Data Science & AI Delivery Lead

i3; City Of London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

i3 is seeking an experienced Data Science & AI Delivery Lead to drive enterprise AI and ML solutions within a global insurance organisation. This hands-on leadership role blends software engineering, data science, AI, and delivery leadership to shape the technical direction of a growing AI function.

You will lead end-to-end AI initiatives, mentor teams, and ensure scalable, production-ready capabilities using Python, Databricks, MLflow, and Azure.

Qualifications

• Significant experience delivering AI and ML in production environments.
• Hands-on Python development and ML workflows.
• Experience with LLMs, generative AI, prompt engineering, and RAG architectures.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics solutions from concept through production.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple AI initiatives with strong architectural and deployment standards.
• Design and build AI solutions using large language models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and agentic AI approaches.
• Remain hands-on with development, contributing to Python code, architecture reviews, and problem solving.
• Drive MLOps, testing, deployment, monitoring, version control, and AI governance best practices.
• Partner with engineering, data, and business teams to deliver scalable, production-ready AI capabilities.
• Mentor and develop a team of Data Scientists and AI Engineers through coaching and code reviews.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and lead proof-of-concepts that create business value.

Skills

Python

AI/ML delivery

MLOps

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Cloud platforms

Production deployment

Tools

Databricks

MLflow

Spark

Azure

Job description

We're looking for an experienced Data Science & AI Delivery Lead to lead the delivery of enterprise AI and machine learning solutions within a global insurance organisation.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, ideal for someone who enjoys combining software engineering, data science, AI, and delivery leadership. You'll help shape the technical direction of a growing AI function while leading the successful delivery of innovative solutions using machine learning, generative AI, and cloud technologies.

What you'll do

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics solutions from concept through production.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple AI initiatives, ensuring high standards for architecture, engineering, scalability, and deployment.
• Design and build AI solutions using large language models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and agentic AI approaches.
• Remain hands-on with development, contributing to Python code, architecture reviews, and technical problem-solving.
• Drive best practices across MLOps, testing, deployment, monitoring, version control, and AI governance.
• Partner with engineering, data, and business teams to deliver scalable, production-ready AI capabilities.
• Mentor and develop a team of Data Scientists and AI Engineers through coaching, code reviews, and technical leadership.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and lead proof-of-concepts that create business value.

What we're looking for

• Significant experience delivering AI and machine learning solutions in production environments.
• Strong Python development skills with experience across modern machine learning and data science frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with large language models, generative AI, prompt engineering, and RAG architectures.
• Experience with Databricks, MLflow, Spark, and cloud-based AI platforms (Azure preferred).
• Strong understanding of MLOps, software engineering best practices, and production deployment pipelines.
• Experience leading technical teams while remaining actively involved in solution delivery.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts into business outcomes.
• Strong project delivery and prioritisation skills within fast-paced environments.
• Experience building AI agents and orchestration workflows.
• Insurance or financial services experience.
• Knowledge of responsible AI, model governance, explainability, and bias mitigation.