Lead Data Scientist AI Lab | Banking

Client of Salt; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 420,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

Client of Salt is recruiting a Lead Data Scientist to join a newly established AI Lab inside a leading banking organisation. This is a hands-on role taking AI and ML solutions from concept through to production by writing production-ready Python code and working across the engineering stack.

You will mentor data scientists, contribute to technical direction, and evaluate emerging AI technologies to create tangible value for the bank.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, AI engineering or a related technical field.
• Strong hands‑on Python development skills and excellent SQL.
• Proven track record of taking machine learning / AI models into production.

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.

Skills

Python

SQL

MLOps

APIs

CI/CD

Git

Containerization

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science/AI/Math

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Hugging Face

LLMs

Vector databases

Containerization

Job description

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.

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

• 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