Principal Scientist

About the club

We are the heartbeat of the city. Come and be a part of a long and proud history where we strive to be the best in everything we do, on and off the pitch. Bringing the people and communities together, join the Newcastle United Family, as we embark on the next steps of our exciting journey.

About the role

Are you passionate about football and machine learning? At Newcastle United, we’re looking for a curious and driven scientist to help us push the boundaries of football intelligence. You’ll be working with cutting-edge data, from player tracking and skeletal movement to event and positional feeds, to uncover insights that shape recruitment, coaching, and strategy.

In this role, you’ll be designing and implementing models that evaluate player decisions, predict movement, and assess possession value. You’ll collaborate closely with our data team and senior technical staff to turn complex datasets into clear, actionable insights that align with our football philosophy.

Your impact

We’re after someone who knows when to use a well-tuned statistical model and when to unleash deep learning. You’ll be comfortable working with large-scale time series data, building bespoke metrics, and integrating diverse models to create rich, layered analysis. If you’ve worked with football data providers like StatsBomb or Second Spectrum, even better.

You’ll need a Master’s or PhD in a quantitative field, strong Python skills, and extensive experience applying core machine learning libraries such as Scikit-learn, XGBoost, or LightGBM to structured data problems. The role may also involve developing and deploying deep learning models using frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow where appropriate. Experience with version control (Git) and applying software engineering best practices is essential. Familiarity with MLOps principles and integrating cloud-based data platforms like Snowflake and Azure is a plus.

About the team

We’re building something special here — and we want someone who’s excited to be part of, and ready to help us stay at the forefront of, football analytics.

Location

This role is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, with an expectation of working three days per week from the office. Please note, if you are not located in the north-east of England and are unable to relocate, we regret that we will not be able to progress your application.

Why choose us?

We’ve got a range of great benefits and rewards, from flexible ways of working, participation in our non-contractual employee bonus scheme, NUFC life assurance, free parking, discount at Shearers Bar and the Club Shop, as well as Helping Hand – where you can access free GP appointments, Wellbeing Resources, Legal and Financial Support, pension contribution, free lunch and the best part, free tea and coffee. In addition, we run a salary sacrifice scheme which includes, tech, car, cycle to work and many more.

Job summary

Responsible for developing data-driven models to enhance football intelligence and performance analysis. Design and implement machine learning solutions using event, tracking, positional, and skeletal data; with a focus on evaluating player decisions, modelling possession value, predicting player trajectories, and ranking performance and behaviours. Work closely with the data department and senior technical staff to translate complex data into actionable insights for recruitment, coaching, and strategy.

Role responsibilities

• Design and implement statistical and machine learning models to support key footballing operations and decisions.
• Apply a range of techniques, including supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and deep reinforcement learning, with a clear understanding of their strengths and limitations in a football context.
• Demonstrate a strong grasp of when to apply well-tuned statistical approaches (eg: GLMs, Bayesian methods) over more complex machine learning models, particularly in cases where interpretability, transparency, and domain alignment are essential.
• Develop bespoke performance metrics using novel and advanced football data (eg: body pose estimation and how this information improves upon current state of the art space control models).
• Evaluate model performance using appropriate metrics and techniques, including working with applied experts to ensure results are interpretable, explainable and football relevant.
• Integrate diverse ML models to generate layered, context-rich insights
• Support, where necessary, preparing and structuring complex football datasets by cleaning, transforming and combining video, tracking, event, and positional data
• Design meaningful features that capture spatiotemporal and contextual aspects of player and team behaviours to power machine leaning models
• Collaborate with football analysts & applied practitioners to ensure solutions address real performance questions, aligned to football philosophy and tactical requirements
• Stay up to date with academic and industry advancement in machine learning and sports analytics; ensuring Newcastle United remains at the forefront of a fast-moving industry
• Any other reasonable duties.

Role requirements

• Perform duties with due regard to club policies and procedures and legislative requirements at all times
• Ensure implementation of the club’s health & safety, safeguarding, welfare and equality policies to create a safe working environment for all
• Ensure working practices are compliant with relevant legislation and data protection legislation and/or general data protection regulations (GDPR) requirements
• Undertake continuous professional development (CPD) training and/or additional training as identified or as required.

Qualifications & training

Essential:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in a quantitative discipline such as Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Astrophysics or related fields.
• Strong proficiency in Python with advanced data frame techniques (e.g. Polars) and interactive environments such as Jupyter Notebook.

Desirable:

• Experience with statistical modelling expertise in Julia or R.

Knowledge, skills & experience

Essential:

• Proven ability to lead ML projects from concept development to deployment, driving innovation within their area of expertise.
• Good understanding of version control software (ie: Git) and software development best practice
• Experience working with large-scale time series datasets.
• Experience with time and resource estimation for long-term projects to be done in conjunction with Head of Data and Insights and Technical Director.
• Demonstrable experience developing and deploying deep learning models using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-Learn, Keras etc..
• Experience processing advanced football data, such as event data (e.g., StatsBomb, Impect) and tracking data (e.g., Second Spectrum, Skills Corner).
• Understand the challenges of working with complex, unstructured data while effectively transforming it into meaningful insights tailored for football stakeholders across coaching, recruitment and management.
• Strong understanding of the technical, tactical, and physical demands of football, gained through experience with a professional club and/or a sports analytics organisation.

Desirable:

• Good understanding of implementing MLOps principles (e.g., CI/CD for ML, model versioning, monitoring) to ensure scalable and maintainable machine learning systems. Proficient integrating Snowflake with Azure services to streamline data pipeline and support end-to-end machine learning workflows.
• Have good knowledge on academic and publicly available football research methods.

How to apply

Click ‘Apply Now’ via THIS LINK

Please apply as soon as possible as this vacancy may close early should we receive a high volume of suitable candidates.

Recruitment Agencies – please note that we do not accept unsolicited/ speculative candidate details or applications. Any candidates supplied, unless formally requested, will be taken as a direct/ free candidate.

United As One

We’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and believe in equal opportunities for all. We recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths. We work together to reflect the communities we serve and to maintain an inclusive environment in which everyone can be their authentic self and is enabled to achieve their full potential.

General statement

All employees of the Club must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regards to all policies and
procedures and in particular health and safety, confidentiality and data protection.

Safeguarding & Welfare Statement

The Club is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk of harm and requires all staff, volunteers and others associated with the Club to share and endorse this commitment. As part of this commitment, all staff are expected to undertake regular safeguarding and welfare-related training and to ensure the environments in which they work remain safe at all times. This includes ensuring ‘best practices’ are adopted at all times and incidents or concerns are proactively reported. Safeguarding is considered everybody’s responsibility.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

The Club is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, encapsulated by the Club’s brand United As One, and believes in equal opportunities for all. We expect that all staff, volunteers and others associated with the Club share and endorse this commitment in a positive manner. The club does not tolerate any form of direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment. Your behaviour must align to the principles of equality as outlined in the Club’s equality policy.

Health & Safety Statement

The Club is committed to effective management of the Health and Safety risks to all employees, visitors, supporters, and any others associated with the Club. As part of this commitment all staff are expected to conduct your business in a proactive way that prevents injury and ill health to those who may be affected by your activities. All staff are expected to undertake regular Health & Safety-related training and to ensure the environments in which they work remain safe at all times, with the mindset that Health & Safety is everybody’s responsibility.

Criminal Record Check Requirement

This role does not require a criminal records check (CRC) deemed suitable by the Club at the following level; enhanced with BLC. The requirement of a CRC for this role is due to responsibilities relating to children under the age of 18 years and/or adults at risk of harm. Where a role requires a CRC this must be obtained by the Club.