Associate Director - Data Science and AI

Role Overview

We are seeking a dynamic and visionary Associate Director to lead solutioning and innovation initiatives within our AI Innovations Lab. This role involves designing, delivering, and scaling AI/ML solutions for clients in the financial services ecosystem. The ideal candidate brings a mix of hands-on technical expertise, strategic thinking, and leadership maturity to steer high-impact engagements from concept to delivery.

You will collaborate across teams to bring new ideas to life, drive innovation from the ground up, and ensure successful execution through tight alignment with client stakeholders and internal leadership. This is a highly visible, client-facing role with the opportunity to shape AI strategy for some of the most innovative players in financial services.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of AI/ML solutions across financial domains such as banking, payments, digital lending, and credit lifecycle management.
• Front-end with clients to translate complex business challenges into scalable AI solutions, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and measurable ROI.
• Manage cross-functional delivery teams, ensuring execution excellence and adherence to timelines, quality standards, and client expectations.
• Act as a thought leader and solution architect, continuously identifying opportunities for innovation using emerging technologies and AI algorithms.
• Take ownership of end-to-end AI program delivery, from ideation, POC development, and pilot testing to full-scale production deployment.
• Drive collaborative innovation—partnering with internal and external stakeholders to develop differentiated AI solutions tailored to financial services use cases.
• Provide technical mentorship and strategic direction to a high-performing team of data science consultants and AI engineers.
• Foster a culture of continuous experimentation and intellectual curiosity, with a focus on building from scratch and scaling impactful solutions.

Required Qualifications

• 7 to 12 years of experience in AI, ML, or analytics, with demonstrated impact in financial services domains.
• Proven experience delivering AI solutions across the credit, payments, banking, or fintech landscape, preferably working with or consulting for credit providers or digital lending platforms.
• Deep understanding of the AI project lifecycle—from business problem formulation to deployment and post-production monitoring.
• Hands-on expertise with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and programming tools such as Python, Spark, and SQL.
• Strong track record of leading technical teams and interfacing with senior client stakeholders, including product heads, data leaders, and transformation executives.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field from a Tier 1 academic institution (Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or equivalent).

Preferred (Good to Have)

• Exposure to Generative AI, LLMs, or agent-based AI frameworks.
• Experience in setting up or contributing to AI-based innovations, internal solution accelerators, or Centers of Excellence (CoE).