Associate Director, Data Science and Innovation

Are you a data science leader passionate about leveraging AI and machine learning to drive innovation in financial markets and transaction banking? Standard Chartered Bank is on an ambitious journey to embed cutting-edge AI solutions into all aspects of our Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) business. We are looking for a senior data scientist with expertise in both classical machine learning and the latest advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) to help shape the future of financial services.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with product owners and business stakeholders to identify pain points, define use cases, and translate business needs into AI/ML solutions.
• Develop, test, and optimize AI models, ensuring they align with business goals and regulatory requirements.
• Work closely with MLOps engineers and the wider Tech and Data teams to deploy production-ready solutions.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, particularly in Data Science, NLP, and GenAi advancements, and share insights across the team.
• Ensure data quality and governance standards are maintained across all AI and analytics projects.
• Support risk and audit management for AI applications, identifying potential risks and ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks.

Skills and Qualifications

• Strong experience in machine learning, deep learning, and statistical analysis.
• Expertise in Python, with proficiency in ML and NLP libraries such as Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Faiss, LangChain, Transformers and PyTorch.
• Experience with big data tools such as Hadoop, Spark, and Hive.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and MLOps frameworks for building end-to-end ML pipelines.
• Proven ability to lead and deliver data science projects in an agile environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical teams.
• Self-driven, innovative, and highly motivated professional with a passion for delivering high-quality AI solutions.
• Familiarity with LLM model inference solutions and related architectures.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, IT, Data Science, or a related field.
• Experience in banking, finance, risk, or fraud detection is a plus.
• A track record of leading AI-driven transformation projects in financial services is highly desirable.

About Standard Chartered

We are an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we have worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you are looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can’t wait to see the talents you can bring us. Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you will see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

What we offer

• In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.
• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits.
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.