Data Analyst

Location: London, London, United Kingdom

We have a fantastic new opportunity to join our team at Smartodds as a Data Analyst 

Based in North London, Smartodds provides in-depth research and analysis on sporting events around the world, supported by world-class, bespoke software platforms. We are proud of our collaborative and dynamic culture, grounded in our core values of Boldness, Open-mindedness, Ownership, and Togetherness. We are a supportive and collaborative team - our environment is open, inclusive, and focused on doing great work together. 

About the role 
As a Data Analyst you will play a key role in supporting professional football clubs by transforming complex data into actionable insights that inform decision-making across performance, recruitment and operations. Acting as the bridge between raw data and end users within a club environment, you will ensure that analysts, coaches, and performance staff can easily access and interpret the information they need with ease. This will involve developing R packages to enable technical users to query and work with club data, while also creating intuitive dashboards and reports—both interactive and static—that allow non-technical stakeholders to explore insights in a clear and user friendly way.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop R packages to retrieve, manipulate, analyse and expose data
• Produce interactive or static reports to allow users to explore and digest data
• Conduct ad hoc analysis as required, to answer performance, recruitment, and opposition related questions from football clubs
• Collaborate with Quants, Software Developers and Data Engineers, to understand data needs and ensure data is stored and delivered in the most efficient and appropriate manner
• Assist Junior Data Analysts to ensure integrity and accuracy of our data

Person Specification (Skills & Experience)
Required

• Good knowledge of R, including experience building applications with Shiny
• Knowledge and experience of database technologies (e.g. SQL server, PostgreSQL, Redis)
• Hands-on experience working with football event data
• Strong understanding of football analytics concepts and how data can be applied across recruitment, performance, and opposition analysis
• A fantastic work ethic with excellent attention to detail, intuition and an ability to manage and prioritise several projects simultaneously
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex data insights into clear, actionable recommendations for a non-technical audience
• Solid understanding of statistical modelling techniques and their practical application in a sports analytics context

Preferred

• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, or similar).
• Experience working with a football club’s performance analysis department, with a strong understanding of the performance analysis processes.
• Experience processing and analysing player tracking data at scale
• Familiarity with physical/GPS data outputs
• Experience using Version Control
• Familiar with Linux operating system
• Proficiency in Spanish is desirable but not essential

Others

• Ability to work in the UK

What you can expect in return – Our Benefits

From Day One

• ​30 days holiday (in addition to bank & public holidays)
• ​In-house chef*
• ​In-house masseuse*
• ​Team sporting events
• 25% discount on Brentford Football Club merchandise
• ​Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• ​Interest-free travel season ticket loan
• ​Offsite trips

*Available on selected days

After 3 Months

• ​Pension - Employer Contribution starting at 5.5%, and employee starting at 2.5%
• Income protection – 75% of salary (subject to terms & conditions)

After Probation

• Private Medical Insurance - including  coverage of any excess payment
• Health Cash Plan via Medicash
• Life Assurance (4 x times earnings at time of death)
• Enhanced Company Sick Pay
• A discretionary annual bonus​

After 2 Years

• Increase in Employer Pension to 6% (to a minimum employee contribution of 3%)
• Enhanced Maternity Pay
• Enhanced Paternity Pay

After 4 Years

• Increase in Employer’s Pension to 7% (to a minimum employee contribution of 3.5%)