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Last active November 5, 2025 10:05
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Cover letters
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cover1.md

Hands-on experience in Data Science. I used my technical skills to build a Content-to-Content recommendation system using Passports metadata for iPlayer programmes. My solution consisted of an Autoencoder network able to learn/generate metadata embeddings from Passport tags, to improve similarity calculations compared to the existing recommender. The solution was evaluated adopting a custom diversity metric I came up with to allow for variety of similar content. Strong algorithm and data structure uunderstanding and Python coding. I have experience in code managemeng and CI/CD.

Completed a Level 7 (MSc) AI & Data Science staff apprenticeship in March 2025 started in Feb 2023, which helped building a strong knowledge of data science and machine learning techniques, further developed during the work attachment period with the iPlayer Recommendation team.

10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, 6 of which as a Team Leader. I have experience working in cross-functional teams, building and delivering BBC scale systems in production. Mentoring and knowledge sharing is something I'm passionate about. I learn and adapt to new challenges really fast, as demonstrated by the fact that I started at the BBC, working for the first 2 years with 4 different teams in 4 different areas, using different technologies. This allowed me to respond quickly to change and be up and running, fully embedded in the team in no time. Last experience of this sort was during the work attachment to the Recs team. It was my first time working in a Data Science setting, where I had to come up with a project, using technologies I have never seen before, in a domain I only had a brief knowledge of, and still managed to build a fully functional deep neural network architecture for embedding learning, integrated with Passport meta data, in a limited amount of time.

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With reference to the job description please use this section to fully explain how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific requirements of this role.

I have a solid understanding of data science and machine learning principles gained through the Level 7 (MSc) AI Apprenticeship I started in Feb 2023 and a robust working knowledge developed during the attachment period with the iPlayer Recommendation team of data scientists (previously known as iRex).

To pass the apprenticeship assessment, I had to produce an original solution to demonstrate my contribution towards a BBC need/objective. During the attachment period I personally built a Content-To-Content similarity recommendations system of iPlayer programmes. The novel solution consisted of an Autoencoder network able to generate metadata embeddings from Passport tags, to improve similarity calculations compared to the existing solution. I presented this project to the DS team and various stakeholders and got overall positive feedback plus suggestions for improvement. We also discussed the possibility to further develop this idea and A/B test it. This project was assessed with a "Distinction" grade as part of my apprenticeship by an independent assessor from the British Computer Society (BCS).

I have a solid software engineering background, excellent communication skills of solutions to technical/non-technical stakeholders and a practical working experience with AWS services with my 10+ years working at the BBC. As a Team Lead for Sound web, I have worked on several multi-year projects such as the re-build of Sounds (twice), AWS production account migration, Single-Page-App and Persistent Player currently in development. I have line management duties, as well as code-contribution responsibilities, architecture design and 24/7 on-call product support.

I constantly keep my skills up to date by following online courses like Coursera or LinkedIn and BBC Academy trainings. I read papers to keep myself current. I'm excited about learning new technologies, methodologies and approaches as demonstrated by applying to the graduate scheme at the beginning of my career at the BBC and the AI apprenticeship now. I actively participate to Guild days and hack days and hack weeks. In one of the hack weeks I built Sounds as a Single-Page Application and the Persistent Player, which is currently being developed off the back of my prototype, and soon to be deployed to production by the Sounds Web Team.

I like to write and share experiences and findings (some of the posts on https://medium.simonespaccarotella.com). One of my initial posts was also featured on a BBC article page https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/cz9x1330dxzo. I regularly share what I learn with other members of the team, by organising workshops, informal knowledge share sessions, hand-on coding labs, etc. I also presented to some of the BBC Engineering Meet Up in the past.

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Software Engineer and Technical Leader with over a decade of experience in software development, architectural design, algorithms and data structures. I have an academic background in Answer-Set Programming (knowledge representation and planning) and I trained as a Data Scientist at with the BBC iPlayer recommendation team, where I gained hands-on experience in deep learning, recommender engines, and data pipeline engineering. I am proficient in JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, Python and a range of web development tools and frameworks. I have hands-on experience with ML libraries/frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch and Keras, which I used to build a content-to-content recommender for iPlayer based on an Autoencoder approach. As a technical leader, I collaborate with product and delivery managers, UX designers, engineering leads and architects across the business, in an agile environment. I have experience in architectural design, people management, mentoring, recruitment and out-of-hours product support. I am a collaborative team player with excellent problem-solving skills. I led several big multi-year projects such as the re-build of Sounds web to Single-Page App, re-build and migration of the BBC Radioplayer and contributed to plenty other projects like the first launch of the BBC Sounds web app. I am an advocate of continuous learning and knowledge sharing to keep my skills sharp and mentor fellow engineers.

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