Data Scientist

We'd all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That's waiting for you at Sainsbury's. Everything our Nectar team does is powered and fuelled by data — and by great relationships with some of the UK's favourite brands. The Nectar 360 team focuses on developing loyalty programmes, turning amazing data into something that makes a difference, traditional media and digital. It's like an agency-within-a-retailer, and retail media is crucial. The culture might not be what you expect either, because there's no set-up quite like this one. The team is a real priority because it's connected to everything the business does, and drives profitability. It's where you can take risks, learn from them and be recognised.

Data Scientist - London/Hybrid Working
Why join us
We're looking for a talented Data Scientist to join Nectar360 – the team behind Nectar at Sainsbury's and the UK's largest coalition loyalty programme, with 24 million members nationwide. Based in our new Farringdon office, you'll work closely with decision-makers across Nectar360 and Sainsbury's to power our Retail Media Marketing offering for grocery and general merchandise clients, digital agencies, and internal teams.

Joining us at Sainsbury's Nectar360 as a Data Scientist means being part of a forward-thinking team that is dedicated to leveraging data science to drive impactful business outcomes and deliver world-class solutions in the dynamic world of retail marketing.

With the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects, collaborate with talented colleagues, and make a real-world impact through data-driven insights and innovation, you will be empowered to push boundaries, shape the future of marketing performance measurement, and contribute to our vibrant Data & Analytics community. If you are passionate about solving complex problems, driving commercial value through data, and being a part of a collaborative and inclusive environment, this role offers an exciting and rewarding opportunity for professional growth and development.

What You'll Do
As a Data Scientist at Sainsbury's Nectar360 team, you will play a crucial role in developing algorithms and pipelines to support strategic goals, particularly focusing on marketing measurement solutions. Your responsibilities will include enhancing modelling and optimisation capabilities, ensuring alignment with engineering best practises, and recommending advanced data science techniques.

Collaborating with a diverse team of Data Scientists, Analysts, Engineers, and Product experts, you will work on projects that deliver impactful insights and commercial value, contributing to Sainsbury's vibrant Data & Analytics community and staying current with external trends to continuously improve data science practises.

Who You Are
As a Data Scientist for Nectar360 at Sainsbury's, you are a skilled and innovative professional with a passion for leveraging data science to drive impactful solutions in marketing performance measurement and client-facing data science initiatives.

With a strong foundation in predictive modelling, statistical analysis, and machine learning, you excel in developing complex algorithms and pipelines to support strategic goals and enhance optimisation capabilities.

Your advanced technical skills, commercial awareness, and collaborative mindset enable you to work effectively with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and external trends to deliver meaningful insights and drive business outcomes in a dynamic and forward-looking environment.

Essential Criteria

• Proven proficiency in Python and SQL, demonstrated through the development of complex data science solutions at pace in a commercial environment.
• Demonstrable experience in machine learning model development and statistical analysis, gained through either an advanced quantitative degree or equivalent industry experience.
• Solid experience in some of the following areas: Causal inference, Marketing Mix Modeling, Multi-Touch Attribution, Bayesian modeling, time series forecasting, experimentation.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps tools for deploying and maintaining production-ready, user-facing solutions.
• Ability to work with complex codebases within a large developer team, including collaborative development practices and version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Track record of delivering impactful data science projects, including defining goals with stakeholders, interfacing with B2B and internal clients, and translating analytical outputs into business value.

This role will be closed early if we receive high volumes of applications.

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 10% of salary (which may vary for Nectar360), 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. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, 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 for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).