Head of Data Science

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers.

Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work. Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.

What you will be doing

• Strategic Leadership
  • Define and own the enterprise data science strategy and roadmap.
  • Translate high-level business goals into a portfolio of impactful, data-driven solutions.
  • Collaborate with senior stakeholders across product, technology, and commercial teams to align data science with strategic priorities.
  • Shape and deliver the intelligent data products vision across the organisation.
  • Own workforce planning, and capability development for the Data Science organisation.
  • Define operating models, governance, and prioritisation frameworks for the DS portfolio.
  • Establish MLOps standards to ensure reliable, repeatable model deployment at scale.
• Team & Delivery
  • Build and lead a high-performing data science team focused on innovation, rigor, and measurable outcomes.
  • Oversee the end-to-end data science lifecycle — from problem framing and data exploration to model deployment and scaling.
  • Champion a culture of experimentation, causal inference, and evidence-based decision-making (A/B testing, uplift modelling).
  • Ensure all initiatives drive clear commercial ROI, contributing to customer growth, retention, and cost efficiency.
• Advanced Analytics & Innovation
  • Deliver robust machine learning and analytics solutions across domains like predictive forecasting, customer lifetime value and churn prediction.
  • Stay ahead of emerging trends in AI, ML, and analytics, introducing innovations that drive competitive advantage.
  • Partner closely with Data Engineering and Platform teams to ensure seamless delivery, high-quality pipelines, and scalable deployments.
• Governance & Ethics
  • Embed best practices in data ethics, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
  • Ensure robust monitoring, lifecycle management, and scalability of deployed models.
  • Drive enterprise-wide alignment on definitions, KPIs, and data quality through strong cross-functional collaboration.

What we are looking for

• Proven success leading large-scale data science initiatives in a commercial setting.
• Expertise in applied machine learning, predictive modelling, experimentation, and statistical analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to deploy and maintain production-grade models at scale.
• Experience managing and developing high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills — comfortable presenting to C-level audiences.
• Hands-on proficiency with modern data science tools, languages (e.g. Python, SQL), and cloud platforms.
• Familiarity with data contracts, feature stores, and real-time/streaming analytics.
• Understanding of lakehouse architectures and modern data platforms.
• Experience enabling AI-driven product capabilities or personalisation strategies.
• Experience in working for / with banks will help in the success of the role.
• Strong understanding of Credit Cards and Banking domain is preferred.
• Good to have experience in building commercial data solutions.

You are likely to thrive if you

• Combine deep technical know-how with commercial acumen and strategic thinking.
• Enjoy balancing long-term vision with short-term impact.
• Thrive in fast-moving environments where experimentation, innovation, and adaptability are key.
• Are passionate about mentoring others, elevating team performance, and scaling excellence.
• Are outcome-focused with a bias toward measurable business value.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our ongoing success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Take Action, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

If you need any extra support throughout the interview process, then please email us at ukrecruitment@collinsongroup.com.