Lead Data Scientist

Salt; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 360,000 - 720,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt in Abu Dhabi is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to join a newly established AI Lab. You will drive end-to-end AI/ML solutions from concept through production, mentoring junior scientists and collaborating with engineers and product teams to scale impact.

The role requires an 8+ year track record in data science and hands-on Python/SQL development, with strong software engineering discipline and experience deploying models in production.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' experience in Data Science, ML, AI Engineering or related field.
• Strong hands-on Python development and SQL.
• Experience taking ML/AI models into production and building production-grade systems.
• Solid understanding of software engineering: Git, APIs, testing, CI/CD and containerisation.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development and deployment of AI/ML solutions for banking use cases.
• Own full lifecycle from problem definition 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 where relevant.
• Collaborate with Data Engineers, Software Engineers and Product teams to productionise AI.
• Develop robust ML pipelines, APIs, model-serving components and MLOps processes.
• Establish best practices around deployment, testing, monitoring and reproducibility.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify business value opportunities.
• Mentor Data Scientists and contribute to the AI Lab's technical direction.

Skills

Python

SQL

Git

APIs

CI/CD

Containerisation

AWS

Azure

GCP

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Hugging Face

LLMs

RAG

Vector Databases

Agentic AI

Machine Learning

Data Science

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/AI/Math/Engineering

Job description

Lead Data Scientist - AI Lab | Fintech

Location: Abu Dhabi

My client is looking for a Lead Data Scientist to join a newly established AI Lab. 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.

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.

Only successful candidates will be contacted