Data Scientist - 12 Month FTC

Internal Use only - Grade F

About us

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very.

Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do.

And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go.

If you love making a difference, you’ll love making it sparkle for millions of Very customers. ✨

About the team 

Our Data Science teams work across the business in a number of areas to help drive innovative, collaborative and iterative solutions to challenging problems. You will work closely with various business areas to drive insights, improve our products and help create more effective solutions. Typical Data Science projects may involve Experimentation, Marketing, Retail and Operations or Digital Product and CX. The key thing that all our teams do is support our business colleagues to make bold data driven decisions that drive value for our business and our customers. 

About the role 

What do we look for... 

We are seeking an outcome driven data scientist (12 month FTC) who is comfortable working as part of a wider team. You will have demonstratable ability to solve problems and establish working relationships with others, including key stakeholders who may or may not hold the same level of technical expertise as yourself. It is vitally important that you are eager to learn, to get involved and to work on a number of different challenges and business problems. The Very Group is a constantly evolving environment to work in, and being comfortable with change and embracing it as an opportunity to develop personally and professionally is essential. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are vitally important and encouraged within the team. 

Self-development is important for us. We see both learning together as a team through the process of delivery and individual learning to build specific skills to be able to contribute more to the team, as important. We will give you the time and tools to do this! 

What we do 

We utilise sophisticated analytical techniques and statistical modelling to support many areas of the business and contribute to their success. This can range from working on how we measure and optimise our marketing spend, how we make stock purchasing decisions, to how do we diagnose the crucial customer challenges in our digital customer experience and make recommendations to improve them.  

Some of our key wins recently have included 

• Launched demand forecasting models to provide daily demand recommendations for 100,000s of SKUs to help support more effective product planning and buying decisions 

• Developed and launched a suite of price optimisation models to support the business’ pricing and promotions strategy 

• Utilised Machine Learning NLP techniques to analyse customer feedback as part of our NPS survey which helps us to diagnose customer pain points more accurately 

• Adoption of a Quasi Experimentation methodology to provide more robustness to our measurement testing of business changes 

• Launched a suite of individual product recommendations within email communications to our customers 

• Drove data decisioning of our contact strategy for our retail media proposition as part of Very Media Group 

These recent wins highlight the importance of the function. Demand for the team is always greater than what we can meet. Data is at the very heart of our business with board level visibility of many of the projects we work on. 

How we work: 

We work with many different parts of our business, adopting working styles to best suit collaboration. The team champions innovation and a pioneering spirit for constant development. Our teams are empowered to deliver complex projects and develop a strong culture of friendship and collaboration. We encourage our team members to feel part of the wider data community. 

Does this sound like you... 

• A theoretical command of a range of different models and analytical techniques.  

• Knowledge of Data Science techniques gained through academic study or practical experience. 

• Proficient in Python with an ability to produce readable, well-structured reusable code, along with demonstrable experience in data wrangling, cleaning and pre-processed data. 

• Proficient in SQL, with the ability to extract and manipulate data. 

• Comfortable working with Git-based workflows (e.g. pull requests, code reviews) to support team collaboration and continuous integration. 

• Eagerness to learn and develop technical skills as well as being happy to share knowledge with others. 

• Previous experience solving problems, anticipating issues and challenges in data processes and the ability to find opportunities to improve processes and ways of working. 

• Ability to take people on a journey with you, tailoring your communications to non technical audiences is essential. 

What will you be responsible for... 

• Leading the analysis, modelling and interpretation of model outcomes to deliver actionable insights that inform media strategies and campaign planning 

• Collaborating with internal teams across Analytics and Insight, Marketing Channels and the Very Media Group to optimise campaign outcomes. 

• Supporting the business partners to identify the right questions to enable meaningful strategic decisions, translating those questions into data science problems & choosing appropriate models to solve it. 

• Presenting model outcomes and strategic recommendations to brand partners, fostering trusted relationships that encourage repeat investment. 

• Contributing to improving Data Science methodologies code base and capabilities. 

• Defining problems, scoping and planning projects. Self-managing the delivery of objectives as part of a team. Proactively trying to solve blockers

Some of our Benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model
• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews

• £250 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 27 days holiday + bank holidays
• Udemy learning access
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk

• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:

1st stage - An informal 30-minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

2nd Stage – A one-hour formal interview where you can expect both competency and technical questions (task based) This can be held either in-person or remotely.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here.

Equal opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.