Senior Data Scientist - Middle Mile & Pitstops

Company mission

In the future, almost everything we consume will simply materialise on our doorsteps – what we call “e-commerce” today will simply be “commerce” tomorrow. But if we continue on today’s trajectory, the growth of e-commerce risks damaging the environment, alienating our communities, and straining the bottom-line for small businesses.

Relay is an e-commerce-native logistics network. We are built from the ground up for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. By building from the ground up we are able to entirely rethink both the middle and last mile enabling us to reduce the number of miles driven to deliver each parcel, lower carbon emissions, and lower costs, all while channelling funds to community members.

At the same time, we’re fixing the last broken aspect of e-commerce for consumers: delivery. As shoppers, we should have complete control over when and how we receive our purchases, and we should be able to return unwanted items as easily as we ordered them. That’s why whenever you buy from a merchant powered by Relay, you’ll be able to reschedule your delivery at any time. And if you don’t like what you ordered, at the tap of a button we’ll send someone to pick it up.

To orchestrate this complex ballet, Relay relies on a wide range of technologies, from advanced routing and planning to sophisticated user experiences that guide our team members on the ground. 

About the role

As a highly operational business, we rely on data science to power nearly every part of our network — from forecasting parcel volumes, to pricing and planning courier capacity, to understanding and improving the economics of our operation.

We’re hiring a Senior Data Scientist to help us optimise our middle mile operation and model the growth, performance, and economics of our pitstop network. This role spans across domains, touching forecasting, operations, and commercial planning, and is ideal for someone who thrives on applying models in ambiguous, real-world environments.

You’ll work with squads across routing, sortation, first mile, last mile, marketplace, and commercial functions; you’ll focus on middle mile optimisation, pitstop expansion, and understanding the long-term financial value of our physical network. You’ll also bring together data from across the business, often fragmented or messy, and use smart tooling, automation, and AI to transform it into usable insight.

You’ll need to be hands-on and pragmatic; it’s a high-impact role with strong exposure to leadership and decision-making across the business.

What you’ll do

• Model and improve the cost, quality, and efficiency of middle mile operations, including vehicle use, timings, and handover reliability

• Partner with marketplace and ops teams to optimise driver acquisition, targeting, and pricing for the middle mile

• Optimise pitstop expansion in line with volume growth, capacity, and service levels

• Model pitstop-level LTV and unit economics to support capital investment and performance tracking

• Collaborate with other data scientists to support geo-sequencing, zone design, and integration with routing models

• In partnership with MLE and Staff Data Scientists, orchestrate and automate model pipelines in production

• Act as a thought partner for operations, commercial, and finance leads — bringing a scientific lens to planning and network growth
  

What we’re looking for

• 6+ years of experience in data science, with a strong record of delivering models into production

• Deep experience with Python and SQL

• Strong foundations in statistics and probability, with experience applying them in operational and/or financial contexts

• Comfort working in ambiguity and navigating messy or incomplete data

• Effective communication skills — you can explain technical results clearly to non-technical audiences

• Comfort working across functions and disciplines to drive impact
  

Nice to haves

• Experience working in logistics, marketplaces, or similarly complex operational businesses

• Exposure to business planning, pricing, or commercial decision-making; experience with forecasting, scenario, and financial modelling (including partnering with Finance and Commercial teams and their models (in Excel, Google Sheets))

• Familiarity with geospatial data

• Experience in fast-scaling startups or operational teams
  

We're flexible on experience – if you’re an experienced and pragmatic data scientist, with a track record of driving impact, we’d love to hear from you.

What we offer

• 25 days annual leave per year (plus bank holidays).

• Equity package.

• Bupa Global: Business Premier Health Plan - Comprehensive global health insurance with direct access to specialists, dental care, mental health support and more.

• Contributory pension scheme.

• Hybrid working

• Free membership of the gym in our co-working space in London.

• Cycle-to-work scheme

• A culture of learning and growth, where you're encouraged to take ownership from day one.

• Plenty of team socials and events - from pottery painting to life-size Monopoly and escape rooms