Data Science Manager (Finance Analytics) in London

Requirements

• 7+ years in data analytics, data science, BI engineering, analytics engineering, or hybrid data/finance roles - including 2+ years line managing data scientists or analysts, with experience handling performance management.
• Track record of partnering senior business stakeholders - ideally across Finance, Strategic Finance, Capital Markets, or Operations - and shaping decisions at exec level.
• Familiarity and some working experience with forecasting and predictive models; enough to interpret outputs, pressure-test assumptions, and direct ICs working in this space.
• Strong commercial instincts: deep grasp of financial and operational metrics, and quick to pick up the levers in a new domain.
• Comfortable being the most senior voice in the room on data, and pushing back constructively when the analysis doesn't support the ask.
• Expert SQL, hands-on with BI tools (e.g. Looker, Mode, Tableau) and dbt.
• A builder's instinct: bias for automation, ownership, and shipping - and the leadership instinct to scale that across a team through delegation, templates, and systems rather than doing more yourself.
• Comfortable using AI tools (Claude, Cursor) as leverage - with the judgement to know when to trust output and when to verify.
• Interest in fintech and Cleo's mission to make money easier and more human.
• (Desirable) Exposure to capital markets, debt facility reporting, or lender-side analytics.
• (Desirable) Prior experience automating or supporting investor-facing reporting or board materials.
• (Desirable) Experience working in environments with a blend of consumer tech and financial services (e.g. AI, lending, credit, payments).
• (Desirable) Extensive hands-on experience building and/or monitoring forecasting or predictive models in production.
• (Desirable) Python (or similar) for scripting and automation.
• (Desirable) Workflow orchestration tooling (e.g. Airflow).

What the job involves

• Manage the Strategic Finance sub-team — data scientists embedded across FP&A, Core Finance, Capital Markets, and Operations — and the senior relationships that keep these functions genuinely data-led.
• This is a people management role as much as a technical one — responsible for performance, development, career growth and hiring while staying close enough to the work to have a real point of view.
• The day-to-day split is roughly 70% people leadership and 30% hands-on yourself: jumping into the highest-leverage analyses, presenting at exec forums, and shaping the analytical roadmap across all four domains.
• Partner closely with the Heads and Directors across each department, sitting at the heart of commercial decision-making at Cleo.
• Lead the Strategic Finance Analytics team — 5 data scientists across FP&A, Core Finance, Capital Markets, and Operations. Own their growth, performance, and hiring.
• Set and ruthlessly prioritise the analytical roadmap across all four domains, directing the team's time to the work that moves the business most.
• Be the senior analytical partner to Heads of department — shaping decisions at exec level, not just delivering numbers to them.
• Stay hands-on where it matters: high-stakes analysis, sensitive work, or decisions that need to move fast.
• Own the quality bar — metric definitions, documentation, peer review, and trust in the numbers across internal and external reporting.
• Raise the craft of the team through feedback, pairing, and playbooks — so output scales beyond what 5 people can deliver directly.
• Partner with Analytics and Data Engineering on the data foundations the team relies on.
• Run team rituals and represent the team in cross-functional forums.