Staff Data Scientist

Why Oviva?

At Oviva, we're on a mission to make sustainable, personalized, clinically effective care accessible to everyone.

Our digital programmes support people living with weight related illnesses. While weight loss is a goal for many, our approach is about so much more: improving health, building confidence, and enhancing quality of life.

We've already supported over one million people across the UK, Switzerland, Germany, and Poland – and we're just getting started. Every conversation, coaching session, and line of code brings us closer to a healthier future. Join us, and be part of the team making that future possible.

To further scale our AI capabilities, we are hiring two Staff Data Scientists to join our Product and Engineering team.

The role

We are looking for a Staff Data Scientist to drive Oviva's mission of enhancing long-term health outcomes through advanced data-driven strategies. You'll work closely with product, engineering, design, and clinical teams to shape how AI supports behavior change and patient outcomes within our digital care pathways.

In this role, you will apply your expertise in machine learning, language models, and statistical reasoning to build intelligent, user-centered systems that leverage off-the-shelf large language models. You will be responsible for designing workflows that combine LLMs with tools, memory, and logic to achieve specific goals, while ensuring the systems are safe, interpretable, and effective.

To succeed in this role, you should have a strong analytical background, exceptional problem-solving skills, and superior communication skills, dedicated to supporting Oviva's vision of accessible and effective healthcare solutions.

About You

Essential :

• A strong foundation in the theoretical and practical aspects of Statistical Analysis, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technologies
• Experience working with large language models (LLMs) (e.g., OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, or open-source models) in either academic or industrial settings
• Familiarity with agentic system design principles - such as tool use, memory management, planning and reflection, or multi-agent coordination
• Proven ability to write clean, maintainable, and production-grade code - we use Python and Java
• SQL proficiency and experience with Data Warehousing Technology (BigQuery is a plus)
• Excellent communication skills in English

Desirable :

• Familiar with machine learning interpretability methods for analyzing and explaining model predictions
• Exposure to evaluating large language models in production or research settings
• Hands on Experience with working on Agentic AI frame for LLM orchestration (e.g., LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, Semantic Kernel)
• A background in cloud computing and how to utilise them in real use cases. Experience with Google Cloud stack preferred
• Previous experience in health/medical/pharma domains is a plus

Education & Experience:

• PhD (required) in a quantitative field such as Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, NLP, or related discipline.
• At least 3–5 years of post-PhD experience applying machine learning, natural language processing, or AI system design in either academic or industrial settings.
• Portfolio of work showcasing applied experience with language models, system design, and data-driven evaluation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect AI-driven workflows that coordinate LLMs (including agentic systems), external tools, memory, and control logic to support user interactions and decision-making
• Design rigorous evaluations of agent behavior, safety, and performance across different tasks and architectures
• Apply strong statistical reasoning and causal inference to evaluate interventions, understand system impacts, and guide data-driven product decisions
• Work with engineering, product, clinical, and design teams to translate product requirements into intelligent systems
• Provide thought leadership in experimentation, data science, and AI system design. Mentor other data scientists and engineers on best practices

What we offer:

• The opportunity to revolutionise healthcare at scale through AI
• Exciting and rewarding roles with high-impact across multiple teams
• Training and development opportunities, with a personal learning allowance
• We embrace flexibility & remote working
• We provide a home working allowance to enable you to set up your workspace in a way which suits you
• Competitive Salary & company pension

Having a culture that people want to work in, is very important to us. We do this by keeping our values at the forefront of everything we do:

We put the patient first, We empower our teams, We make it happen

Oviva is passionate about creating an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. We are a truly inclusive place to work, where everyone can be themselves and everyone is welcome. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds and identities, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, religion, and socioeconomic status. We actively seek out candidates who bring a unique perspective to help us build a stronger, more inclusive team.

We're Proud to be a Disability Confident Employer

Ready to make a difference? Join us in transforming digital healthcare. Apply today