Lead Data Scientist- Python

Lead Data Scientist

£700-£800 per day (Umbrella)

Mostly Remote | 2 days/month in London

A leading Financial Services organisation is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to provide hands-on technical leadership across a high-impact transformation programme.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys leading from the front-guiding a small team while remaining deeply involved in model development, validation, and deployment within a regulated environment.

The Role

• Provide technical leadership and day-to-day direction to a team of 4-5 Data Scientists (no formal line management).
• Define and enforce coding standards, modelling best practices, and governance frameworks.
• Design, build, and deploy production-grade machine learning models (predictive and risk-focused).
• Develop scalable ML pipelines in Python.
• Implement robust model validation, monitoring, and performance tracking frameworks.
• Translate complex business and risk requirements into advanced analytical solutions.
• Collaborate closely with risk, actuarial, and engineering teams to operationalise models.

Skills & Experience

• Proven experience building and deploying machine learning models into production (end-to-end ownership - not just experimentation).
• Mandatory background in Financial Services or Insurance
• Advanced Python expertise
• Strong knowledge of predictive modelling techniques (regression, classification, ensemble methods).
• Strong SQL skills and experience with large-scale enterprise datasets.
• Experience providing technical leadership, including code and model review.
• Ability to communicate effectively with senior stakeholders.

Experience with risk modelling (e.g. pricing, credit risk, underwriting, claims) would be highly desirable

Reasonable Adjustments:

Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients.

If you need any help or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, please let us know when you apply or talk to the recruiters directly so we can support you.