Head of Data Science Manchester

The team at MRJ Recruitment are partnering with a fast scaling, innovation led business making significant investment across Data Science, AI and intelligent automation, with a clear mission to turn data into a core commercial growth engine. This is a rare opportunity for an ambitious Data Science leader to build and shape a function with genuine executive backing, modern infrastructure and the freedom to define strategy, architecture and capability from the ground up.

The business is entering a major phase of AI adoption, focused on creating intelligent systems that connect raw data with live commercial outcomes, spanning product intelligence, pricing optimisation, recommendation engines, automated creative generation and next generation search experiences.

As the Head of Data Science, you'll lead the evolution of advanced ML and agentic AI capabilities across the organisation, driving automation, experimentation and real time decision making at scale. You'll operate at the intersection of commercial strategy, machine learning and AI innovation, building systems that reduce manual intervention, improve performance and unlock entirely new revenue opportunities. This is not a role focused on maintaining legacy models or managing incremental change. You'll define the vision, influence senior stakeholders, grow a high performing Data Science capability and help establish AI as a true competitive advantage for the business.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading and scaling a commercially focused Data Science function
• Driving the development of ML powered Martech, Search, Pricing & Recommendation systems
• Building intelligent agentic workflows and automation capabilities
• Owning experimentation strategy, model optimisation and AI innovation
• Collaborating with Product, Engineering and Commercial teams to embed Data Science into core decision making
• Shaping scalable MLOps and ML infrastructure within AWS environments
• Mentoring and developing a technically strong team of Data Scientists and ML Engineers
• Influencing long term AI strategy and roadmap at leadership level

What We’re Looking For

• Proven leadership experience within Data Science or Machine Learning environments
• Strong background in Python and production level ML engineering
• Hands on experience with PyTorch and deploying scalable ML models
• Expertise in recommendation systems, pricing models or personalisation engines
• Strong understanding of MLOps, experimentation frameworks and ML infrastructure
• Experience operating within AWS cloud environments
• A commercially minded approach to AI, modelling and automation
• Track record of building, mentoring and scaling high performing DS teams

If you’re a Data Science leader looking for a role where you can genuinely shape strategy, build intelligent systems at scale and drive measurable commercial impact through AI, we’d love to speak. Apply now or message me directly for a confidential conversation.