Applied Data Scientist

At Finastra, we’re a global leader in financial services software, dedicated to expanding access to financial services and shaping what’s next for the industry. Our technology powers mission‑critical solutions across Lending, Payments and Universal Banking, supporting over 7,000 customers, including 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, in more than 110 countries.

We are hiring an Applied Data Scientist to build predictive ML models for our core banking products and to use LLMs to accelerate experimentation, test product ideas, and evaluate response quality. This role sits between product thinking, machine learning, and applied AI experimentation.  We need someone who is strong in predictive modelling, comfortable working hands-on with data and code, and equally comfortable using LLMs to prototype new capabilities, benchmark model behaviour, and design practical evaluation frameworks. You will work across use cases such as prediction, classification, recommendation, semantic matching, extraction, and intelligent workflow support, and you will partner closely with product, engineering, and domain teams to turn ideas into product capabilities.

• Build predictive ML models for product use cases in core banking.
• Own the AI/ML modelling lifecycle from problem framing and feature design through training, validation, testing, and performance analysis.
• Use LLMs to test new product ideas quickly, including AI assistants, summarisation, extraction, classification, semantic matching, and workflow support concepts.
• Design and run evaluation frameworks for LLM-based capabilities, including benchmark sets, rubrics, error taxonomies, human review loops, and offline versus online quality measurement.
• Improve LLM response quality through prompt iteration, retrieval design, grounding, and targeted experimentation.
• Work with product managers and domain experts to translate banking problems into measurable ML and AI approaches.
• Partner with AI platform and engineering teams to hand over models and evaluation assets for production deployment.

• Strong hands-on experience building predictive machine learning models.

• Strong Python and SQL skills, with good software engineering habits.

• Experience with common ML tooling such as XGBoost, LightGBM, TensorFlow, or PyTorch.

• Good understanding of feature engineering, data preparation, model validation, and performance trade-offs.

• Practical experience with LLMs, including prompt design, prompt testing, benchmarking, and response evaluation.

• Ability to design evaluation methods that are rigorous and useful, not just technically neat.

• Good judgement on whether offline metrics genuinely map to user value and product quality.

• Strong communication skills and comfort working with cross-functional teams.

• Experience with Databricks, Azure AI Foundry, Prompt Flow, Azure OpenAI, or similar.

• Experience with retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings, vector search, or hybrid search.

• Experience in financial services, fintech, or other regulated domains.

• Experience with annotation workflows, model comparison frameworks, or LLM observability tooling.

Python, SQL, Databricks, MLflow, Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, XGBoost, LangChain, LangGraph, vector databases, Azure AI Search.

We are proud to offer a range of incentives to our employees worldwide. These benefits are available to everyone, regardless of grade, and reflect the values we stand for:

Flexibility: Enjoy unlimited vacation, subject to local regulations and business priorities. Benefit from hybrid working arrangements and inclusive policies such as paid time off for voting, bereavement, and sick leave.

Well‑being: Access confidential one‑to‑one support through our Employee Assistance Program, connect with our network of Wellbeing Champions and Gather Groups, and take part in monthly events and initiatives designed to help you thrive—inside and outside of work.

Health & Financial Security: Medical, life and disability insurance, retirement plans, lifestyle, and other benefits.*

Sustainability: Paid time off for volunteering and donation‑matching opportunities to support causes that matter to you.

Inclusion: Get involved in our inclusion communities, such as Count Me In, Culture@Finastra, Proud@Finastra, Disabilities@Finastra, and Women@Finastra—open to everyone who wants to participate and contribute.

Career Development: Access online learning and accredited courses through our Skills & Career Navigator tool.

Recognition: Take part in our global recognition program, Finastra Celebrates, and share your voice through regular employee surveys that help shape our culture and ways of working.

*Specific benefits may vary by location.

At Finastra, each individual is unique—bringing their own ideas, perspectives, cultural backgrounds, and experiences. We learn from one another, value what makes us different, and create an environment where everyone feels included, supported, and able to be their authentic selves.

Be unique. Be exceptional. Help us make a difference at Finastra.