Data Science Manager

About the Role:

We are looking for a talented and driven Data Scientist - whether you're an experienced DS Team Leader drawn to the challenge of building a team from scratch, or a strong individual contributor ready to take the next step into leadership. In this role, you will build and lead a new DS team at the heart of our Fraud Intelligence Hub, owning the full ML lifecycle - from research and feature engineering through model training, evaluation, and production performance. You will work closely with Data Engineering, ML Engineering, DevOps, and Product teams to ensure that models are not only technically sound but deliver measurable real-world impact.

This is a unique opportunity to shape a team from the ground up, define its ways of working, and drive the development of core fraud detection models in a fast-moving, high-stakes domain.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end development of fraud detection ML models - from ideation and feature engineering through training, evaluation, and production ownership
• Build and grow a new DS team, fostering a strong research-oriented and data-driven culture
• Own model performance in production, monitoring degradation and driving timely responses
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Data Engineering, ML Engineering, DevOps, and Product
• Lead complex, cross-functional projects in a matrix work environment, coordinating team members across departments
• Share knowledge and mentor team members to elevate the team's collective capabilities

Requirements:

• 2–5 years of hands-on experience as a Data Scientist, with or without prior team leadership experience
• Strong proficiency in Python and core ML/data libraries (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn and similar frameworks)
• Solid SQL skills and experience working with large datasets in production
• Hands-on experience with feature engineering and model evaluation (AUC, precision, recall)
• Experience working in cloud/production environments
• Proficiency in leveraging LLM-based tools as part of day-to-day work
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Proactive problem-solver with a can-do approach
• Ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across teams
• Proven ability to lead in a matrix environment — managing projects with contributors from multiple teams
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop team members, with a genuine passion for mentoring and knowledge sharing

Nice to Have

• Background in fraud detection or identity verification
• Hands-on experience with Azure (ML Studio, Data Factory, or similar services)
• Experience with MLOps practices and tooling