Newcastle United looking to recruit Principal Scientist | OneFootball

Newcastle United are now looking to appoint a Principal Scientist.

The club having made this public when advertising (see below) to identify the right person for the role.

Newcastle United declaring; “We’re looking for a curious and driven scientist to help push the boundaries of football intelligence. Working with cutting-edge data to uncover insights that shape recruitment, coaching & strategy.”

Good luck to whoever gets the job!

Training Ground Guru site advertising this position at NUFC – 8 September 2025:

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.

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.

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.

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.