Head of Data Science

Director of Data Science

LOCATION: Remote (US-based)

SALARY: $190,000 - $215,000 + Bonus

INDUSTRY: FinTech / Consumer Services

Are you a visionary data science leader with a passion for delivering real business impact? A high-growth, mission-driven consumer services organization is looking for a Director of Data Science to lead and scale their machine learning practice. This is a unique opportunity to drive enterprise-level value through operationalized AI while partnering with senior leadership to influence strategy.

THE COMPANY

This organization is a well-established player in the financial services space, serving millions of consumers with a mission to create better financial outcomes. With a fast-evolving data function and strong executive buy-in, they're investing heavily in AI/ML to transform decision-making, automate key workflows, and unlock new product capabilities.

THE ROLE

As Director of Data Science, you'll lead a high-performing team of data scientists and a product manager, owning the end-to-end lifecycle of machine learning models-from ideation to production. You'll work cross-functionally with engineering, product, and operations teams to scope high-ROI initiatives and ensure scalable, ethical deployment of models via batch inference and real-time APIs.

This is a highly visible role reporting to executive leadership, offering autonomy, strategic influence, and the opportunity to shape the future of AI across the business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team focused on building production-grade ML models aligned with business goals.
• Drive the discovery, prioritization, and ROI evaluation of new data science initiatives.
• Architect and oversee the full ML lifecycle-development, deployment, monitoring, and retraining.
• Collaborate with data engineering and MLOps teams to ensure scalable and reliable pipelines using Snowflake, DataRobot, and real-time APIs.
• Champion best practices in model governance, explainability, and responsible AI.
• Present insights and strategy recommendations to executive stakeholders in a compelling, accessible manner.

YOUR SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Required:

• 10+ years in data science or machine learning, with 2+ years in a formal leadership or player-coach role.
• Strong expertise in Python and SQL, with deep understanding of supervised and unsupervised learning.
• Proven experience deploying and monitoring ML models in production environments (batch and real-time).
• Track record of cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and business leaders.
• Familiarity with model deployment platforms like DataRobot, Sagemaker, or similar.
• Experience with Snowflake-native ML or integrated MLOps workflows.
• Strong communication skills and business acumen-able to influence at the executive level.

Nice to Have:

• Background in financial services, lending, or high-volume consumer products.
• Exposure to prescriptive analytics and optimization techniques.

BENEFITS

• Competitive compensation and equity
• Fully remote flexibility
• Comprehensive benefits package
• High-visibility role with executive sponsorship
• Opportunity to build a cutting-edge ML function from the ground up

HOW TO APPLY

Please send your CV to Oisin Ennis at Harnham to learn more about this exciting opportunity.