Head of Data Science (ED/ MD)

Job Description - Head of Data Science (ED/ MD) (D)

OVERALL ROLE PURPOSE:

• You will lead the OCBC AI Lab, our Center of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, where you will develop and implement data-driven strategies to improve business operations, drive innovation, and enhance customer experience.
• You will be managing and mentoring a team of around 50 highly skilled data scientists & ML engineers, overseeing the development and deployment of Data Science models, machine learning algorithms, and AI systems driving real benefits across all OCBC Group business lines.
• You will own the overall OCBC Data Science strategy, establishing best practices and technical standards, as well as working with Machine Learning Engineers to design our MLOps Ecosystem.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for leveraging data analytics to optimize decision-making processes and drive business growth.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Drive key data science & Generative AI projects across the OCBC group, managing a diverse and deeply technical team of data scientists across multiple squads.
• Drive adoption of OCBC data science reusable assets, such as our model management platform and ML Ops frameworks. Work with the machine learning engineering team to draft a technical roadmap for the bank's Machine Learning Ecosystem.
• Mentor data scientists with different levels of seniority and experience.
• Collaborate with our AI product managers to engage senior business stakeholders in designing a transformation roadmap using data, Machine Learning, and AI.
• Ensure AI in OCBC is deployed in a robust & fair manner by developing appropriate platforms to manage Responsible AI at scale.
• Assess the latest research relevance in AI and GenAI to business use cases.
• Represent OCBC in public and regulatory events - positioning OCBC as a leader in data and shaping government regulatory policy in areas such as Responsible AI.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Postgraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a similar computing-intensive subject.
• 10+ years of data science experience at scale, with at least 5 years of experience managing high-performance data science and Artificial Intelligence teams.
• Experience with distributed machine learning algorithms and frameworks.
• Experience building Generative AI systems to solve real-world business problems using techniques such as Agentic frameworks & LLM finetuning.
• Solid understanding of data science processes and platforms.
• Strong programming skills in Python and another object-oriented language (e.g. C++, Rust).
• Clear communicator, with the ability to articulate ideas with data.
• Experience with operating in a corporate environment and stakeholder management.
• Strong results-driven personality with an innovative spirit.