Head of Data Science & AI

La Fosse; Greater London; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

La Fosse supports a leading financial services organisation investing in AI, ML and Economic Crime capabilities. This is a crucial leadership role to build and scale a high-performing Data Science & AI function delivering advanced fraud, financial crime and automated decisioning solutions.

You will own the end-to-end Data Science & AI agenda, developing production-grade models and AI systems to detect, prevent and manage fraud at scale, while shaping governance, platforms and enterprise-wide AI

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading Data Science, AI or ML teams in large organisations.
• Experience delivering production-grade AI/ML solutions at scale.
• Deep understanding of MLOps, model lifecycle management and AI governance.
• Experience in Fraud, Financial Crime, Risk or broader Financial Services environments.
• Knowledge of advanced modelling techniques and emerging AI technologies including LLMs and GenAI.
• Strong stakeholder management to influence senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, deployment and optimisation of AI, ML and automated decisioning solutions.
• Own the full model lifecycle including development, deployment, monitoring and governance.
• Drive best practice across Data Science, MLOps, AI Engineering and model management.
• Build and lead a high-performing team of Data Scientists, ML Engineers and MLOps specialists.
• Partner with Product, Analytics and Technology to deliver AI-powered fraud and financial crime solutions.
• Ensure models and AI systems are scalable, explainable and auditable.

Skills

Team leadership

Data Science

MLOps

Fraud & Financial Crime

Stakeholder management

GenAI & LLMs

Tools

Python

TensorFlow

PyTorch

MLflow

Job description

We're supporting a leading financial services organisation undergoing significant investment across AI, Machine Learning and Economic Crime capabilities.

This is a critical leadership opportunity to build and scale a high-performing Data Science & AI function focused on delivering advanced fraud, financial crime and automated decisioning solutions. You'll play a key role in shaping how AI is deployed across a business-critical area, whilst driving innovation within a highly regulated environment.

The Opportunity:

You'll own the end-to-end Data Science & AI agenda, leading the development of production-grade machine learning models, AI systems and intelligent decisioning capabilities that help detect, prevent and manage fraud and financial crime at scale.

Working closely with Product, Analytics, Engineering and senior business stakeholders, you'll transform decision strategies into automated solutions whilst building the teams, platforms and governance frameworks needed to support enterprise-wide AI adoption.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, deployment and optimisation of AI, machine learning and automated decisioning solutions
• Own the full model lifecycle including development, deployment, monitoring, retraining and governance
• Drive best practice across Data Science, MLOps, AI Engineering and model management
• Build and lead a high-performing team of Data Scientists, ML Engineers and MLOps specialists
• Partner with Product, Analytics and Technology teams to deliver AI-powered fraud and financial crime solutions
• Ensure models and AI systems are scalable, explainable, auditable and compliant with governance requirements
• Drive adoption of emerging AI technologies including GenAI, LLMs and agentic workflows

What We're Looking For:

• Proven experience leading Data Science, AI or Machine Learning teams within large, complex organisations
• Strong experience delivering production-grade AI and machine learning solutions at scale
• Deep understanding of MLOps, model lifecycle management and AI governance
• Experience within Fraud, Financial Crime, Risk or wider Financial Services environments
• Knowledge of advanced modelling techniques, automated decisioning systems and emerging AI technologies including LLMs and Agentic AI
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence senior business and technology leaders

Head of Data Science & AI | Fraud & Financial Crime AI Leadership Role