Data Scientist | Derby County

Data Scientist | Derby County (Jobs in Sports Performance Analysis TheASPA) Derby County are seeking to recruit a Data Scientist to join the Sporting Intelligence Department in a hybrid role, based at Moor Farm Training Centre. Working for Derby County Football Club offers a unique opportunity to be part of one of England’s most historic and passionately supported clubs. With a proud legacy, a dedicated fan base, and an exciting vision for the future, Derby County offers a dynamic and rewarding work environment both on and off the pitch. Whether you're joining the team in coaching, administration, marketing, or operations, you'll be contributing to a culture rooted in ambition, community, and progress. Employees benefit from a collaborative work environment and opportunities for professional development. The successful candidate will develop and apply statistical, machine‑learning, and predictive models to generate meaningful insight from complex football data, supporting the First Team and Academy. This role plays a central part in strengthening the club’s analytical capability by enabling evidence‑based decision‑making across football‑specific areas such as scouting, recruitment, match analysis, sports science and medicine, and player development. Key Role Responsibilities * Build and maintain statistical and ML models from event, tracking, and performance data. * Create core football metrics and performance models to guide and support decision‑making. * Develop spatio‑temporal models using event, tracking, and contextual data. * Build simulation and scenario models to support strategic and long‑term planning. * Apply Generative AI and Palantir AIP tools to enhance analytical workflows. * Contribute to the full modelling lifecycle from data preparation to deployment and monitoring. * Engineer model inputs aligned with the club’s ontology and data standards. * Maintain clear, reproducible code and documentation in shared code repositories. * Translate complex model outputs into clear, football‑relevant insights. * Develop lightweight tools or dashboards for self‑service analytics. * Partner with key football stakeholders to deliver decision‑focused analytical solutions * Document modelling assumptions and monitor model performance for continuous improvement. * Ensure data governance, privacy, and responsible use compliance. * Stay up to date with football analytics research, modelling techniques, and emerging tools, applying new approaches where relevant. Essential personal characteristics and experience * Experience developing, validating, and deploying statistical or machine‑learning models in real‑world applied settings * Advanced Python skills for writing clean, efficient, and maintainable analytical code * Experience with exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and model evaluation techniques * Experience producing clear, structured, and reproducible code in shared repositories (Git‑based workflows) * Experience communicating analysis to technical and non‑technical stakeholders * Experience building lightweight dashboards or tools (e.g., Streamlit, Plotly, Foundry dashboards) * Ability to collaborate effectively with the Data and Analytics Lead and football departments, explaining technical decisions clearly * Ability to write high‑quality Python code that is reliable, tested, and suitable for integration into shared analytics platforms. * Ability to collaborate through code‑first workflows, shared repos, peer review, and version control * Strong understanding of supervised and unsupervised learning, regression, classification, time‑series analysis, cross‑validation, feature engineering, and model interpretability * Understanding of football principles, metrics, KPIs, and tactical concepts sufficient to contextualise analysis Desirable personal characteristics and experience * Experience working specifically with football datasets (event, tracking, GPS, medical, recruitment) * Experience using football analytics libraries such as mplsoccer, SkillCorner tools, StatsBombPy * Experience building or optimising deep‑learning models using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar frameworks * Experience with spatial analytics, tracking data modelling, or simulation approaches in sport * Experience with Palantir Foundry or similar data platforms * Experience applying Generative AI tools such as LLMs to analytical workflows * Ability to frame football problems as analytical questions and identify appropriate modelling approaches Qualifications * Degree in a quantitative field (e.g., Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related) * Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field is desirable but not essential Salary is competitive, dependent on experience. This is a full‑time role. Due to the demands of professional football, some weekend and evening work may be required. The role will be a flexible hybrid working model, splitting your time between home and both of our sites. The exact arrangement will be tailored and agreed upon with the successful candidate. Who are Derby County… Derby County Football Club, established in 1884, is one of the founder members of the English Football League and has a rich and varied history, including two First Division titles in 1972 and 1975 and an FA Cup success in 1946. The club are currently playing in the Sky Bet Championship, the second tier of English Football following their promotion from League One in the 2023/24 season and is under the management of Head Coach John Eustace. The club also boasts a successful and respected Category One Academy, a status which has been held since 2014, and a Women’s side competing in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division. Derby County recently embarked on an exciting new era following the change in ownership to Clowes Developments (UK) Limited, in the summer of 2022. Our track record of producing talent is outstanding, and we intend to protect that proud legacy, investing in key roles within the club to build on the foundations in place for success. Everything we do as a Club is built around the three pillars of stability, integrity and progress. Our core values are: * We are proud of who we are and what we do * We are positive, inspired and passionate * We are ambitious and driven * We are prepared, honest and humble * We are the heartbeat of our community * We are the club of opportunity Derby County employee benefits include: * 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays * Two complimentary staff season tickets * Two complimentary staff away memberships, subject to availability * Company Pension with Aviva * Discounts with select Club partners and sponsors * Healthshield Cash Health Plan to support employee health and well-being and Perks for great deals and discounts * Participating in our employee forum, ‘The Herd’ and Staff Events! * Training and development opportunities * Access to programmes and volunteering opportunities with Derby County Community Trust * Subsidised lunchtime meals at Moor Farm How to apply Derby County Football Club is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of the Club's commitment to providing a safe environment for children and young people, applicants should be aware that this post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Criminal Record Check. Derby County Football Club is an Inclusive Club for all and is committed to Equality and Diversity. To apply for this role, please complete an application form, which can be found HERE. The closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday, 15 March 2026. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early. Strictly no agencies please. Derby County Football Club’s Job Applicant Privacy Policy can be found at dcfc.co.uk. #J-18808-Ljbffr