Principal Product Data Scientist
Contract Length: 12 Months
Location: Hybrid - 3 days a week at Heathrow Airport
IR35 Status: Insid3
About the Role
We are looking for a Principal Product Data Scientist to drive the next generation of data-driven decision making across our products, platforms and customer experiences. This role combines advanced analytics, experimentation, machine learning, optimisation, and strategic leadership to solve complex business problems at scale. As a Principal Data Scientist, you will shape product strategy, influence executive decision-making, and lead high-impact initiatives from ideation through deployment. You will partner closely with Product, Engineering, Design, Research and Business stakeholders to unlock customer value and improve operational outcomes.
What You'll Do
- Define and lead the long-term data science strategy for critical product areas.
- Partner with Product leaders to influence roadmap prioritisation through data and experimentation.
- Design and execute advanced analytical frameworks to measure customer behaviour, product performance and business impact.
- Lead complex experimentation programs, including A/B testing, causal inference, uplift modelling and quasi-experimental methods.
- Develop machine learning, optimisation and decision science solutions that improve customer experience and operational efficiency.
- Translate ambiguous business challenges into structured analytical problems and actionable recommendations.
- Communicate insights and recommendations to senior executives and leadership teams.
- Establish best practices for scientific rigor, experimentation, measurement and model governance.
- Mentor and develop other data scientists across the organisation.
- Influence company-wide analytics and product science standards.
Preferred Experience
- 8+ years of experience in Data Science, Product Analytics, Decision Science, Operations Research, Applied Science or related fields.
- Demonstrated success influencing product strategy through data.
- Strong experience with experimentation, causal inference and measurement frameworks.
- Experience developing machine learning models in production environments.
- Experience with optimisation, decision science, forecasting, recommendation systems or machine learning at scale.
- Proven track record delivering measurable business impact.
- Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving Product, Engineering and senior stakeholders.
- Previous experience operating at Staff, Principal or equivalent level.
Technical Skills
- Expert-level Python and SQL
- Experimentation and statistical inference
- Machine Learning and Predictive Modelling
- Causal Inference
- Optimization / Operations Research (preferred)
- Large-scale data processing
- BI and visualization tools
- Cloud-based analytics environments
Nice to Have
- Airline, transportation, logistics, marketplace, e-commerce or technology experience.
- Experience with mathematical programming (Gurobi, CPLEX, OR-Tools).
- Experience with network optimisation, routing, scheduling, pricing or revenue management.
- Advanced degree (MSc or PhD) in Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Operations Research,