Lead Data Scientist

SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation pay range: Up to £115k + equity. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Principal AI Recruiter | Founder of The AI Collective

Role focus: Build and scale a brand-new data science function within an established AI company. The function will work exclusively on financial services projects, so prior FS experience is required. This role combines hands-on technical work with leadership, strategy, and client-facing impact. You\'ll work directly with senior decision-makers in banking, fintech, and insurtech, while mentoring and developing a high-calibre data science team.

Key responsibilities:

• Establish and grow a dedicated data science function focused on financial services use cases.
• Set technical direction, define best practices, and shape the roadmap for client delivery.
• Lead projects end-to-end from discovery and experimentation to POC and large-scale deployment.
• Deliver advanced solutions across ML and AI, including agentic systems and LLM-powered applications.
• Act as a senior point of contact for FS stakeholders, influencing both technical and commercial outcomes.
• Hire, mentor, and develop a team of data scientists to a best-in-class standard.

• Strong background in machine learning, statistical modelling, and applied data science.
• Expert in Python and familiar with standard ML/AI frameworks (e.g. Scikit-Learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Solid track record of delivering successful projects within FS – ideally in regulated, enterprise-grade environments.
• Previous leadership experience and ability to guide strategy, make architectural decisions, and manage technical teams.
• Excellent comms and stakeholder management skills, comfortable in senior client-facing settings.
• Bonus points for consulting experience.

• Shape and lead a new capability from day one.
• Work on complex, high-impact problems at the frontier of financial services and AI.
• Combine technical leadership with direct client influence.
• Join a company where innovation, collaboration, and professional growth are at the heart of how they operate.

If you’re motivated by the idea of building something new, leading a team, and driving AI adoption.

• Mid-Senior level

• Full-time

• Finance and Information Technology

• IT Services and IT Consulting
• Software Development
• Financial Services