About The Borough

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Kingston and Sutton councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Kingston and Sutton offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both boroughs. In Sutton, we are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. Over in Kingston, we are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in the borough, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

You should choose Kingston and Sutton if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushey Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan “Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together”, that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan “Ambitious for Sutton”, that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

About The Role And Our Ideal Candidate

The Data Scientist(s) will be joining the corporate data service and will play a key role in the delivery of the data strategy.

In this role, you will:

Tackle Big Challenges: Apply data science to help solve critical issues like social care pressures, support residents struggling with their finances, and help tackle homelessness.
Deliver Insights: Create visualizations and predictions that improve decision-making and help us better understand our residents.
Collaborate: Work with diverse stakeholders and data professionals to use data more effectively and bring new ideas to the organization.
Innovate: Use modern data technologies and inspire a data-driven culture throughout the Council.

Note: There are two positions available. These are linked grade positions, grade and salary point will be decided based on the skills and experience of the successful candidates.

About You

We are looking for a creative problem-solver, collaborative and adaptable colleague with a passion for using data for good. You will have:

Technically Proficient: An expert in Python and SQL, with strong skills in data visualisation tools. You will possess the mathematical and statistical abilities to clean, analyse, and model large, complex datasets.
A High-Quality Coder: Able to produce well-written, understandable, and reusable code that is optimised for performance.
A Clear Communicator: Capable of explaining complex technical concepts to diverse audiences, managing stakeholder expectations, and articulating the value of data projects to senior management.
Experienced in Project Delivery: With a proven track record of leading data projects and delivering data products or services with limited supervision.
A Continuous Learner: Passionate about self-development, exploring new tools and techniques, and inspiring the organisation to be data-driven.
Impact-Driven: Able to create insights and predictions that unlock value and help to reimagine public services.
Committed to Data Integrity: Knowledgeable about data governance, security, and protection regulations for sensitive data.

Supporting Statement

In your supporting statement please tell us 'What motivates you to pursue a data science role within local government? Please describe a specific project or accomplishment from your professional experience where you used data to solve a complex problem or drive a positive outcome. (250 to 350 words)'

About Us

The new Data Service is part of a shared Digital & IT service for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Sutton. Both councils have ambitious transformation programmes that depend on a more effective use of data to gain better insights and improve council services for residents. The team will also play a key role in supporting each Council’s AI and digital ambitions.

Being a new service the successful candidate(s) will have an opportunity to grow, learn and set direction.

Both Councils have data strategies with the strong backing of management and colleagues. The data strategy aims to:

Set a data architecture and build a platform that makes it easier for the organisation to find, combine and use data.
Establish a data governance framework to improve quality and handling so staff can have confidence in data products.
Upskill our data analysts and council employees and recruiting data specialists.
Select and embed new tools and technologies to improve data usage.
Promote a more data-driven culture at all levels in the organisation.

The role reports directly to the Head of Data.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
Interest free season ticket loans
Local Government Pension Scheme
Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
Zip car scheme
Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.

However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.

Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are in the process of updating our payscales in line with the pay award for NJC, Chief Officers and Chief Executives for April 2025 therefore please take this into account when viewing the salary on this position.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames jobs

Data Scientist