Lead Product Data Scientist

As the nation’s flag carrier, we take great pride in connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain.

It’s something we’ve been doing for over 100 years, ever since we launched the world’s first international scheduled air service between London and Paris.

This originality has been in our blood since day one. It’s the spirit we share with the people that fly with us, our partners, and our colleagues.

So, whether you are a reassuring voice on the end of a phone, a smile at the door, under a wing keeping the turbines spinning or landing us gently in far‑flung places, a job at British Airways is yours to make.

We know great things can happen when you’re inspired to think big and bring your ambition to work every day, which is why, at British Airways, the sky is never the limit.

Lead Product Data Scientist

As Lead Product Data Scientist, you will lead a full‑stack data science and software engineering product squad to deliver optimisation and machine‑learning decision‑support products for an operational business area, aligned to the integrated operations vision.

This is a hands‑on leadership role. You will own the end‑to‑end product lifecycle from discovery and scoping through to architecture, delivery, testing, adoption, value capture and ongoing support. You will be expected to bring strong technical depth and practical experience with modern data science and software engineering tooling to guide delivery decisions and ensure production‑ready outcomes.

• Lead the end‑to‑end product development process for machine learning and optimisation products, from discovery to live operation and support
• Understand business problems and end‑to‑end processes to identify opportunities to improve decisions using decision‑support tooling
• Design modelling approaches and software architecture that are scalable, maintainable and aligned to the integrated operations vision
• Create delivery timelines and feature roadmaps prioritised by business value, managing internal and external dependencies
• Communicate product vision and secure alignment with senior stakeholders and business users
• Ensure timely delivery of features, modules and the overall codebase across a cross‑functional squad
• Define testing and validation approaches for individual features and end‑to‑end systems, with a focus on robustness and value capture
• Lead regular internal and stakeholder sessions to drive modelling decisions and delivery predictability
• Lead change management including communications, training and engagement to ensure adoption and realised value
• Own product management including user experience and front‑end design considerations
• Provide product support including bug fixing and coordination with dependent teams
• Embed effective agile ways of working including version control, code reviews, documentation and continuous improvement

• Strong hands‑on experience applying machine learning and optimisation techniques to real‑world problems
• Deep technical fluency in Python and practical experience using data science, ML and optimisation tooling
• Experience delivering production‑quality systems with robust logging and testing
• Confidence leading and guiding a full‑stack squad across modelling, software engineering and delivery discipline
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to a wide range of audiences
• Pragmatic, outcome‑focused mindset with a strong bias for delivery and business impact

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in data science, machine learning or operational research
• Several years’ experience building or leading production machine learning or optimisation products at scale
• Experience developing industrialised software, particularly data‑science‑led products
• Experience in operational, transport, airline or network‑based domains is advantageous

We believe that all the people who work with us should feel valued for the part they play. It’s one of the reasons our rewards go far beyond a competitive salary.

From the day you join us, you’ll get access to brilliant staff travel benefits including unlimited basic and premium standby tickets on British Airways flights. You’ll also receive up to 30 discounted ‘Hotline’ airfares per year for yourself, friends, and family.

At British Airways you’ll have the chance to take on new challenges and move forward in a way that feels right for you. We encourage all those who work for us to consider opportunities right across our business to help you develop and progress.

We never stand still, and we don’t expect our people to either.

At British Airways we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive place to work. Diverse representation among our people is really important to us and we recognise that all our colleagues are uniquely different and bring their own originality, creativity and identity to work.

Inclusion and diversity is a key driver of innovation and we’re committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they can be themselves. We’re looking for people from all backgrounds and cultures to join us and be a part of our journey to become a Better BA as we continue to connect Britain with the world and the world with Britain.