Lead Machine Learning Scientist, FinCrime

About This Opportunity

We are representing a confidential fintech organization seeking a Lead Machine Learning Scientist to join their Financial Crime team in Cardiff. This is a high-impact technical leadership role where you'll develop advanced ML models to combat fraud and financial crime at scale, working with billions of rows of data on a modern cloud platform.

As a technical individual contributor, you'll provide leadership within the Machine Learning discipline while being embedded in a cross-functional product squad. Your work will directly protect customers and have measurable business impact in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of advanced real-time Machine Learning models to detect and prevent financial crime
• Explore and implement neural network, graph-based, and sequence-based architectures to improve detection capabilities
• Work with stakeholders across the organization to identify and scope the most impactful ML opportunities for tackling fraud and financial crime
• Automatically and accurately detect suspicious user behaviours while minimizing impact to genuine customers and operational costs
• Adapt detection systems quickly to changing fraud trends, ensuring models remain performant over time
• Provide technical leadership to drive best practices across the Machine Learning discipline
• Mentor other team members and lead by example to raise technical standards
• Collaborate with MLOps teams to develop tools enabling rapid model iteration and lifecycle optimization
• Work closely with product managers, data scientists, backend engineers, and designers in an agile environment
• Own the end-to-end journey from business problem identification through to measurable production impact

What We're Looking For

Required qualifications:

• Multiple years of track record leading development and deployment of advanced Machine Learning models to solve real business problems, preferably in a fast-moving tech company
• Proven experience developing and shipping deep learning, graph-based, and/or sequence-based ML architectures to production with demonstrated business impact
• Extensive experience writing production Python code and strong command of SQL for daily use
• Impact-driven mindset with ownership of end-to-end solution delivery
• Self-starter who proactively identifies issues and opportunities without being directed
• Product mindset with focus on customer outcomes and data-informed decision making
• Comfortable working with ambiguity and helping teams and stakeholders resolve it
• Ability to communicate complex Machine Learning concepts to non-technical colleagues
• Adaptable, curious, and eager to learn new technologies and ideas

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience working with financial crime and in regulated institutions
• Commercial experience writing critical production code and working with microservices
• Willingness to learn Go lang, which is used in backend microservices

How We Work With You

When you apply through Get A Job.ai, our talent team will review your application and conduct an initial screening to understand your experience and career goals. If there's a strong match, we'll submit your profile to our client for consideration. Please do not attempt to contact the client directly, as all applications must come through our recruiting process.

The client's interview process typically involves three main stages conducted over 3-4 weeks, with flexibility around your availability. This includes recruiter and hiring manager conversations, followed by a full loop covering ML modelling, product & ML discussion, behavioural assessment, and leadership interview.

Location: Cardiff, UK with flexible remote working options within the UK. Ad hoc meetings in London may be required. Flexible working hours with trust-based approach.

Visa sponsorship: UK visa sponsorship and relocation assistance are available for this role.

Work arrangement: Part-time arrangements can be accommodated when feasible.

Pay

Compensation details will be discussed during the interview process based on your experience and qualifications.

Equal Opportunity: Get A Job.ai is committed to inclusive hiring practices. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and will consider all qualified applicants without regard to age, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, national origin, veteran status, neurodiversity, or disability status.