Digital Healthcare NLP and Deep Learning Engineer 2023

Bournemouth University’s vision is worldwide recognition as a leading university for inspiring learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society through the fusion of education, research and practice. Our highly skilled and creative workforce is comprised of individuals drawn from a broad cross section of the globe, who reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences that help to build our global learning community.

ImproveWell and Bournemouth University are about to embark on an exciting project using NLP and Deep Learning to create an innovative product for use in healthcare applications.

This is a grant assisted Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) that provides all the benefits of a graduate recruitment programme with the excitement of working in a dynamic company with support and guidance from the University. This 24-month project gives the successful candidate access to a personal development budget of over £4,000 as well as a substantial equipment budget.

With the help of state-of-the-art techniques in the area of NLP including ChatGPT-style Large Language Models (LLMs), summarisation models and vector databases, the project will focus on developing the enabling technology to further drive inclusion of frontline staff in healthcare quality improvement. This will be achieved by building, evaluating and deploying a semantic search engine for the quality improvement ideas, paired with topic modelling, idea summarisation and high-level real-time reporting functionality to provide management-level insights to the decision makers.

You’ll be working with a stable, successful and growing business with the mission of empowering the frontline to drive change. This is a genuine opportunity to join a talented team in a challenging commercial environment to innovate and build digital products that make a difference to people every day.

About ImproveWell

ImproveWell is an award-winning real-time feedback solution for continuous improvement and everyday innovation in health and care. Boosting morale and empowering the frontline to drive change, 24/7 everyone can: suggest ideas for improvement; share how their workday is going; and complete pulse surveys. Insights from patients and wider stakeholder groups can also be captured.

An intelligent data dashboard enables leads to gather real-time feedback, track sentiment, prioritise improvements, measure change and publish reports. Shaped by 60+ NHS organisations, the tool is being used across the NHS and in the US. ImproveWell supported the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is also being used in the emergency services and animal health sectors.

Life at ImproveWell

We are an ambitious, hard-working team but believe that balance and flexibility are essential for high quality performance. Our credibility with our partners, our customers and each other cannot be undervalued – we aim for excellence in everything we do.

Above all, we are enthusiastic and optimistic with the fortitude to keep going, and we do not let unexpected challenges stand in our way. We love what we do. Our values:

• We believe in working together to achieve excellence
• We strive to deliver value, putting our customers first
• We are data driven, building evidence-based solutions
• We encourage open and honest feedback
• We act with integrity and respect
• We are resolutely focused on our goals

The role

• Explore and exploit existing NLP architectures and adapt them to the project needs.
• Prototype a semantic search engine for the quality improvement ideas, paired with topic modelling, idea summarisation and high-level real-time reporting functionality to provide management-level insights to the decision makers
• Evaluate the prototype system and assist with its deployment.

The successful candidate

• Experienced in designing and evaluating machine learning systems in a commercial setting or via research degree
• Familiar with deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow
• Might well have experience with NLP
• Will be able to break down complex problems and devise practical solutions
• Someone who builds rapport, taking an active role in meetings, workshops and training sessions
• Have a considered and credible approach when working with colleagues
• Are observant, always listening to understand customer needs and integrate insights into our business
• Don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and taking the initiative as a core member of a small team
• Are flexible and can manage an appropriate balance of office-based vs. field-based activities

Characteristics for success

• Proactive self-starter with ability to hit the ground running and get things done
• Passionate about healthcare and making a social impact
• Entrepreneurial spirit
• Willingness to be flexible within a small team
• Take pride and ownership of key workstreams
• Values-driven

This position is available on a fixed-term basis until 4 September 2025.

BU values and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We seek a diverse community through attracting, developing and retaining staff from different backgrounds to contribute to inspirational learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society.

To support and enable our staff to achieve a balance between work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.