Head of Data Science

Artificial Intelligence Jobs; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Private medical insurance

33 days holiday

Enhanced parental leave

Nursery scheme

Discounted tech devices

Job summary

Artificial Intelligence Jobs is partnering with a fast-growing UK consumer fintech to appoint its first Head of Data Science in London. This hybrid role combines strategic leadership with hands-on model development, from credit risk decisioning to churn prediction.

You will define the vision and roadmap, own end-to-end ML deployments, and collaborate with Product, Engineering, Risk and Commercial teams to maximise business impact.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in data science and predictive modelling.
• Hands-on experience deploying ML models in production.
• Strong stakeholder management and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the data science function and roadmap.
• Own end-to-end design, build and deployment of production ML models.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Risk and Commercial teams to maximise impact.

Skills

Data science

Predictive modelling

Machine learning

Stakeholder management

Ownership mindset

Education

2:1 degree from top university

Job description

This role is being handled by Via, a secure hiring platform used by employers to review candidates.

After applying, you will be invited to create your profile on the Via platform. Your profile stays anonymous until you match.

Head of Data Science | High-Growth Consumer Fintech

£100,000 – £160,000 + Stock Options | London (Hybrid, 4 days in office)

We're partnering with one of the UK's fastest-growing consumer fintechs to appoint their first Head of Data Science. This is a rare opportunity to build and lead a data science function from the ground up, at a business that already has the strong data foundations most teams spend years trying to put in place.

You'll own the models that drive growth directly, from credit risk decisioning to customer retention, and you'll have the autonomy and senior visibility to shape how data science is done across the whole company.

The Role

• Define and lead the data science function, setting the vision, roadmap and standards for how advanced modelling is used across the business.
• Own the end-to-end design, build and deployment of production-grade machine learning models, including credit risk and churn prediction.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Risk, Operations and Commercial teams to identify where advanced modelling can have the greatest impact.
• Translate complex modelling approaches into clear commercial outcomes for senior stakeholders.
• Bring cutting-edge AI and ML into a business that's ready to act on it.

What You'll Bring

• 7+ years' experience in data science and predictive modelling, with a proven track record of delivering results.
• Hands‑on experience building state‑of‑the‑art ML models and deploying them into production.
• A 2:1 or higher from a top university, ideally in a STEM or quantitative discipline.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and a genuine passion for data‑driven decision‑making.
• A strong sense of ownership: you take responsibility for an entire area, not just your part of it.

Bonus points for

experience with agentic architectures and applying the latest LLMs in a commercial setting.

What's On Offer

• Salary of £100,000 – £160,000, depending on experience.
• Stock options for all employees.
• Genuine career acceleration: around 40% of employees progress at each bi-annual review.
• Private medical insurance.
• A personal L&D budget to develop the skills you care about.
• 33 days' holiday (25 days plus 8 bank holidays) with full flexibility on when you take them.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave (after 12 months' service).
• Workplace nursery scheme offering significant savings.
• Exclusive employee access to discounted tech devices.

Location & Start Date

The role is based in Central London with a hybrid pattern of at least 4 days per week in the office. The client is keen to move quickly but is happy to wait for the right person, so notice periods aren't a barrier.