The Role
Work with ML and AI engineers to design and run experiments, evaluate and refine LLM-powered agent workflows, perform feature engineering and statistical analysis, prototype ML pipeline features, investigate production failure modes, and document reproducible findings that drive improvements in underwriting systems.
Summary Generated by Built In
Insurance isn’t the first industry most data scientists think of when they imagine cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) work, but the incredibly rich data and nature of the business make it a great place to put AI to use.
CFC's Data & AI team is building production agentic systems that automate complex underwriting decisions — not demos, not proofs of concept sitting on a shelf, but Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents and machine learning (ML) pipelines that drive real business outcomes. This role will sit alongside senior data scientists, machine learning engineers, and software engineers, as an analytical counterpart: running experiments, stress-testing assumptions, and generating the evidence that shapes what gets built and how to improve it over time.
This is an Associate Data Scientist role designed for someone early in their career who wants genuine exposure to production AI systems from day one. You'll work closely with, and have the opportunity to learn from, team members while contributing analysis and experimentation work that feeds into live services — such as statistical analysis and LLM evaluation. This will require the kind of careful, evidence-based thinking that makes the difference between an AI system that works in a notebook and one that holds up under real conditions.
The problems are genuinely hard. The data is complex, the decisions are high-stakes, and the domain has the kind of depth that keeps the work interesting. If you want to grow quickly in applied AI and ML — working on real systems, not toy datasets — this is the right environment.
About the role
- Design and run experiments that directly shape production AI agents — testing ideas, validating approaches, and turning research into deployed improvements.
- Actively explore cutting-edge developments in AI and machine learning — with the space and support to experiment, prototype, and bring new techniques into production where they add value.
- Evaluate and refine LLM-powered workflows — building robust evaluation frameworks, stress-testing agent behaviour, and driving continuous quality improvements in live systems.
- Explore complex, real-world datasets to uncover insights that meaningfully improve underwriting decisions and system performance at scale.
- Prototype and iterate on features for AI/ML pipelines, taking ideas from early exploration through to measurable impact in production services.
- Investigate how agentic systems behave in production — identifying opportunities for improvement, failure modes, and ways to make systems more robust and reliable.
- Collaborate closely with ML/AI engineers to bridge research and production — contributing code, debugging issues, and shipping improvements end-to-end.
- Document and present experiments, findings, and methodologies clearly to both technical and business users, making sure insights are reproducible and decisions are traceable.
About you
You will have experience/be familiar with the following:
AI and LLMs
AI and LLMs
- Familiarity with LLM-powered apps and services, evaluation frameworks, prompt engineering, and other generative AI work — whether through professional experience, coursework, or personal projects.
- Curiosity about how LLM-based systems behave in production and how to evaluate them rigorously.
- Experience with ML models (including deep models) and their lifecycle, including training, evaluation and inference.
- Exposure to experiment tracking tools (e.g. MLflow).
Technical skills
- Proficiency in Python.
- Working knowledge of SQL for querying and preparing data.
- Comfort with Git and version control as part of a collaborative workflow.
- Basic grounding in CI/CD concepts and an interest in how software is tested and deployed.
Analytical foundations
- Solid grounding in statistics and probability — comfortable with hypothesis testing, distributions, and drawing defensible conclusions from data.
- Hands-on experience with exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and building and evaluating ML models.
- Working knowledge of the core ML model lifecycle: data preparation, training, validation, and monitoring.
Working style
- Detail-oriented and methodical — you care about getting the analysis right, not just getting it done.
- Clear communicator, able to summarise findings and explain analytical decisions to engineers and non-technical stakeholders alike.
- Comfortable asking questions and working under the guidance of senior engineers while progressively taking on more ownership.
- Intellectually curious — the kind of person who pulls on threads and wants to understand why, not just what.
Nice to have
- Exposure to designing, implementing, and managing business-critical applications in a production environment.
- Working knowledge of how ML/LLM systems get productionized: CI/CD pipelines, release processes, monitoring/observability.
- Knowledge of the insurance domain (not expected — the domain complexity is part of what makes this interesting).
Core Values
Love what you do:
We show up each day ready to take on the world. Our passion and intensity set us apart and makes the difference to our colleagues, customers, brokers and carriers.
Challenge everything:
We’re never afraid to question the way that things are done and we constantly challenge ourselves and others to makes things better.
Have fun, be good:
Insurance is a serious business, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We make it fun to work at CFC, we welcome all viewpoints, and we treat everyone how we would expect to be treated.
We show up each day ready to take on the world. Our passion and intensity set us apart and makes the difference to our colleagues, customers, brokers and carriers.
Challenge everything:
We’re never afraid to question the way that things are done and we constantly challenge ourselves and others to makes things better.
Have fun, be good:
Insurance is a serious business, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We make it fun to work at CFC, we welcome all viewpoints, and we treat everyone how we would expect to be treated.
About
CFC is a specialist insurance provider, pioneering emerging risk and market leader in cyber. Our global insurance platform uses cutting-edge technology and data science to deliver smarter, faster underwriting and protect customers from today's most critical business risk.Headquartered in London with offices in New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Austin, Madrid, Brussels and Brisbane, CFC has over 1200 staff and is trusted by more than 100,000 businesses across 90 countries.At CFC, insurance isn't just about underwriting. From data science to software development, and digital marketing design, we've got something for everyone. We're passionate about pushing boundaries, thinking differently and building the insurance company of the future.CFC is committed to the principles of equal opportunities and creating an environment in which all individuals are always treated with dignity and respect. We encourage a diverse corporate culture of openness and appreciation to create an environment in which your talent can be developed in the best possible way. Should you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.Feeling like you need to tick every box before applying? We see things differently. In a rapidly scaling company like ours, ambition and the drive to learn count for more than a 'perfect' checklist. We're building the future of insurance, and that requires diverse talent eager to grow with us. If this role excites you and you're ready to make a significant impact, bring your unique background and let's build something great together.
Skills Required
- Strong grounding in statistics
- Hands-on technical capability in Python
- Hands-on technical capability in SQL
- Clear, reliable analysis and effective communication with stakeholders
- Experience with Azure, MLflow, or LLM tooling
CFC Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about CFC and has not been reviewed or approved by CFC.
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Strong & Reliable Incentives — Variable pay is positioned as a core part of total compensation, with a group‑wide annual bonus highlighted as a consistent feature. Expanding employee share ownership is described as enhancing overall rewards alongside bonuses.
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Healthcare Strength — Private medical insurance is provided, complemented by dental and optical cashback and a 24/7 employee assistance programme. These elements indicate comprehensive health coverage beyond standard medical plans.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time away provisions include 25 days of holiday and paid volunteer time, signaling a broad approach to time off. Additional practices such as company social events support overall work–life rhythm, though they are not leave per se.
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The Company
What We Do
CFC is a specialist insurance provider, pioneer in emerging risk and market leader in cyber. Their global insurance platform uses cutting-edge technology and data science to deliver smarter, faster underwriting and protect customers from today’s most critical business risks.
