |
| Sharing best practice (B4.3) (Level Four) | You create an environment where the sharing of best practice is viewed as a central part of every review process. |
| Embedding best practice (B4.4) (Level Four) | You ensure that all processes within your area are based on models of "what good looks like". |
| Patient impact (B5.1) (Level Four) | You ensure work within your area is as efficient as possible and enables better health and care outcomes. |
| Understanding the customer (B5.2) (Level Four) | You seek out opportunities to work collaboratively with customers to pre-empt requests. |
| Customer service (B5.3) (Level Four) | You understand changes within health and care with a view offering solutions to foreseen requirements. |
| Customer solutions (B5.4) (Level Four) | You apply new solutions to customer requirements in order to ensure maximum accuracy and efficiency. |
Leadership
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Empathy and understanding (Level Four) | You act with care, empathy and understanding and ensure that your team knows you are always available to them. |
| Pressure (Level Four) | You are aware of the pressures faced by your senior managers, as well as those in your team, and are able to work collaboratively to ease them. |
| EDI (Level Four) | You actively engage in your organisation's EDI networks to better understand and appreciate the lived experiences of people different to you and how you can create a working environment supportive to all. |
| Compassion (Level Four) | You ensure that, whilst being a workplace, emotional issues are dealt with care and sensitivity. |
| Team support (Level Four) | Your team feels supported and empowered to exceed their goals. |
| Positivity (Level Four) | You set clear goals and expectations that are visible to your team and others in affiliated areas. |
| Innovation (Level Four) | You build the importance of trying new things and failing in a controlled environment into your ways of working whilst always celebrating success. |
| Safe to fail (Level Four) | You facilitate networking opportunities for your team, including those with external organisations. |
| Fairness (Level Four) | You are regarded as fair by your team who consistently give you the best of their abilities. |
| Opportunities (Level Four) | You identify opportunities for your team to learn from failure including fast fails and sandbox environments. |
| Goals (Level Four) | You set challenging goals whilst empowering the team to explore a number of different solutions whilst keeping yourself available to support them. |
| Performance (Level Four) | You regard sub standard work as a reflection of your ability as you had the opportunity to prevent it. |
| Motivation (Level Four) | You use your knowledge of the motivations of your team to plan succession and support them in their ambitions beyond your team. |
| Expectations (Level Four) | You are able to express the ramifications of below standard work in an honest and unemotional way. |
| Developing talent (Level Four) | You take pride in the talent of your team and go to great lengths to develop their skills and innovations. |
| Succession planning (Level Three) | You are able to readily identify those in your team who have the opportunity to excel at their level and beyond and use this knowledge to begin succession planning. |
| Managing expenditure (Level Four) | You are able to agree and control expenditure required for the effective running of your team. |
| Budget control (Level Four) | You agree and control budget allocations, highlighting anomalies in expenditure and make suggestions for the reallocations of funding. |
| Forecasting (Level Four) | You are able to produce accurate forecasts based on current expenditure and foreseen developments within your division. |
| Business cases (Level Four) | You deliver accurate and insightful business cases with appropriate and balanced options appraisals. |
| Headcount (Level Four) | You are able to articulate the ramification of headcount on service provision to negotiate for alternative staffing levels. |
| Recruitment (Level Four) | You support your team to recruit effectively whilst ensuring that fairness towards equality and diversity remains a priority throughout the process. |
| Supporting ambition (Level Four) | You take the time to talk to all staff members within your remit and encourage your managers to support their ambitions, providing solutions where these diverge from perceived organisational drivers. |
| Training opportunities (Level Four) | You ensure that your managers enable training on a regular basis within their unit and have ample access to training for their own development. You ensure that everyone understands delegation is a development opportunity that requires time and should not be seen as a shortcut to alleviating workloads. |
| Professional development (Level Four) | You take an active interest in all staff members' PDPs within your area and ensure that development opportunities are seized upon. |
| Managing external pressures (Level Four) | You ensure that time is set aside for the team to focus on each aspect of their role, wherever possible, free from distraction and interruption, protecting them, where possible, from the pressures of other managers outside the department, ensuring their well-being is protected from external pressures. |
Data Skills
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Analytics techniques (DSC1.1) (Level Four) | Sets direction and leads in establishing and managing analytical methods, techniques and capabilities. |
| Analytics standards and policies (DSC1.2) (Level Four) | Sets standards and guidelines for the application of a range of data science techniques to business problems and oversees their implementation. |
| Technique application (DSC1.3) (Level Four) | Leads the expansion of data science techniques employed to take advantage of under/ exploited data. |
| Generating value (DSC1.14) (Level Four) | Sets direction and leads the introduction and use of analytics to meet overall business requirements, ensuring consistency across all user groups. |
| Data science outputs (DSC1.4) (Level Four) | Identifies, promotes and shares best practice. |
| Evaluating data science techniques (DSC1.5) (Level Three) | Investigates the described problem and available datasets to assess the usefulness of data science solutions, undertaking discovery activity to inform these investigations. |
| Data science deployment DSC1.6 (Level Four) | Plans and leads strategic, large scale and complex data science initiatives to generate insights, create value and drive decision-making. |
| Healthcare specific analytics DSC1.7 (Level Three) | Understands and applies rules and guidelines specific to analytics in healthcare and anticipates risks and other implications of modelling. |
| Analysis and reporting DSC1.8 (Level Three) | Effectively implements analysis and reporting in areas where there is some complexity and ambiguity. |
| Communication of results DSC1.9 (Level Three) | Communicates results using methods appropriate to the target audience, ensuring that model performance and uncertainty are understood. |
| Improvement of techniques DSC1.10 (Level Three) | Manages reviews of the benefits and value of analytics techniques and tools and recommends improvements. |
| Policy development (Level Four) | Develops analytics policy, standards and guidelines. |
| Expert advice (Level Four) | Provides authoritative expert advice on a wide range of analytical techniques. |
| Technical architectures DSC1.13 (Level Three) | Designs, implements, tests, and improves technical architectures and systems. |
| Promoting data science DSC2.1 (Level Four) | Leads data science recruitment activity. |
| Professional development (Data Science) (DSC2.2) (Level Four) | Promotes and monitors continuous professional development of other staff. |
| Professional networking (Data Science) (DSC2.3) (Level Four) | Develops knowledge of unfamiliar techniques and shares knowledge. |
| Risk and reputation (Level Four) | Promotes the team’s reputation for professionalism. |
| Quality Assurance (Data Science) (Level Four) | Manages quality assurance for areas of responsibility throughout project lifecycle, escalating to stakeholders and external experts wherever appropriate. |
| Legal and ethical (Level Four) | Identifies and responds to legal and ethical concerns arising within area of responsibility. |
| Quality assessments DSC2.7 (Level Four) | Plans, organises and conducts formal quality and ethics assessments of complex projects. |
| Non-compliance DSC2.8 (Level Four) | Identifies and evaluates non-compliance with quality and ethics standards, determines underlying reasons for non-compliance and takes necessary remedial action. |
| Control (DSC2.9) (Level Four) | Identifies opportunities to improve organisational control mechanisms. |
| Assurance oversight (DSC2.10) (Level Four) | Oversees the assurance activities of others, providing advice and expertise to support assurance activity. |
| Reporting (DSC3.1) (Level Four) | Produces well-written and technically sound project reports and provides constructive review and assurance of reports authored by others. |
| Key messages (DSC3.2) (Level Four) | Communicates key messages to customers and translates research, analysis and results for a non-technical audience. |
| Explanation and recommendation (DSC3.3) (Level Four) | Has comprehensive knowledge of the strengths and limitations of analysis and the underlying data and is able to provide caveats in a constructive way. |
| Tailored presentation (DSC3.4) (Level Four) | Presents analytical work appropriately tailored to a range of internal and external audiences. |
| Data visualisation (Data Science) (DSC3.5) (Level Four) | Provides overall control to ensure the appropriate use of data visualisation tools and techniques. Advises on the appropriate use of data visualisation for different purposes and contexts to satisfy requirements. |
| Improving outputs (DSC3.6) (Level Four) | Engages with customers, shares findings and leads on debates that may influence decision making, inspiring the team to do similarly. |
| Tool selection (DSC3.7) (Level Four) | Leads on or supports the team in more complex analytical discussions with customers and colleagues. |
| User needs (DSC3.8) (Level Four) | Develops plans demonstrating how user needs will be met. |
| User research/design (DSC3.9) (Level Four) | Identifies where structured User Research / User Centered Design can add value, drawing in colleagues from these professions to deliver in collaboration. |
| Reporting processes (Level Four) | Ensures that reporting processes are robust, efficient and fit for purpose. |
| Standards (Data Science) (Level Four) | Advises persuasively on the available standards, procedures, methods, tools and techniques. |
| Benefits and value (Level Four) | Manages reviews of the benefits and value of reporting techniques and tools and recommends improvements. |
| Analytics policy (Level Four) | Contributes to the development of analytics policy, standards and guidelines. |
| System context (Level Four) | Understands the context of analysis including the identification of stakeholders and appreciation of wider issues. |
| Academic/Industry links (Level Four) | Develops and maintains links with academia and industry. |
| Opportunities (Level Four) | Champions innovative data analytics within and across teams. |
| Evolving technology (Level Four) | Applies knowledge of new and evolving technologies to decide which novel methods to apply to the most challenging problems. |
| Emerging technology (Level Four) | Actively shares new insights/opportunities with others and takes advantage of professional networks and other resources to build awareness of current and emerging technology / techniques. |
| Experimentation (Level Four) | Encourages and motivates innovation communities, teams and individuals to share creative ideas and learn from failures. Actively seeks out examples of data innovations in other internal and external products and considers their appropriateness for reuse. |
| Emerging technology selection (Level Four) | Decides which innovations are most suitable and drives the case forward to delivery. |
| Adoption (Data Science) (Level Four) | Leads the introduction of techniques, methodologies and tools to meet business requirements. |
| Alternative solutions (Level Four) | Work with end-users and Subject Matter Experts to identify alternative solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness through exploitation of new datasets, new data analysis tools, technology and/or automation. |
| Proof of concept (Level Four) | Influences customers and other partners to engage in proof-of-concept work to prove the potential value of innovative approaches while understanding and managing any associated risks. |
| Innovation strategy (Level Two) | Looks for ways to automate and improve efficiency of repeatable analytical workflows. |
| Data transformation (Data Science) (Level Four) | Co-ordinates the application of data design and modelling techniques, to establish, modify or maintain data pipelines, data structures, datasets, and metadata for diverse datatypes. |
| Data exploration (Level Four) | Uses expertise in data exploration techniques for diverse data types to lead analytical work of this type. |
| Data warehousing (Data Science) (Level Four) | Devises and implements data management processes for analytics, incorporating quality, retrieval, and retention processes in accordance with a robust set of ethical principles. |
| Existing data sources (Level Four) | Leads work to independently validate external information from multiple sources. |
| Analytical potential (Level Four) | Identifies, acquires, and maximises the analytical potential of new datasets including novel and diverse datatypes and sources. |
| Data integrity (Level Four) | Maintains and improves quality of data exploration work by identifying best practice and setting standards. |
| Data linking (Level Four) | Uses expertise in manipulating and creating new data sources through linking or matching multiple datasets, including assessing and enhancing the quality of data linking. |
| Data requirements (Data Science) (Level Four) | Ensures that solutions balance the essential and desired requirements. |
| Data sources (Level Four) | Plans, establishes and manages processes for regular and consistent access to, and independent validation of, external information from multiple sources. |
| Data quality (Data Science) (Level Four) | Sets standards for data modelling and design for analysis and ensures compliance. |
| Data structures (Level Four) | Provides guidance in the selection and use of database and data warehouse architectures, software, and facilities. |
| Data standards (Level Four) | Contributes to organisational policies, standards, and guidelines for data engineering. |
| Accessibility (Level Four) | Influences colleagues in data engineering to create data warehouses designed to support the demands of business intelligence and data analytics. |
| Programming (Data Science) (Level Four) | Takes technical responsibility across all stages and iterations of development. |
| Development approaches (Level Four) | Plans and drives software construction activities. |
| Engineering standards (Level Four) | Measures and monitors applications of project/team standards for software construction including security and reproducible analytical pipeline principles. |
| Development reviews (Level Four) | Adopts and adapts appropriate software development methods, tools and techniques. |
| Development standards (Data Science) (Level Four) | Contributes to the development of organisational policies, standards, and guidelines for software development. |
| Automation (Level Three) | Operationalises and automates activities for the efficient and timely production of data products eg reproducable analytical pipeline (rap). |
| Dependencies (Level Three) | Clearly articulates dependencies on other teams / systems / infrastructure and builds these in to plans. |
| Advanced Statistics (Level Three) | You know all standard advanced statistical techniques and keep up to date with new developments e.g. time series modelling using ETS, ARMA, ARIMA, BATS, TBATS etc. You understand the context for these developments and their limitations. |
| Machine Learning (Level Three) | You have detailed understanding of supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised and re-inforcement models and where these methods are most effective. You have skills in programming languages such as Python to enable more detailed Machine Learning models. |
| Hypothesis Testing (Level Three) | You understand Type I and Type II errors and how these relate to statistical power. You understand a-priori and post-hoc hyptheses, the difference between them and the strengths and weaknesses in relation to exploratory analysis. |
| Behavioural Science (Level Three) | You have a core knowledge in data science, economics, psychology and policy and are able to transform theory into practice and better adapt interventions to a specific context. |
| Social Research (Level Three) | You are able to review existing research evidence and work with other analysts to provide timely, relevant and robust policy responses and debate. |
| Economics (Level Three) | You can create econometric models for example CGE (Computable General Equilibrium) or partial equilibrium for scenario analysis in software packages. |
| Operational Research (Level Three) | You have a breadth of knowledge across a range of hard (e.g. linear programming, integer programming) and soft analytical techniques (e.g. strategic options development and analysis (SODA), soft systems methodology (SSM)) |
Project Skills
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Business cases (Level Four) | You instigate business case development and work with project management colleagues to define project requirements, scope and overall time, quality and cost constraints. |
| Scope (Level Four) | You define and engage stakeholders. |
| Reviews (Level Four) | You advise on the coherence of programmes in data and digital to maximise the effectiveness of time and available skills within the business. |
| Quality assurance - Data and digital (Level Four) | You lead quality assurance in data and digital, drawing on external expertise where necessary, learning lessons and sharing those with the wider data and digital community for their project work. |
| Advice and monitoring (Level Four) | You monitor and manage the capacity of data and digital teams to meet current project plans, escalating any issues with skills, timeframes and other resources impacting upon project plans with colleagues in project management. |
| Complexity (Level Two) | You understand and can articulate when the complexity of a proposed project requires further professional management or support. |
| Scheduling (WP2.3)(Level Three) | You sequence the activities in data and digital projects logically, effectively and efficiently, incorporating any lessons learned from similar past projects. |
| Refinement (Level Two) | You refine the plan within your work area to take account of any authorised changes communicating actions, progress and results with project managers. |
| Resource identification (Level Four) | You ensure resources for projects are in place and optimised across any programmes, communicating their business value to non-data and digital colleagues and stakeholders. |
| Skill acquisition and management (WP3.2)(Level Three) | You plan for the recruitment of staff with additional required skill sets, liaising with HR and/or other providers to source skilled staff to fulfil project roles, onboard and manage them and their workloads. |
| Additional tools and resources (Level Three) | You cost and acquire, deploy and contract for the support of additional tools and resources such as hardware, software, training and data sources for the course of the project life cycle. |
| Resource allocation (Level Two) | You plan the allocation of existing resources to project work whilst effectively maintaining business as usual wherever feasible. |
| Project management (Level Four) | You ensure the team's project delivery activities have sufficient resources to co-exist with business as usual. |
| Pilots and testing (Level Four) | You manage the risks and issues affecting data and digital roles in the project or programme. |
| Implementation (Level Four) | You engage with project managers and stakeholders to map out all necessary resources and activities for effective and sustained implementation |
| Communications (Level Two) | You communicate effectively with others, adapting your style and approach as and when required. |
| Business change (Level Four) | You promote how data and digital can champion business change and identify further technological opportunities to bring about business benefits. |
| Assurance (Level Four) | You provide assurance that the business benefits identified for a project can be realised, refining options for delivery and managing change control processes. |
| Evaluation (WP5.3) (Level Three) | You ensure appropriate solutions are evaluated and viable alternatives are considered to deliver the intended business benefits. |
The Professional Body Responsible for this job family is AphA. This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus.