Lead Data Scientist

NPCI

Hyderabad

On-site

INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

NPCI, the National Payments Corporation of India, invites a Lead Data Scientist to join the Market Innovation team in Hyderabad and Mumbai. You will design, build, and scale production-grade ML platforms processing billions of transactions with low latency and high reliability.

You will work on anomaly detection, graph analytics, DL models, and distributed AI systems, collaborating with engineering, data platforms, and academia.

Qualifications

Strong understanding of supervised, unsupervised, and statistical learning.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and deploy advanced Machine Learning solutions using supervised and unsupervised learning techniques.
Build and optimize predictive models for fraud detection, anomaly detection, transaction intelligence, risk scoring, and behavioral analytics.
Develop robust feature engineering frameworks for large-scale transactional datasets.
Design custom evaluation methodologies and business-aligned performance metrics.
Build explainable and interpretable AI systems for regulated environments.
Develop Deep Learning models utilizing Neural Networks, CNNs, RNNs, LSTMs, Autoencoders, Transformers, and Representation Learning techniques.
Optimize model architectures for production deployment and inference efficiency.
Design custom loss functions and optimization strategies for imbalanced datasets and complex business problems.

Skills

Supervised Learning

Unsupervised Learning

Anomaly Detection

Time Series

Graph Analytics

Deep Learning

Distributed AI

MLOps

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

SQL

PySpark

Docker

Kubernetes

Education

B.Tech / M.Tech / MSc / MCA in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

PyTorch

TensorFlow

SQL

PySpark

Hadoop

Kafka

Flink

Trino

MinIO

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

ArgoCD

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.

Our Culture

TheNPCIWAY –OurGuidingPrinciples

At NPCI, we foster a culture of Inclusion, Innovation, and a High- Performance Workplace .

The NPCIWAY isnotjustaframework - it’sasharedcommitmentbyevery individual to align with our evolving business needs, dynamic market conditions, and workforce expectations.

FiveTenetsoftheNPCIWAY

ForwardThinkingMind-Set
CustomerFirst
LeadWith Purpose
PassiontoDeliver
AllSucceedTogether

Employee Perks and Benefits

Insurance&Wellness:

ComprehensiveCoverage :Medical,accidental,andlifeinsurance.
Employee Assistance Program : Onsite medical center, financial/legal counselling, mental wellness.
AnnualWellnessBouquet :Holisticwellbeingsupport

Family &Childcare:

ParentalLeave :Inclusivematernityandpaternityleave.
Nanny at home Support: Assistance for Working Parents

Mobility&Lifestyle:

MobilityBenefits :Relocation,transfers,andtravelsupport.
HomeLoanInterestSupport :Upto50%reimbursement*
MobileReimbursement :Newhandsetevery2years.
CarLease,SalaryAdvance,SubsidizedMeals.
Reward&RecognitionProgram.
TechnologyInnovation: PatentsandIPRightspolicy.

RetirementPlanning:

ProvidentFund(PF) and Gratuity Contributions .

Why Join Us

At NPCI, you’ll be part of a purpose-driven organization shaping the future of digital payments in India and beyond. NPCI offers a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that directly impact millions. We foster a culture of innovation, inclusion, and high performance, where every individual is empowered to lead with purpose and deliver with passion. With a strong focus on employee wellbeing, continuous learning, and collaborative success, NPCI is more than just a workplace - it’s a platform to grow, contribute, and make a meaningful difference.

You will be part of NPCI's Market Innovation & AI Engineering team, driving the development of next-generation Machine Learning and Deep Learning systems powering India's largest digital payments ecosystem.

This role focuses on solving large-scale real-world problems using advanced Machine Learning, Statistical Modeling, Deep Learning, Graph Analytics, and Distributed AI Systems. You will be responsible for designing, building, and scaling production-grade AI platforms that process billions of transactions while maintaining high standards of latency, reliability, explainability, and operational excellence.

The role offers a unique opportunity to work on:

Large Scale Anomaly Detection Systems
Graph-based Network Analytics
GPU Accelerated AI Workloads

You will collaborate closely with engineering teams, data platform teams, domain experts, and leading academic institutions to build cutting-edge AI solutions for large-scale financial ecosystems.

Job Title

Lead Data Scientist

Division

Market Innovation

Experience

6-10 Years

Education

B.Tech / M.Tech / MSc / MCA in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics or related fields

Employment Type

Full Time

Location

Hyderabad, Mumbai

Role Type

Permanent

Key Responsibilities

Machine Learning & Advanced Modeling

Design, develop, and deploy advanced Machine Learning solutions using supervised and unsupervised learning techniques.
Build and optimize predictive models for fraud detection, anomaly detection, transaction intelligence, risk scoring, and behavioral analytics.
Develop robust feature engineering frameworks for large-scale transactional datasets.
Design custom evaluation methodologies and business-aligned performance metrics.
Build explainable and interpretable AI systems for regulated environments.
Develop Deep Learning models utilizing Neural Networks, CNNs, RNNs, LSTMs, Autoencoders, Transformers, and Representation Learning techniques.
Optimize model architectures for production deployment and inference efficiency.
Design custom loss functions and optimization strategies for imbalanced datasets and complex business problems.

Production AI & MLOps

Design and implement scalable ML deployment pipelines.
Productionize Machine Learning models using containerized infrastructure.
Develop automated CI/CD workflows for model deployment and version management.
Implement model monitoring, drift detection, performance tracking, and rollback mechanisms.
Build high-throughput, low-latency inference platforms capable of supporting large transaction volumes.
Design feature engineering and feature serving architectures for real-time prediction use cases.
Collaborate with platform teams to optimize compute, storage, and data access layers.

Distributed AI Systems

Develop machine learning workflows for large-scale datasets utilizing distributed computing frameworks.
Build scalable data processing pipelines capable of handling billions of events and transactions.
Optimize training and inference workloads across multi-node environments.
Evaluate emerging techniques in Machine Learning and Deep Learning.
Contribute to innovative solutions, intellectual property creation, technical whitepapers, and research publications.
Collaborate with academic partners and industry experts on advanced AI initiatives.

Requirements

Required Technical Skills

Core Machine Learning

Strong understanding of: