Lead Data Scientist AI Lab | Banking

My client is looking for a Lead Data Scientist to join a newly established AI Lab within a leading banking organisation . This is a high-impact opportunity for a technically strong, hands-on Data Scientist who can take AI and machine learning solutions from concept through to production . The ideal candidate will have a strong Computer Science / technical academic background and be a genuine full-stack Data Scientist someone who can write production-ready code, build models, work across the engineering stack and deploy solutions independently, rather than relying on separate teams to operationalise their work.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development and deployment of advanced AI and machine learning solutions across banking use cases
• Own the full lifecycle from problem definition, data preparation and modelling through to deployment, monitoring and optimisation . Develop production-grade solutions using Python, SQL and modern ML/AI frameworks . Build and productionise GenAI, LLM, RAG, NLP and agentic AI solutions where relevant
• Work closely with Data Engineers, Software Engineers and Product teams to take AI solutions into production
• Develop robust ML pipelines, APIs, model-serving components and MLOps processes
• Establish best practices around model deployment, testing, monitoring, reproducibility and responsible AI. Evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify opportunities to create tangible value for the bank
• Mentor Data Scientists and contribute to the technical direction of the new AI Lab
• Ideal Candidate: 8+ years experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, AI Engineering or a related technical field
• Bachelor s or Master s degree in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering or another highly quantitative discipline . Strong hands-on Python development skills and excellent SQL. Proven track record of taking machine learning / AI models into production . Strong understanding of software engineering principles including Git, APIs, testing, CI/CD and containerisation . Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or GCP . Experience with modern ML/AI technologies such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, LLMs, RAG, vector databases and agentic AI is highly desirable
• Banking, financial services or fintech experience would be advantageous
• What Will Differentiate You: My client is particularly interested in full-stack Data Scientists who are equally comfortable experimenting with models and engineering them into scalable production systems
• Strong preference will be given to candidates with a rigorous Computer Science or technical background over candidates whose background is primarily business, commercial or MBA-focused
• The successful candidate will be a builder technically autonomous, hands-on and capable of taking an AI solution from an initial idea all the way through to production
• Salt is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy
• Desired Candidate Profile 8+ years experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, AI Engineering or a related technical field