Lead Data Scientist

Overview

The Hiscox Data Team is transforming data maturity across the organisation to accelerate business growth and efficiency using Data, Analytics, and AI. The virtual team consists of a central function driving alignment, Business Unit teams identifying commercial value and providing execution capacity and technology providing for Data Engineering and ML Operations services. We aim to empower colleagues by improving data fluency and promote a data-driven, insight-led culture that supports informed, customer-centric decisions. Commercial focus, continuous improvement and product centric delivery is at the heart of everything we do.

The Role

Working within the Group Data Science team as our Lead Data Scientist, you will be responsible for providing the business with a highly capable data science and machine learning chapter. This important chapter will facilitate the successful delivery of new data analytics, ML and AI based solutions and provide insights and capabilities to support decision making across the organisation, using a combination of public and private data sources, models and cloud services. As part of our leadership team, you will lead and nurture our data science and machine learning team – ensuring we recruit, mentor, coach, train and retain talented members.

Responsibilities

• Experience in a range of machine learning techniques and an understanding of when each tool is best used.
• Strong Statistics capability.
• Familiarity with a wide range of generative AI tools and methodologies including prompt/context engineering, RAG and building agentic toolsets.
• Strong coding ability in python, with experience in other languages an advantage.
• Enthusiasm for developing and mentoring junior talent.
• Technical project leadership experience with experience of line management an advantage.
• Provide Data Science tooling for the chapter that allows for effective documentation of prior experiments (repeatability and reproducibility), cross-chapter collaboration and ability to experiment effectively with a choice of data science programming languages and use of notebooks where appropriate.
• A Prototype, fail rapidly and iterate mindset to enable successful delivery.
• Communicate change across the business to wider technical teams to gain insight and learning around data science solutions.

Qualifications

• Experience in a range of machine learning techniques and an understanding of when each tool is best used.
• Strong Statistics capability.
• Familiarity with a wide range of generative AI tools and methodologies including prompt/context engineering, RAG and building agentic toolsets.
• Strong coding ability in python, with experience in other languages an advantage.
• Enthusiasm for developing and mentoring junior talent.
• Technical project leadership experience with experience of line management an advantage.
• Provide Data Science tooling for the chapter that allows for effective documentation of prior experiments (repeatability and reproducibility), cross-chapter collaboration and ability to experiment effectively with a choice of data science programming languages and use of notebooks where appropriate.
• A Prototype, fail rapidly and iterate mindset to enable successful delivery.
• Communicate change across the business to wider technical teams to gain insight and learning around data science solutions.

Diversity & Benefits

At Hiscox we care about our people. We hire the best people for the job and we’re committed to diversity and creating a truly inclusive culture, which we believe drives success.

Working life doesn’t always have to be in the office, so we have introduced hybrid working to encourage a healthy work life balance. This hybrid working model is set by the team rather than the business to enable you to manage your own personal work-life balance.

We see it as the best of both worlds; structure and sociability on one hand, and independence and flexibility on the other.

Our benefits package includes a bonus, contributory pension, 25 days annual leave plus 2 Hiscox days and a 4 week paid sabbatical with every 5 years’ worth of service, private medical for all the family and much more.

Work with amazing people and be part of a unique culture

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