Principal Data Scientist

Job overview

Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) is seeking an experienced Principal Data Scientist to provide senior technical leadership across our growing real‑world evidence (RWE) portfolio. We are seeking someone who can build a QA/QC and technical assurance framework from first principles—anchored in strong data architecture and process—to enable the delivery of top‑tier, defensible analytical products.

Main duties of the job

In this role, you will act as a senior technical authority, shaping and assuring complex analytical work that informs decision‑making across health systems, research and innovation partners. You will lead the development of analytical and data engineering standards, support the evolution of ICHP’s RWE offer, and provide hands‑on technical input to priority and high‑risk projects. For example, large‑scale linkage of NHS data with non‑healthcare sources (e.g. HMRC or Department for Education datasets), and the development or evaluation of machine‑learning models intended to inform clinical or operational decision‑making. These projects require advanced governance, reproducibility, explain ability and senior technical assurance to ensure defensible, regulator‑ready outputs.

This is a specialist role without formal line management responsibility, operating through expertise, credibility and collaboration. You will work closely with the Associate Director of Strategy & Insights and the Senior Quantitative Insights Manager (RWE), influencing how real‑world data is used safely, rigorously and effectively to improve population health.

We welcome applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience delivering high‑quality analytics in regulated environments such as healthcare, academia, public sector or other data‑intensive industries.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Provide senior technical oversight and quality assurance across complex or high‑risk analytical projects, acting as final technical reviewer where required.

• Lead the development and continuous improvement of ICHP’s real‑world evidence standards, including analytical pipelines, data engineering, reproducibility and QA/QC.

• Provide hands‑on technical input to priority projects, advising on feasibility, data preparation, linkage approaches, and reproducible delivery.

• Ensure all analytical work complies with Five Safes principles, governance and disclosure control requirements.

• Act as a visible technical leader, sharing best practice, supporting capability building and contributing to a culture of continuous improvement.