Head of Data Science at Interswitch Group

Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of money as well as the exchange of value between individuals and organisations on a timely and consistent basis. We started operations in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing, and have progressively evolved into an integrated payment services company, building and managing payment infrastructure as well as delivering innovative payment products and transactional services throughout the African continent. At Interswitch, we offer unique career opportunities for individuals capable of playing key roles and adding value in an innovative and fun environment.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Data Science

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

• To lead and manage a high performing team of data scientists and machine learning engineers to continuously deliver results
• To manage the entire lifecycle of data science products/portfolio and drive the development of new machine learning capabilities tandem with delivering business value using advanced analytics

Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Management:

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of data scientists, providing guidance on best practices in machine learning, statistical modeling, and data-driven decision-making.
• Facilitate career development and foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation within the team.

Product Management:

• Collaborate with business development, product managers, and other stakeholders to enhance existing data science products.
• Actively engage in product lifecycle management, ensuring alignment with business objectives and customer needs.
• Oversee the deployment and maintenance of machine learning models in production, ensuring robustness and scalability.

Solution Innovation & Development:

• Design and build new data-driven products and services, leveraging machine learning, AI, and advanced analytics to meet evolving business demands.
• Explore innovative applications of data science to create additional value for our platform.
• Infuse machine learning capabilities into operational processes, improving efficiency and accuracy across workflows.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Work closely with business development teams to explore new opportunities for data solutions, acting as the technical counterpart to foster data-driven partnerships.
• Collaborate with product managers to define technical requirements for new features and enhancements, ensuring seamless integration of data science solutions.

Research & Development:

• Stay up to date with the latest advancements in machine learning, data engineering, and AI technologies.
• Lead the R&D efforts on emerging techniques such as natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and predictive modeling, ensuring continuous improvement in product offerings.

Performance Monitoring & Optimization:

• Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for all data science initiatives, ensuring measurable impact on business growth and operational efficiency.
• Drive continuous improvement in the performance of deployed models, optimizing for speed, accuracy, and interpretability.
• Drive MLOPS best practices and Infrastructure improvement for all ML/DS initiatives.

Academic Qualification(s)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

Professional Qualification(s):

• Not mandatory

Experience (Number of relevant years):

• Minimum of 7 years in Data Science, Machine Learning and Advanced analytics, preferably from the fintech, telco or banking sectors.
• 2-3 years leading junior data scientists
• Proven experience in designing, developing, and deploying data science products in production environments.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.