Senior Data Scientist (C5) 

Division/Department 

Data & Analytics 

Location 

Holborn store support centre 

Reporting to 

Data Science Manager 

Directly or indirectly manages 

No line management  

Budget 

No budget responsibility 

In a nutshell 

As a Senior Data Scientist in the Customer Value & Understanding (CVU) team, you will play a crucial role in growing our ability to personalise Sainsbury’s, Argos, Tu and Habitat marketing communications, driving desired customer behaviour by building and optimising customer models that feed into messaging, offers and discounts across a wide array of channels.  

What I am accountable for  

Collaborating with stakeholders within marketing, analytics and insight teams to understand their needs and uncover opportunities to grow customer understanding and optimise marketing activities   

Planning and scoping machine learning solutions to marketing challenges and opportunities that will support customer loyalty and generate further value 

Leveraging our vast dataset to develop new customer models using techniques such as causal inference, regression, classification, clustering and graphing  

Maintaining and optimising existing models to adapt to changing needs and ensure best model performance for stakeholders 

Collaborating with engineering teams to harness the full potential of our vast source data and ensure models are deployed according to best practice 

Presenting work to stakeholders across the business including senior leadership teams and supporting end-users to integrate model outputs into their varied marketing and insights activities   

Becoming a recognised expert in data science techniques used for CVU modelling and be opinionated on future approaches, including state of the art techniques where appropriate  

Supporting colleagues within CVU team (3 data scientists and 1 associate data scientist) by sharing expertise and assisting project work e.g. helping define analytical approaches and reviewing code 

Actively contributing to our vibrant Data and Analytics community of over 800 colleagues, providing a view on new techniques and approaches that can drive positive change in wider teams 

What I need to know  

Essential 

 Experience in previous data science roles or similar   

Strong coding ability across Python and SQL, with a proven experience of analysing data in a corporate environment  

Experience using Jupyter notebooks and version control within a team using Git.   

High understanding and extensive experience using machine learning techniques e.g. regression, classification, clustering, graphing networks  

Experience of generating data science solutions by working with marketing and customer data to drive business activity  

Strong awareness and understanding of technology trends and developments in data science, analytics and AI  

Desirable  

Experience in MLOps, data science engineering, or model deployment using tools such as Github and AWS 

What I need to show 

Curiosity, scepticism and attention to detail regarding data quality, samples, bias and ethics.   

Strong analytical skills and statistical understanding   

Business acumen and commercial awareness  

Excellent communication skills including the ability to explain complex analytical techniques to non-technical audiences 

Stakeholder management skills to work closely with varied teams, collaborate throughout project development and support model usage  

Creativity and proactivity to identify and pursue new modelling opportunities or approaches to better support stakeholders  

Confidence in working independently to plan and deliver end-to-end projects, as well collaborating in a team environment  

Ability to support in the development, training and mentoring of others  

Consideration for the end-customer perspectives and experiences 

 Support we will provide 

A vibrant team to bounce ideas off and to support you with varied experiences and backgrounds 

A large wider community of data scientists, analysts and engineers to share knowledge and learn new skills and approaches; for example technical capabilities, statistics, tooling, business processes 

Mentoring from data science managers 

Personal development opportunities including peer training, online internal and external self-development tools, conference attendance etc.  

Date of last job evaluation 

11/04/25 

Please note: This role profile is aimed at describing the core output that should be achieved in this role. It is not intended to include specific tasks, temporary activities or projects to recognise flexibility in a changing context.  

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. We’re one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK with one of the largest websites. So marketing here really happens at scale. We move a lot faster than you’d think too, across Brand Planning, Brand Comms and Creative, Digital Marketing, CRM and Loyalty, Nectar 360, Insights, and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. More people shopping with us each week means more interactions. And thanks to data insight, we understand customers in a way that almost nobody else does. We work alongside incredible brand partners and the best agencies around. So if you have a passion to learn, grow and experience new teams, come and explore it all with us.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme. 

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. 

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).