Site Lead, Data & ML (up to £240k)

Dex; Greater London; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Dex is partnering with a leading platform in London to establish its first dedicated data and ML presence. You will lead from day one, growing a small team toward ten within a year, while remaining an active technical contributor in design reviews, model reviews, and code reviews.

The role focuses on reward optimisation, real-time personalisation, and offer ranking. You will define the data/ML roadmap, hire and coach a high-ownership team, and translate business needs into technical plans with

Qualifications

• End-to-end ownership of an applied-ML domain: ranking, recommender systems, or similar.
• Senior IC background (senior, staff, or principal level) with track record of impactful work.
• Experience hiring, coaching, and setting technical standards for a small team.
• Ability to translate business priorities into technical plans with measurable impact.

Responsibilities

• Define roadmap and technical strategy for London data and ML function.
• Drive applied ML initiatives across reward optimisation, real-time personalisation, and offer ranking.
• Build and scale a high-ownership team from scratch and define interview processes.
• Contribute technically through design reviews, code reviews, and model reviews.
• Translate business priorities into technical plans with direct company impact.

Skills

Senior IC background

Applied ML

Team leadership

Hiring/coaching

Code/design reviews

Job description

This role is with one of Dex's trusted partner companies. We work closely with their teams to truly understand their culture, goals, and what they're looking for, so we can match you with the right opportunity and give you context about the role before you commit to a process.

The role

This is a profitable, bootstrapped platform rewarding 80 million users globally. They're one of Europe's fastest-growing companies, building out their first dedicated data and ML presence in London. You'll lead that function from day one, growing a team from a single hire to ten over the next year. This isn't a distant management role: you'll stay a genuine technical contributor, reviewing designs and code, joining model reviews, and staying in the problems. The work is applied and commercial: reward optimisation, real-time personalisation, offer ranking. You're building the ground the team will stand on, not just tuning something that already runs.

The work

• Lead the London data and ML function, defining its roadmap and technical strategy.
• Drive applied ML initiatives across reward optimisation, real-time personalisation, and offer ranking.
• Build and scale a high-ownership team from scratch, setting the technical bar and interview process.
• Contribute technically through design reviews, code reviews, and model reviews.
• Translate business priorities into technical plans, ensuring direct impact on company-level outcomes.

What You Bring

• Strong individual contributor background at senior, staff, or principal level; you want to keep building.
• End-to-end ownership of an applied-ML domain: recommendation, ranking, marketplaces, adtech, or similar.
• Clear examples of business outcomes your technical work directly drove.
• Comfort defining solutions in ambiguous environments, rather than following existing playbooks.
• Experience hiring, coaching, and setting the technical bar for a small, high-ownership team.