AI Innovation and Development, Lead Scientist

FICO; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 123,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

FICO is seeking a Lead AI Scientist to join a team building production‑grade AI systems for some of the world’s largest financial institutions. You will design, train, and deploy advanced models across risk and fraud domains in a highly regulated environment.

You will collaborate with researchers, engineers, and product teams to translate cutting‑edge research into production solutions and take ownership from model design through to deployment and client support.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master's in AI/ML or related field with hands-on predictive modelling experience.
• Deep hands-on understanding of ML models, transformer architectures, embeddings, and attention mechanisms.
• End-to-end ownership of AI/ML solutions from research to production deployment; publications/patents are a plus.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing client interactions in regulated industries.

Responsibilities

• Design, train, and evaluate models from statistical and ML methods to transformer-based models, LLMs, and generative AI for risk and fraud across enterprise applications at scale.
• Design and develop end-to-end model build lifecycle, establishing best practices for data design, evaluation, observability, and responsible AI deployment in a regulated environment.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to drive model innovation, translating research ideas into production-ready solutions that enhance model performance and business value.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams of researchers, engineers, and product specialists to translate ideas into practical solutions from model design to deployment and go-live support.
• Engage with clients and pre-sales to demonstrate model capabilities and drive model adoption.

Skills

Python

Kotlin

Java

C

C++

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

DeepSpeed

Linux

Model deployment

Leadership

Education

PhD or Master's in AI/ML or related

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

DeepSpeed

Triton

Linux

Job description

FICO (NYSE: FICO) is a leading global analytics software company, helping businesses in 100+ countries make better decisions. Join our world-class team today and fulfill your career potential!

The Opportunity

FICO is looking for a Lead AI Scientist to join a team building production‑grade AI systems for some of the world's largest financial institutions. This is a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of cutting‑edge AI and one of the highest‑stakes, most regulated environments in the industry where your models directly influence credit and fraud decisions affecting millions of people.

What You’ll Contribute

• Design, train, and evaluate advanced models from statistical and ML models to transformer‑based models, LLMs, and generative AI to solve real‑world problems across risk and fraud domains for enterprise applications at scale.
• Design and develop end‑to‑end model build lifecycle, establishing best practices for data design, model evaluation, observability, and responsible AI deployment in a highly regulated environment.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to drive model innovation, translating research ideas into production‑ready solutions that enhance model performance and business value.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams of researchers, engineers, and product specialists across FICO to translate cutting‑edge ideas into practical solutions from model design and development through to model deployment into FICO platform and go‑live client support.
• Engage with clients and pre‑sales team to demonstrate model capabilities, support client evaluations, and help drive model adoption by showcasing deep understanding of the market differentiating value of the FICO models.

What We’re Seeking

• PhD or Master's in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related technical field, with hands‑on experience in predictive modeling, and applied AI development and a demonstrated ability to work independently and drive problems to resolution.
• Deep hands‑on understanding of ML models, transformer architectures, embeddings, and attention mechanisms, with the curiosity and critical reasoning to go beyond standard open‑source framework usage including model training, fine‑tuning, and adaptation to domain‑specific problems.
• Demonstrated track record of taking end‑to‑end ownership of AI/ML solutions from research to production deployment, with open‑source or research contributions such as publications, patents considered a strong plus.
• Strong competency in two or more programming languages (Python, Kotlin, Java, C, C++) and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, DeepSpeed); familiarity with performance and deployment tools such as Triton is a plus. Comfortable working in a Linux environment.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional teams on medium‑to‑large projects, taking accountability for outcomes and managing client interactions with strong communication skills.
• Experience deploying AI/ML solutions within highly regulated industries (e.g., financial services, healthcare, insurance) is a plus.
• Experience analyzing large, real‑world datasets to understand their underlying context that applies to the model design and translate into effective model feature engineering. Prior experience with real‑time payment fraud or risk transactional data, including data landscape knowledge and applicability to a problem domain across fraud and risk, is a plus.

Our Offer to You

• An inclusive culture strongly reflecting our core values: Act Like an Owner, Delight Our Customers and Earn the Respect of Others.
• The opportunity to make an impact and develop professionally by leveraging your unique strengths and participating in valuable learning experiences.
• Highly competitive compensation, benefits and rewards programs that encourage you to bring your best every day and be recognized for doing so.
• An engaging, people‑first work environment offering work/life balance, employee resource groups, and social events to promote interaction and camaraderie.
• The targeted base pay range for this role is: $122,500 to $192,500 with this range reflecting differences in candidate knowledge, skills and experience.

Why Make a Move to FICO?

At FICO, you can develop your career with a leading organization in one of the fastest‑growing fields in technology today – Big Data analytics. You’ll play a part in our commitment to help businesses use data to improve every choice they make, using advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, optimization, and much more.

FICO makes a real difference in the way businesses operate worldwide:

• Credit Scoring — FICO® Scores are used by 90 of the top 100 US lenders.
• Fraud Detection and Security — 4 billion payment cards globally are protected by FICO fraud systems.
• Lending — 3/4 of US mortgages are approved using the FICO Score.

Global trends toward digital transformation have created tremendous demand for FICO’s solutions, placing us among the world’s top 100 software companies by revenue. We help many of the world’s largest banks, insurers, retailers, telecommunications providers and other firms reach a new level of success. Our success is dependent on really talented people – just like you – who thrive on the collaboration and innovation that’s nurtured by a diverse and inclusive environment. We’ll provide the support you need, while ensuring you have the freedom to develop your skills and grow your career. Join FICO and help change the way business thinks!

Learn more about how you can fulfil your potential at www.fico.com/Careers

FICO promotes a culture of inclusion and seeks to attract a diverse set of candidates for each job opportunity. We are an equal employment opportunity employer and we’re proud to offer employment and advancement opportunities to all candidates without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. Research has shown that women and candidates from underrepresented communities may not apply for an opportunity if they don’t meet all stated qualifications. While our qualifications are clearly related to role success, each candidate’s profile is unique and strengths in certain skill and/or experience areas can be equally effective. If you believe you have many, but not necessarily all, of the stated qualifications we encourage you to apply.

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