Senior Data Science Manager in London

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 23,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Howden Group Services is expanding its internal AI & Data Science capability and is looking for a Data Science Senior Manager to help shape, build and develop an industry-leading data science team. If you have a strong track record in building teams which deliver products with data science & AI as their core, we want to speak to you. You will report into the Group Head of Data Science and are a strategic thinker with deep technical expertise who is driven by growing the next generation of data scientists. The successful candidate will be comfortable managing people as well as working cross-functionally to ensure data science and AI products don’t remain at the proof-of-concept stage but deliver tangible outcomes to the business.

Role Responsibilities

• Lead a diverse team of Data Scientists in Howden’s central Data function, delivering Group-wide products and providing best practice and support to Howden businesses looking for Machine Learning and AI solutions to solve their business problems.
• Become part of the leadership team of the Group Data Science function, shaping a culture of excellence and high job satisfaction.
• Help shape, influence, design and shepherd data science and AI use cases from early stages all the way through to production.
• Demonstrate thought leadership and set a strong example, fostering a culture of technical excellence and rigor to ensure the team consistently meets high standards of delivery.

Your Skills

• 5-7 years’ experience in data science and machine learning, of which 2-3 years spent managing and mentoring junior professionals. If you have fewer years of experience, we’d be looking for a strong track record of delivering data science products with real usage and adoption.
• Experience working with Data Engineering, MLOps and Product teams to bring Machine Learning systems from research all the way to deployment and maintenance.
• A genuine passion for developing others and setting clear career paths for junior and mid-level data scientists.
• A product mindset with a focus on solving problems and pain points, and teaching your team to evaluate their work through the lens of its end users.
• Excellent Python programming skills and hands-on experience with libraries such as XGBoost, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Hugging Face.
• Experience deploying models through CI/CD pipelines, MLOps best practices, model lifecycle management, and software development best practices (git, testing & code review). Familiarity with Azure AI Foundry and/or Databricks a strong plus.
• Skilled at creating KPIs and success metrics and analysing the pros and cons of different technical approaches and solutions.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and storytelling capabilities; able to translate technical complexity into executive-level narratives.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us: Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new. We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges. We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

Reasonable adjustments

We’re committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours or hybrid working. If you’re excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.