Associate Data Science

NPCI International; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 1,000,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Coverage: Medical, accidental, and life insurance

Parental Leave: Inclusive maternity and paternity leave

Mobility Benefits: Relocation and travel support

Provident Fund (PF) and Gratuity Contributions

Job summary

NPCI International in Hyderabad is hiring a Data Scientist – AI Engineer dedicated to enhancing India's digital payment systems. This role encompasses building intelligent systems and deploying advanced machine learning models to tackle problems such as fraud detection and conversational AI.

The candidate will work with leading academic institutions and contribute to innovative AI solutions that impact the financial sector. Comprehensive employee benefits, including medical insurance and wellness programs, are offered.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in developing and deploying ML/DL models such as Logistic Regression, RF, XGBoost.
• Experience with imbalanced datasets using advanced sampling techniques.
• Ability to build LLM-powered applications (chatbots, document analysis).
• Solid understanding of custom loss functions and business-aligned metrics.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy ML/DL models for complex data scenarios.
• Integrate models into both batch and real-time production systems.
• Monitor model performance and business impact continuously.

Skills

Supervised & unsupervised learning

Statistical modeling

Tree models

Neural Networks, CNN, Transformers

Graph-based fraud detection

Problem-solving ability

Ability to translate business problems into scalable AI systems

Education

B.Tech / M.Tech / MSc / MCA (PhD preferred) in CS, AI, DS, Mathematics or related field

Tools

PyTorch / TensorFlow

PyTorch Geometric

Job description

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) | Full Time

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is a pivotal institution in India's digital payments ecosystem, established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). It operates under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, and is incorporated as a “Not for Profit” company under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013). NPCI is dedicated to building world‑class digital payment infrastructure through innovative and efficient retail payment platforms. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, NPCI is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace culture, with zero tolerance for discrimination based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, including support for the LGBTQ+ community.

You will be part of NPCI’s Market Innovation team, working at the intersection of advanced machine learning, deep learning, graph AI, and Generative AI to build next‑generation intelligent systems for India’s digital payments ecosystem.

This role focuses on solving India‑scale problems such as fraud detection, mule/AML risk modeling, transaction intelligence, and conversational AI, using both classical ML and cutting‑edge AI architectures (LLMs, GNNs, Transformers, Agentic AI systems).

You will design end‑to‑end AI systems— from problem formulation, feature engineering, and model development to GPU‑accelerated optimization and production deployment, ensuring low latency, scalability, and robustness.

The role offers a unique opportunity to work on:

• Graph‑based fraud detection systems
• Agentic AI & LLM‑powered platforms (RAG, MCP, workflows)
• GPU/CUDA optimized AI pipelines
• Privacy‑preserving and federated AI systems

You will collaborate with top academic institutions (IITs/IISc) and cross‑functional teams to push the boundaries of applied AI in financial systems.

• Job Title: Data Scientist – AI Engineer
• Division: NPCI Data Analytics – Market Innovation
• Education: B.Tech / M.Tech / MSc / MCA (PhD preferred) in CS, AI, DS, Mathematics or related field
• Employment Type: Full-time
• Role Type: Permanent

Key Responsibilities

Machine Learning & Advanced Modeling

• Develop and deploy ML/DL models (Logistic Regression, RF, XGBoost, NN, CNN, Transformers, GANs)
• Work on imbalanced datasets using advanced sampling and cost‑sensitive learning

Generative AI & Agentic Systems

• Build LLM‑powered applications (chatbots, complaint intelligence, document analysis)
• Implement:
  • RAG pipelines
  • Agentic workflows & MCP (Model Context Protocols)
  • Prompt engineering & LLM fine‑tuning
• Perform EDA, feature engineering (temporal, behavioral, aggregated features)
• Work with structured, semi‑structured, and unstructured data
• Latency & throughput
• GPU performance (CUDA‑based optimization)
• Use libraries such as:
  • RAPIDS, cuDF, cuML, cuGraph, PyTorch Geometric
• Design custom loss functions (weighted BCE, cost‑sensitive)
• Apply business‑aligned metrics:
  • Precision@K, Recall, ROC‑AUC, PR‑AUC
• Use robust validation techniques (cross‑validation, time‑based splits)

Deployment & Production Systems

• Integrate models into batch and real‑time production systems
• Design scalable ML pipelines & APIs
• Monitor:
  • Model drift
  • Performance stability
  • Business impact
• Work with data engineers, product teams, and business stakeholders
• Contribute to research, innovation, and academic collaborations
• Stay updated on latest AI advancements (LLMs, Graph AI, Federated Learning)

Requirements

Required Technical Skills

Core ML & Data Science

• Supervised & unsupervised learning
• Statistical modeling (Logistic Regression, DA)
• Tree models (RF, XGBoost, LightGBM)
• NN, CNN, Transformers, GANs

Generative AI & LLM Stack

• Prompt engineering, fine‑tuning
• Agent frameworks & MCPs

Graph AI

• GNN, GCN, GAT
• Graph‑based fraud detection
• Network analytics

Programming & Tools

• PyTorch / TensorFlow
• PyTorch Geometric

Key Skills and Experience Required

• Mathematics, probability, statistics
• Data structures & algorithms

• Imbalanced datasets & sampling techniques
• Custom loss functions & business metrics

• Problem‑solving ability
• Ability to translate business problems into scalable AI systems

Good‑to‑Have Skills & Experience

• Payments / fintech / banking domain

• Graph analytics on transactional data
• Federated learning & privacy‑preserving AI
• Real‑time streaming systems

• Publications in ML/AI conferences or journals

• Design AI models inspired by mathematics/physics principles

Employee Perks and Benefits

• Insurance & Wellness
  • Comprehensive Coverage: Medical, accidental, and life insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program: Onsite medical center, financial/legal counselling, mental wellness
  • Annual Wellness Bouquet: Holistic wellbeing support
• Family & Childcare
  • Parental Leave: Inclusive maternity and paternity leave
  • Daycare Support: Assistance for working parents
• Mobility & Lifestyle
  • Mobility Benefits: Relocation, transfers, travel support
  • Home Loan Interest Support: Up to 50% reimbursement
  • Mobile Reimbursement: New handset every 2 years
  • Car Lease, Salary Advance, Subsidized Meals
  • Reward & Recognition Program
  • Technology Innovation: Patents and IP rights policy
• Retirement Planning
  • Provident Fund (PF) and Gratuity Contributions