Principal Data Scentist

Principal Data Scientist

Remote (UK-based) | Full-time - £104,732 + benefits (including 4.5-day week and 11% employer pension)

Do your best work, for the right reasons.

We're looking for a Principal Data Scientist who can design, build, and champion advanced data science solutions that drive better decisions across Oak.

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We're a national not-for-profit working in partnership with teachers to create high-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

💡About the Role

You'll own the continuous improvement of our data science processes and systems: leading the design and deployment of predictive models and NLP applications at scale, setting responsible AI and data governance standards, and translating complex insights into compelling recommendations for senior leaders and cross-functional squads. You'll maintain specialist expertise across machine learning, and statistical analysis, and be a trusted authority—both within Oak and across the education sector.

You'll work closely with our Head of Data and Director of Engineering, contribute to organisational strategy, and partner with EdTech sector leaders, government bodies, and data analytics providers on initiatives that matter. The work is technically rigorous, high-impact, and grounded in a mission to make evidence-informed decision-making the norm in education.

🔧What You’ll Be Doing:

• Responsible for the continuous improvement across multiple data science processes, systems, vision and strategy.

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced data science solutions, including predictive models and NLP applications, at scale.

• Design and implement responsible AI, data governance, and privacy standards across Oak's data science practice.

• Champion the role of data science in supporting Oak's mission, ensuring evidence-informed decision-making at strategic and operational levels by translating data science insights into product and business decisions.

• Maintain specialist expertise in data science and be an authority across Oak and more widely across the sector.

• As a member of the Oak Team, you may contribute to the strategy, planning and model the culture of the organisation.

• Work in cross-functional and product-oriented squads, translating complex statistical concepts for non-technical colleagues and presenting findings compellingly to senior leaders.

• Deputise for the Head of Data and take on other general responsibilities as required.

🌱 What we’re looking for

• 5+ years' experience holding responsibility for the continuous improvement of data science processes and systems, including designing and delivering data science products that create measurable organisational value.

• Extensive knowledge of statistical analysis, machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, with the ability to select and apply appropriate methods to complex problems.

• A track record of identifying and addressing ethical and privacy considerations in data science, including responsible AI, bias detection, and compliance frameworks.

• Proven experience scoping, designing, and deploying advanced data science solutions (predictive models, NLP applications) at scale, from conception through to production.

• Proven ability to translate complex statistical concepts for non-technical audiences and present findings compellingly to senior leaders and cross-functional squads.

• Experience working in cross-functional, product-oriented environments and influencing strategic and operational decisions through data science insight.

• A good understanding of education policy, the UK education system, and EdTech sector challenges (desirable, not essential).

The successful candidate will have a desire to contribute across all areas to ensure Oak is successful. You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required), and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

💛 Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution, which can be varied as you choose). Please note this is a workplace pension rather than the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off.

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person whole Oak offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun (with other occasional team events in person)

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

🌈 Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors. 

If you're from an underrepresented group, there's a good chance you're discounting yourself before you've even started. That's more common than you'd think, and it means we may miss out on brilliant people. If you're excited by this role but don't meet every requirement, please apply anyway.

We use the Applied platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process. Answers are anonymised and reviewed by a panel of humans.

📌 Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next steps

You'll answer a few admin questions followed by some questions about your day-to-day work. Your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised, and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers (real humans), so it's your thinking that gets assessed, not your CV.

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next stage, which will consist of a remote Zoom interview.

We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process, we'll share our assessment of your performance.

Interview dates: week beginning 3rd August 2026.

If this sounds like somewhere you could do your life's best work, we'd love to hear from you.

We're getting strong responses to our roles and we may close applications early. If you're interested, don't leave it too long.

We are an equal opportunity employer.

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.