Data Science at Deliveroo

At Deliveroo we have a world-class data science organisation, with a mission to enable the highest quality human and machine decision making. We work throughout the company - in product, business and platform teams to answer some of the most interesting questions out there. We move fast, we’re always looking for new ideas and we’re very transparent about the decisions we make and why we make them.

There are so many questions we need to answer and plenty more we haven’t even encountered. How do data and technology help restaurants to grow as consumer habits change? How can we predict what someone wants to order for dinner long before the idea has even crossed their mind? At Deliveroo these are just some of the tough problems we are solving - and there is no challenge that cannot be yours. No solution is owned by a particular team, which means the scope for growth and personal impact is enormous.

Our team members use technical skills from the whole spectrum of data science: building analytical tools; informing decision making at all levels of the business via bespoke and automated analysis; running experiments; performing causal analysis; informing planning and prioritisation with robust impact estimates; building production machine learning and optimisation models; and upskilling the entire company in data literacy and data driven decision making.

Our data scientists come from many disciplines including mathematics, statistics, economics/econometrics, physics, psychology, finance, computer science, operations research, cognitive neuroscience and engineering. Some are formally trained in data science, some are not. We have team members from all over the world, and have a dedicated data science diversity committee.

Data scientists and Machine Learning Engineers at Deliveroo report into our data science management team, and we have a strong, active data science community, with guest lecturers; a robust technical review process; a career progression framework; and plenty of opportunities to learn new things. We have team members from all over the world, and have a dedicated data science diversity committee.

Further, we have clear career pathways for both managers and individual contributors.

About the Role

In this role, you will be designing and building the algorithmic and machine-learning systems that power Deliveroo. You will be working in a cross-functional team alongside engineers, data scientists specialised in analytics and inference, and product managers to develop systems that make automated decisions at massive scale. Your team has a high degree of autonomy and works at some of the most interesting problems at the intersection of riders, consumers, and restaurants. We evaluate the performance of all our decision making machines via robust experimentation powered by our world class experimentation platform.

We are looking for an Operational Research Scientist, to build intelligent decision making machines. These machines may:

Optimise our delivery network by making rider assignment decisions; predicting how long a leg of the delivery journey will take; or mitigating real time delays

Work out how many riders we need in a particular place at a particular time

Optimise consumer and rider fees

Optimise the consumer experience by showing the most relevant restaurants and dishes

Detect fraud and abuse from consumers, riders, and restaurants

Assist restaurants in optimising their presence on Deliveroo, for example by recommending that they improve their menus or photography, or add a popular dish

Requirements:

You are someone who knows the fundamentals of operational research and knows when they should be applied

You are a keen problem solver, able to think deeply about a business problem and devise a well-thought-out and pragmatic algorithmic solution. And you get satisfaction from seeing your algorithms shipped and driving measurable impact to the business

Completed (or about to) a PhD on operational research or had an equivalent business experience in OR related problems.

Have experience on applying metaheuristic algorithms on large scale combinatorial optimisation problems such as Vehicle Routing and Location problems.

Have knowledge on using mathematical modelling techniques, such as Linear Programming to model optimisation problems.

Proficient in exploratory data analysis and model/algorithm prototyping and selection.

Ability to work closely with software engineers to productionise models and experiment monitoring is a bonus

Solid communication skills - in person, in writing, in code, and code-review; to technical and non-technical audiences

Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment with changing requirements

A pragmatic approach, biased to simplicity, where you most care about achieving impact

Benefits and Diversity

At Deliveroo we know that people are the heart of the business and we prioritise their welfare. We offer a wide range of competitive benefits in areas including health, family, finance, community, convenience, growth, time away and relocation.

We believe a great workplace is one that represents the world we live in and how beautifully diverse it can be. That means we have no judgement when it comes to any one of the things that make you who you are - your gender, race, sexuality, religion or a secret aversion to coriander. All you need is a passion for (most) food and a desire to be part of scaling up one of the most exciting companies in tech.