Jonathan Leslie

Summary

I am biologist-turned-data scientist, specialising in leading data teams and designing data science projects to address business questions. Much of my work is client-facing: I sit down with business stakeholders to understand their objectives and long-term strategy and to develop projects that create the technology and data products that equip them to meet these goals. My process is generally aimed at breaking down business problems and framing them as scientific questions. I have worked with clients that include large, multi-national corporations, national and local governmental agencies, small start-ups and non-profit organizations.


Current role

I am the Director of Data Science at London-based start-up Pivigo. I have built our internal data science team over the past two years and am responsible for all aspects of team management. My team serves two main purposes: (1) we work on internal data science projects aimed at improving how Pivigo operates and (2) we design data science projects for our clients and deliver them with the help of freelancers.


Data science experience

Director/Head of Data Science, Pivigo (2017 – present)

  • Built and managed a team of staff data scientists.
  • Have worked with businesses to design over 100 data science projects aimed at addressing business challenges.
  • Responsible for experimental design on the large majority of Pivigo projects.
  • Collaborate closely with various internal teams, such as Marketing, Sales and Software Development, as well as C-level executives.
  • Heavily involved with the planning, staffing and running of the “Science 2 Data Science” ( s2ds ) data science boot camp, including lecturing and mentoring diverse teams that are often distributed across Europe and the Americas.

Freelance Data Scientist and Consultant (2016 – 2018)

  • Founded J Leslie Data Consultancy, Ltd, a data science consultancy specializing in customized data science solutions to help solve business and research problems.
  • Led data science teams working on a wide range of data science projects across a wide array of industries.


Speaking

  • Big Data Conference Europe 2020, online 2020:
    • “Designing and Building Data Science Solutions” ( link )

  • O’Reilly Strata Data & AI Conference, London 2020:
    • “Bringing innovation to online retail: automating customer service using NLP” ( link )
    • This conference was canceled due to COVID-19. The talk was recorded as a webinar instead.

  • Axel Springer Big Data Day, Berlin 2018:
    • “Data science and media: driving insights with advanced analytics”

  • AI Congress & Data Science Summit, London 2018:
    • Panel Discussion: “Recruitment and the Future of Data Science in the 21st Century”

  • Strata Data Conference, London 2018
    • “Revolutionising the newsroom with artificial intelligence” ( link )

  • CogX, London 2018
    • “How to introduce data science to your business: the journey from concept to insight”

  • Datacast podcast 2018 ( link )
    • “Molecular Biologist turned Data Scientist with Jonathan Leslie”

  • FinTech Connect Live 2017
    • “How Data Science is helping FinTech companies innovate”

  • Pivigo webinar 2017
    • “Freelance or full-time data science”


Key skills and experience

Data analysis

  • I specialize in assessing data quality and in the generation of data processing and analysis pipelines.
  • Extensive experience with R, Python, SQL, Git and GitHub.
  • Well-versed in a wide range of predictive analytics and natural language processing methodologies.
  • Solid understanding of statistical inference and Bayesian approaches to statistical modeling.

Interpersonal and communication skills

  • Led numerous client-facing consulting workshops and meetings.
  • Authored over 100 data science project proposals aimed at non-technical audiences of key decision-makers within partner organizations.
  • Mentored ~50 teams of data science trainees in the S2DS program, including remote students in a virtual, online version of the program.
  • Wrote and presented lectures on R programming, data analysis and data visualization.
  • Have given numerous invited talks at client events.
  • Participated in a Cancer Research UK outreach program aimed at engaging non-specialists (donors and volunteers) by explaining the research aims and methodologies of the charity.


Education

PhD, Anatomy and Developmental Biology (2007)

  • Cancer Research UK London Research Institute/University of London, London, UK

Bachelor of Science, Biology (1994)

  • Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA


Other research highlights

  • University College London, London, UK (2012 – 2015)
    • Postdoctoral Research Associate

  • King’s College London, London, UK (2008 – 2012)
    • Postdoctoral Research Associate

  • Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, London, UK (2003 – 2008)
    • PhD Student and Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA (2000 – 2003)
    • Technical Assistant


Community outreach and volunteer work