Lead AI Scientist & Systems Architect

National Australia Bank Ltd.; Sydney, Melbourne; Remote; AUD 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

National Australia Bank Ltd. invites a hands-on leader to join NAB AI as Head of AI Science, guiding a high-performing data science team in Sydney or Melbourne. You will design and deliver production-grade AI capabilities, focusing on safe, scalable, and reliable systems.

The role blends deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, partnering with engineers, product leaders, and domain experts to translate cutting-edge AI into tangible business outcomes for customers.

Qualifications

• Proven experience designing and deploying AI systems in production environments.
• Deep expertise in LLMs, agentic systems, and retrieval-augmented generation.
• Strong background in machine learning, with depth in optimization or reinforcement learning.
• Solid foundations in statistics, probability, and experimental design.
• Experience leading or mentoring data science teams.
• Excellent communication to translate complex concepts into business impact.
• Relevant degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics or related field.

Responsibilities

• Architect agent-based AI systems powering NAB's core AI products.
• Define prompting strategies, orchestration patterns, and context management approaches.
• Lead technical design decisions ensuring AI systems are safe, accurate, and reliable.
• Translate AI architecture into production systems in partnership with engineering teams.
• Drive delivery of advanced AI solutions through a high-performing data science team.
• Collaborate across product, engineering, and business to deliver measurable outcomes.
• Champion innovation through experimentation and continuous improvement.

Skills

LLMs & agents

Prompt engineering

Production AI systems

Data science leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Degree in CS/Math

Job description

National Australia Bank Ltd. invites a hands-on leader to join NAB AI as Head of AI Science, guiding a high-performing data science team in Sydney or Melbourne. You will design and deliver production-grade AI capabilities, focusing on safe, scalable, and reliable systems.

The role blends deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, partnering with engineers, product leaders, and domain experts to translate cutting-edge AI into tangible business outcomes for customers.