Job Description

About us

Halfords is on a journey - building the future of motoring and cycling and looking for people who want to help shape what comes next. We’re a place for cocreators: people who want to make a real impact, take ownership and be part of something that’s still evolving.

Technology at Halfords is at a turning point. We’re modernising our foundations, sharpening our delivery, and ensuring every technology decision is connected to real commercial and customer outcomes.

We're looking for people who act as trusted advisors to the business, take end-to-end accountability for outcomes, and can balance pace with long-term architectural integrity. Innovation here means practical, scalable solutions, not ideas that stay on whiteboards.

About the role

As a Data Scientist within our Data & Analytics team, you'll play a pivotal role in helping Halfords make smarter, data-driven decisions across the business. Working on a broad range of initiatives spanning customer experience, pricing, personalisation, and operational performance, you'll use advanced analytics and machine learning to solve real business problems and deliver measurable commercial value.

You'll be working on business critical projects from day one, identifying opportunities and shaping hypotheses through to data exploration, feature engineering, model development, and deployment. Working with large and complex datasets, you'll use Python, PySpark, SQL, and Azure Databricks to develop robust predictive models and analytical solutions. Just as importantly, you'll be able to explain your findings in a clear and engaging way, helping stakeholders understand not only what the data is telling them, but what actions they should take as a result.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a small but ambitious team with strong backing from senior leadership and significant investment in data science. We're building the foundations for how data science is adopted across Halfords, giving you the chance to influence both the direction of the function and the impact it has on the business. From customer segmentation and churn prediction to next-best-action and pricing models, you'll work on highly visible projects that directly shape the experience of millions of customers.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and deploy machine learning and predictive analytics solutions that address key business challenges and deliver measurable commercial outcomes
• Explore, profile, and analyse large and complex datasets to identify trends, opportunities, and features that improve model performance
• Apply statistical techniques, feature engineering, and model tuning to create robust and scalable analytical solutions
• Collaborate with Data Engineers and ML Engineers to operationalise models and embed them into customer journeys, business processes, and technology platforms
• Communicate findings, recommendations, and model outputs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders across the organisation
• Contribute to the growth of data science capability within Halfords, helping shape best practices, approaches, and future opportunities

About you

• Proven experience as a Data Scientist, with demonstrable examples of machine learning models being deployed into production and delivering tangible business value
• Advanced Python skills, with experience using machine learning and statistical modelling techniques in commercial environments
• Strong experience with Azure Databricks or similar technology, SQL, and large-scale data analysis, with the ability to work confidently across modern cloud-based data platforms
• Experience developing end-to-end data science solutions, from problem definition and feature engineering through to deployment and ongoing optimisation
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, able to challenge assumptions and identify the most effective solution to a business problem
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to explain complex concepts and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Comfortable working in a small, agile team where ownership, flexibility, and collaboration are essential

Reward & benefits

• A fair and competitive salary evaluated against market data, annual discretionary bonus scheme, pension, life assurance, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave.
• Commitment and dedication to your ongoing personal and professional development. We help you to own and grow your potential so you can be at your best in your current role and to support your future career aspirations.
• We offer hybrid working with a blend of working in our Support Centre and from home.
• You will have access to a wealth of employee discounts across the Halfords suite of products and services.
• Wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of our colleague experience. We offer resources and ongoing support to enhance your wellbeing at work and active Colleague Networks supporting inclusion initiatives across Halfords.

Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.

Note: Halfords operates a hybrid working policy – this position will be based 3 days per week at our support centre in Redditch, West Midlands.