Head of Data Science

Propel
London
1 day ago
Create job alert

Head of Data Science


📍 Flexible / Hybrid | Early-Stage | High Impact

🚀 The Future of Fashion Discovery


As a female-founded startup at an exciting inflection point, we’re shaping something genuinely game-changing. This isn’t just a product. It’s a movement. And we’re looking for a brilliant Head of Data Science to help lead the charge.


You’ll own and build the intelligence at the heart of the platform — personally designing, building, deploying and iterating on production AI systems while shaping long-term data and AI strategy.


You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders, product and engineering to decide:

  • What to build
  • What not to build
  • When “good enough” is the right answer


What You’ll Own

🔬 Hands-on AI & Data Leadership

  • Personally design, build and deploy production computer vision and agentic AI systems powering search, discovery, recommendations and personalisation
  • Own the full lifecycle: problem framing → data exploration → modelling → evaluation → deployment → monitoring → iteration
  • Make pragmatic trade-offs between speed, quality and technical elegance

🎯 Product & User Impact

  • Translate messy user problems into clear, testable interventions
  • Partner deeply with Product to optimise for trust, confidence and discovery — not just offline metrics
  • Focus relentlessly on feature value and ROI

đź§± Data Foundations

  • Work hands-on with imperfect datasets
  • Design annotation strategies, quality checks and evaluation frameworks from scratch
  • Decide where data investment matters — and where it doesn’t (yet)

⚙️ Technical Direction & MLOps

  • Establish pragmatic MLOps practices (CI/CD, deployment, monitoring, alerting)
  • Build scalable but lightweight pipelines (AWS)
  • Ensure models are robust, reliable, explainable where needed and safe in production

👥 Team & Culture

  • Set a strong technical and ethical bar for data science
  • Mentor future hires as the team grows
  • Model curiosity, humility and ownership in high ambiguity

🛡 Ethics, Bias & Brand Trust

  • Proactively address bias, representation and fairness in AI systems
  • Align technical decisions with company values around individuality and body confidence
  • Speak up when technical direction risks user trust

🤖 Internal AI Adoption (Critical)

  • Evaluate and drive adoption of AI productivity tools across Product & Engineering
  • Embed AI-assisted development into day-to-day workflows
  • Define standards that let us move fast — without building tech debt mountains

Must-Haves

  • 3–5 years in a technical leadership role
  • Proven track record delivering AI/ML products from inception to production
  • Deep hands-on expertise in at least one core ML domain (strong preference for computer vision and/or generative AI)
  • Experience with LLMs, conversational AI and evaluation of generative systems
  • Strong MLOps and engineering mindset
  • Hands-on with AWS, Python, SQL and modern ML tooling
  • Strong data engineering and annotation strategy experience
  • Experience leading teams and working with senior stakeholders
  • Comfortable in fast-moving, evolving environments
  • Simplicity mindset: start simple, add complexity only when necessary

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Head of Data Science

Head of Data Science

Head of Data Science

Head of Data Science - Fintech

Head of Data Science

Head of Data Science

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

How Many Data Science Tools Do You Need to Know to Get a Data Science Job?

If you’re trying to break into data science — or progress your career — it can feel like you are drowning in names: Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch, SQL, Spark, AWS, Scikit-learn, Jupyter, Tableau, Power BI…the list just keeps going. With every job advert listing a different combination of tools, many applicants fall into a trap: they try to learn everything. The result? Long tool lists that sound impressive — but little depth to back them up. Here’s the straight-talk version most hiring managers won’t explicitly tell you: 👉 You don’t need to know every data science tool to get hired. 👉 You need to know the right ones — deeply — and know how to use them to solve real problems. Tools matter, but only in service of outcomes. So how many data science tools do you actually need to know to get a job? For most job seekers, the answer is not “27” — it’s more like 8–12, thoughtfully chosen and well understood. This guide explains what employers really value, which tools are core, which are role-specific, and how to focus your toolbox so your CV and interviews shine.

What Hiring Managers Look for First in Data Science Job Applications (UK Guide)

If you’re applying for data science roles in the UK, it’s crucial to understand what hiring managers focus on before they dive into your full CV. In competitive markets, recruiters and hiring managers often make their first decisions in the first 10–20 seconds of scanning an application — and in data science, there are specific signals they look for first. Data science isn’t just about coding or statistics — it’s about producing insights, shipping models, collaborating with teams, and solving real business problems. This guide helps you understand exactly what hiring managers look for first in data science applications — and how to structure your CV, portfolio and cover letter so you leap to the top of the shortlist.

The Skills Gap in Data Science Jobs: What Universities Aren’t Teaching

Data science has become one of the most visible and sought-after careers in the UK technology market. From financial services and retail to healthcare, media, government and sport, organisations increasingly rely on data scientists to extract insight, guide decisions and build predictive models. Universities have responded quickly. Degrees in data science, analytics and artificial intelligence have expanded rapidly, and many computer science courses now include data-focused pathways. And yet, despite the volume of graduates entering the market, employers across the UK consistently report the same problem: Many data science candidates are not job-ready. Vacancies remain open. Hiring processes drag on. Candidates with impressive academic backgrounds fail interviews or struggle once hired. The issue is not intelligence or effort. It is a persistent skills gap between university education and real-world data science roles. This article explores that gap in depth: what universities teach well, what they often miss, why the gap exists, what employers actually want, and how jobseekers can bridge the divide to build successful careers in data science.