Senior AI Data Scientist

Lloyds Banking Group; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days holiday

Generous pension

Flexible & hybrid work

Wellbeing support

Colleague benefits

Job summary

Lloyds Banking Group in Bristol is seeking a Senior AI Data Scientist to advance retrieval, semantic and agentic analytics. You will design rigorous experiments, build benchmarks, and deliver evidence-based recommendations to support enterprise adoption.

The role combines research with practical delivery, requiring Python, SQL and experience with large language models. You will collaborate with stakeholders to translate findings into scalable analytics solutions and contribute to the bank's

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of retrieval methods, search strategies and RAG architectures.
• Understanding of large language model architectures, reasoning techniques and agentic systems.
• Experience designing evaluation frameworks and applying experimentation and statistical methods to assess outcomes.
• Strong SQL and data analysis skills, including experience with platforms such as BigQuery, Teradata or equivalent technologies.
• Research methodology expertise, including literature reviews and hypothesis-driven experimentation with the ability to interpret and apply research findings.
• Python development and AI prototyping skills.
• Knowledge of semantic layers and metrics modelling.
• Experience of ontologies, knowledge representation, taxonomy development and metadata design.
• Exposure to knowledge graphs, graph-based reasoning concepts, NL2SQL, Text-to-SQL, conversational analytics, dialogue with data approaches, or enterprise data architecture and data product concepts.

Responsibilities

• Designing and conducting research into retrieval, semantic and agentic approaches for analytical reasoning and decision support.
• Building benchmarks, evaluation frameworks and experimental methodologies to assess AI solutions objectively.
• Prototyping and evaluating AI capabilities using Python, data analysis and large language model technologies.
• Producing technical evaluations, comparative assessments and research outputs that inform technology decisions.
• Developing design patterns for conversational analytics and agentic analytics experiences.
• Collaborating with stakeholders to translate research findings into practical recommendations for enterprise adoption.

Skills

RAG architectures

LLM architectures

Experiment design

SQL data analysis

Research methods

Python prototyping

Tools

BigQuery

Teradata

Job description

Senior AI Data Scientist

LOCATION: Bristol

HOURS: Full time

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of your time, at the above office location

About this opportunity

We're looking for a Senior AI Data Scientist to investigate and evaluate techniques that improve analytical reasoning and decision-making. You'll help shape the future of agentic analytics by designing rigorous experiments, evaluating emerging approaches, and producing evidence-based recommendations that support enterprise adoption.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and conducting research into retrieval, semantic and agentic approaches for analytical reasoning and decision support.
• Building benchmarks, evaluation frameworks and experimental methodologies to assess AI solutions objectively.
• Prototyping and evaluating AI capabilities using Python, data analysis and large language model technologies.
• Producing technical evaluations, comparative assessments and research outputs that inform technology decisions.
• Developing design patterns for conversational analytics and agentic analytics experiences.
• Collaborating with stakeholders to translate research findings into practical recommendations for enterprise adoption.

About us / Why Lloyds Banking Group

Like the modern Britain we serve, we're evolving. Investing in people, technology and data is central to our strategy, helping us create better outcomes for our customers, colleagues and communities.

You'll join a team focused on exploring how emerging AI capabilities can deliver meaningful business value through evidence-based research, experimentation and innovation. In return, you'll have the opportunity to work on challenging problems, influence strategic decisions and help shape the future direction of analytics and AI.

What you'll need

• Strong knowledge of retrieval methods, search strategies and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures.
• Understanding of large language model architectures, reasoning techniques and agentic systems.
• Experience designing evaluation frameworks and applying experimentation and statistical methods to assess outcomes.
• Strong SQL and data analysis skills, including experience with platforms such as BigQuery, Teradata or equivalent technologies.
• Research methodology expertise, including literature reviews and hypothesis-driven experimentation with the ability to interpret and apply research findings.
• Python development and AI prototyping skills.

And any experience of this would be really useful

• Knowledge of semantic layers and metrics modelling.
• Experience of ontologies, knowledge representation, taxonomy development and metadata design.
• Exposure to knowledge graphs, graph-based reasoning concepts, NL2SQL, Text-to-SQL, conversational analytics, dialogue with data approaches, or enterprise data architecture and data product concepts.

This is a place for you...

Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion, supporting our customers, colleagues and communities. We are committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop.

We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and launch a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative.

We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role and have a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition, through the Disability Confident Scheme.

We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers - just let us know what you need.

Benefits

• 30 days' holiday, with bank holidays on top.
• A generous pension contribution.
• Flexible and hybrid working options.
• Access to wellbeing support and development opportunities.
• A range of colleague benefits designed to support you both inside and outside of work.