Data Scientist

The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.

The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms. The PRA was created by the Financial Services Act (2012) and is part of the Bank of England.

We are recruiting for a role in one of the directorates of the PRA – ARTIS:

Authorisations, RegTech, and International Supervision (ARTIS) compromises of the following divisions:

• The Authorisations Division, which deals with regulatory transactions where firms apply to carry out PRA regulated activities, or make changes to the activities they undertake;
• The new RegTech, Data and Innovation Division; charged with enabling the PRA to harness the full power of its data; and
• International Banks Supervision - the four divisions responsible for the supervision, as a host regulator, of the UK activities of banks, custodians and designated investment firms headquartered in over 50 overseas jurisdictions – including some of the world’s highest profile firms.

We believe in diversity. We define diversity as both who we are (identity diversity, such as gender or ethnicity) and how we think (cognitive diversity). We are actively seeking the benefits of having a range of backgrounds and characteristics in our teams. Diverse teams are more inclined to consider novel ideas and challenge each other, enabling them to infer cause and effect and to solve problems better and thereby help us to better achieve our mission. Diversity does not mean ticking boxes, it means ensuring we are best able to fulfil our mission of promoting the good of the people of the UK by maintaining financial stability.

Data scientist role in Authorisations, RegTech & International Supervision (ARTIS)

Department Overview

There is one data scientist role available in the technical specialist Division within our Supervision Directorate.

The Cross-Firm Analysis and Supervision Division plays a central role within ARTIS: engaging with the development and implementation of prudential policy; leading on risk identification and thematic work; providing specialist expertise, training, data, and peer analysis; developing impactful Data Science solutions that allow supervisors to make the most of the data; supporting and delivering in-depth capital, liquidity, and credit reviews; and supervising of Japanese firms.

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Data Scientist to join one of our technical specialist teams within our Supervision Directorate. The job holder will lead and assist with the development of advanced analytics through deployment of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) techniques, including Large Language and Multimodal Models (LLMs/LMMs), to improve a variety of internal business functions related to financial supervision and regulation.

As a data scientist, the post-holder will coordinate and feed into a number of key PRA data projects and will have autonomy in implementing the best solutions, including training end users and the development of new analytical tools. The successful candidate will be responsible for challenging the status quo and with fellow colleagues will aim to enhance analytical capabilities across their Directorate. To achieve this, you will need to demonstrate strong command of relevant programming languages (R and/or Python), data visualisation techniques (R Shiny, Streamlit, Power BI, Tableau), experience in using Cloud technologies and willingness to continuously improve your knowledge.

Being part of a team of experienced data scientists you will be contributing to regulatory, financial, exploratory and digital analysis. As part of the role, you will have the opportunity to feed into or lead some of the most important analytical pieces used by our Directorate to ensure the safety and soundness of firms we supervise. Some examples of analytical work are:

• Thematic cross-firm analysis to identify outlier firms with emerging risk profiles
• Deep-dives on specific risk elements (e.g. Capital, Liquidity, Operations, Governance) on an individual firm and peer group level
• Event-driven analysis during sector or market-wide stresses
• Analysis of structured and unstructured firm data to support the delivery of supervisory strategic priorities

In addition, the post-holder will contribute to the PRA and Bank-wide agendas on improving data quality at firms, increasing digital skills and embedding AI/ML techniques throughout the PRA’s analytical suite. The role offers a fantastic opportunity to improve your understanding of finance and regulation.

The successful candidate will be joining a team network (Spokes) of data scientists across PRA Supervision and work closely with a central team (Hub) on the most high profile data challenges the PRA face today. While your data science role may start in one Spoke, there will be short-term opportunities and secondments available to move to other Spokes or the Hub on individual projects in the future.

There is also the potential to enroll in related funded courses of interest or embark on an advanced data science related qualifications, such as Bank-sponsored Apprenticeships and/or MSc in Data Science, or industry-recognised certifications (e.g. MS Azure).

Responsibilities will include:

• Help drive forward the awareness and uptake of RegTech and SupTech tools and technologies (supervisory tech) across International Banks Supervision. This may include presenting ideas or explaining new products/tools to both senior committees and frontline supervision.
• Build analytical tools that allow our Directorate to work more efficiently – whether in its use of data, automation of regular tasks, or new and innovative ways to model and visualise data.
• Working with end-users including supervisors of international banks and the technical, and other, specialists, which work alongside them, to understand their needs and ensure the tools meet those needs.
• Produce advanced data analysis, reporting and new insights to support the wider Directorate in identifying and managing risks.
• Work on challenging data science problems, including developing tools and analysis using state-of-the-art open/closed source LLMs and LMMs as well as network analytics and time series forecasting of non-public, regulatory big data sets.
• Explore and visualise a wide variety of data, to find and present ‘stories’ within the data in a meaningful way to a range of technical and non-technical audiences.
• Document the techniques and data used in projects so the analysis can be replicated, either directly or for similar projects
• Keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of data science and share knowledge with other data scientist colleagues in the wider PRA.
• Build and maintain strong collaborative relationships with key partners, subject matter experts and colleagues at all levels.
• Attend technical events outside the PRA with industry stakeholders and other central banks / regulators.
• Lead and contribute to PRA’s Research Agenda on SupTech/RegTech

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria:

As a minimum, a candidate should be able to demonstrate:

• Experience using computer languages (R and/or Python) to manipulate data and draw insights from big data sets.
• Experience in writing your own R/Python code to clean, merge, frame, manipulate and chart data; ability to troubleshoot existing code and re-write it.
• Experience in using version control (Git, GitHub, Azure DevOps)
• Essential Criteria:

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate:

• Good analytical skills and ability to synthesise key messages from data, both in writing and verball
• Experience visualising/presenting data for stakeholders using R Shiny, Streamlit or similar data visualisation tools
• Knowledge of data governance principles and data science product lifecycle, including security, privacy and risk control metrics
• Proactive attitude – a drive to learn and master new technologies and techniques developing your data science knowledge
• Ability to organise own workload independently, or as part of a team, to meet business requirements on time
• Good inter-personal skills and experience of working in a team, including evidence of building effective stakeholder relationships, having personal impact and influencing abilities
• Knowledge of a variety of AI / ML techniques (LLMs, clustering, decision tree learning, neural networks, text analytics / NLP) and their real-world advantages/drawbacks
• Knowledge of advanced statistical techniques and concepts (regression, properties of distributions, statistical tests and proper usage) and experience with applications
• Experience of working with stakeholders who are not data scientists to develop tools which meet their needs

Desirable Criteria:

One or more of the following would also be desirable:

• Experience with Microsoft Azure including AI Document Intelligence, OpenAI Service and Azure storage solutions
• Experience with open source LLMs
• Experience with DBMS languages (e.g. SQL)
• An awareness of the regulatory and risk data landscape for banks, including both content and processes
• An interest in financial markets and regulation and keenness to learn about financial concepts and metrics
• Experience with COREP/FINREP reporting frameworks

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

This specific role offers a base salary of circa £55,615 - £64,170 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/- 120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• A 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank's Privacy Notice