Head of AI

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Company Description

Sports betting, gaming and interactive entertainment is changing, and we're leading that change. By putting people first. By placing exciting, engaging and entertaining experiences at more fingertips than ever before. We're pulling into pole position by pushing boundaries further. With innovation. With technology. But most importantly, with people like you. Because when you join Entain, it's your game. So let's win together.

Job Description

We're Entain. Our vision is to be the world leader in sports betting and gaming entertainment by creating the most exciting and trusted experience for our customers, revolutionising the gambling space as we go. We're home to a global family of more than 25 well-known brands, and with a focus on sustainability and growth, we will transform our sector for our players, for ourselves and for the good of entertainment.

We are seeking an experienced Head of Data Science to lead our artificial intelligence initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of creating and developing centres of excellence for data science, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) within large global businesses. This role requires expertise in hyper-personalisation for consumer goods, preferably in entertainment categories, and experience with gamification principles. The candidate should be adept at managing executive stakeholders and leading strategic programs, prioritising effectively within a value framework they have created. As a FTSE100 company building AI and Data Science almost from the ground up, the candidate must be highly self-motivated and focused, with demonstrable experience of building from the ground up with a commercial value focused lens.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and lead the AI centre of excellence, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
• Build and lead cross-functional AI, data science, and ML teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives, with the ability to mentor and incubate talent.
• Lead the creation and implementation of value measurement frameworks to quantify the impact of AI initiatives.
• Be responsible for the development and deployment of advanced AI and ML models to solve complex business problems.
• Lead hyper-personalisation efforts for consumer goods, with a preference for experience in entertainment categories.
• Apply gamification principles to deliver innovative solutions in the domain.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the organisation to identify opportunities for AI-driven improvements and innovation.
• Ensure the scalability and sustainability of AI solutions, operating within constrained resources and demonstrating value to secure additional funding.
• Manage executive stakeholders and engage with them to align AI initiatives with strategic goals.
• Lead strategic programs and prioritise effectively within a value framework they have created.
• Develop a framework for a buy vs build decision-making approach that balances velocity with competitive traction.
• Acknowledge when AI is not the most appropriate solution for a problem, and balance decision making based on commercial viability.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading AI, data science, and ML teams and developing centres of excellence.
• Strong background in AI, ML, data science, and advanced analytics.
• Direct experience in hyper-personalisation for consumer goods, preferably in entertainment categories.
• Experience with gamification principles and delivering solutions in that domain.
• Expert-level understanding and experience in the application of supervised and unsupervised learning, recommender systems, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning.
• Pragmatic and sensible approach to generative AI.
• Excellent leadership and team-building skills, with the ability to manage cross-functional teams.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to operate with constrained resources and demonstrate value to secure further investment.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Highly self-motivated and focused, with demonstrable experience of building AI and Data Science capabilities from the ground up.
• Experience operating in highly regulated industries is beneficial but not essential.