Staff Data Scientist - Network

Relay's network runs on forecasts. Every shift released in sortation, every middle-mile van dispatched, every last-mile route planned, every expansion decision made - all downstream of models that predict how parcels move through our system. When those models are right, the network runs efficiently and cost per parcel drops. When they drift, the cost compounds across every stage of the operation. The Network squad builds and maintains the forecasting engine that powers all of it, and Demand Forecasting is its core: one forecast of what will be available to sort, at outcode granularity, from D0 out to D30.

As a Staff Data Scientist, you are the technical anchor for Demand Forecasting. You own the hardest and most ambiguous parts of the forecast, and you set the methodology and validation standards the rest of the area works to. That means owning the single integrated forecast of what volume the network will have to move, by area and out to thirty days, which the demand-management layer then turns into the operational plan the sort centres and transport teams run on. It means owning the model-driven end of that forecast, where the horizon runs past any live tracking data and expected parcels have to be generated from models rather than observed. It means owning the forecast of inbound international volume, one of the hardest prediction problems we have. And it means owning the models that predict each parcel's size and weight, which turn a parcel count into the physical volume that actually has to be sorted and loaded.

This is a hands-on role. You will spend most of your time building, not managing. You set the direction for how Demand Forecasting models, evaluates and ships its work, and you raise the technical bar across the area, but you do it as the most senior individual contributor in the room, on the tools. You'll work alongside a Senior Data Scientist who owns the domestic volume forecasts, an ML Engineer who keeps the models running reliably in production, and an Analyst who owns forecast accuracy and data quality. People leadership, strategy and cross-squad priorities sit with the Data Science Manager who leads the squad; you own the science.

Relay operates a centralised data team of around 30 Data Engineers, Analysts, and Data Scientists, with specialists embedded into squads across the business. You will sit in the Network squad and report into the centralised data team. Demand Forecasting is growing, and as its Staff DS you will have the deciding voice on its technical direction and the modelling approaches it adopts.

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• Aim with Precision: You define problems clearly and measure your impact meticulously.

• Play to Win: You chase bold bets, tackle the hard stuff, and view constraints as fuel, not friction.

• 1% Better Every Day: You believe that small, consistent improvements lead to exponential growth. You move quickly, deliver results, and learn from every experience.

• All In, All the Time: You show up and step up. You take ownership from start to finish and do what it takes to deliver when it counts.

• People-Powered Greatness: You invest in your teammates. You give and receive feedback with care and candour. You build trust through high standards and shared success.

• Grow the Whole Pie: You seek out win-win solutions for merchants, couriers, and our customers, because when they thrive, so do we.
  
  If these resonate, and you combine strong technical fundamentals with entrepreneurial drive, let’s connect.

Relay is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity, inclusion, and fostering a workplace where everyone thrives.