Manager, AI Services Engineering

At FinAIra, we are building the future of financial services, powered by intelligent, data-driven systems. We are seeking a foundational leader for our AI & Machine Learning track. This is a core technology leadership position focused on research, development, and productization, acting as the bridge between our most advanced technical capabilities and the strategic needs of our financial services clients. You will be responsible for the strategic oversight and delivery of critical FinTech products or services. You will lead a team of top-tier scientists and engineers to build proprietary machine learning models that will become our core intellectual property and competitive advantage in the banking and FinTech landscape.

The difference you will make:

· Recruit, lead, and mentor teams of world-class data scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of research, innovation, and engineering excellence.

· Drive the technical vision and architecture for our AI/ML platform. Design and oversee the development of scalable, production-grade machine learning systems for applications such as fraud detection, credit risk modeling, and agentic AI.

· Partner with business development and product management to define new AI-powered service offerings. Ensure our R&D roadmap is directly aligned with market opportunities, revenue goals, and client demand.

· Act as the firm's senior technical expert on AI/ML in high-stakes client engagements, discovery workshops, and strategic planning sessions. Translate complex client challenges into tractable machine learning problems.

· Guide the team through the entire ML lifecycle, from data ingestion and feature engineering to model training, deployment, and monitoring. You are expected to be able to dive deep into the code and mathematical foundations.

· Implement and enforce best practices for the machine learning development lifecycle (MLOps) to ensure robust, repeatable, and high-quality delivery of our AI solutions to clients.

· Develop and articulate our firm's point of view on the application of AI in banking and fintech, representing the company through white papers, conference presentations, and executive briefings.

· Proactively manage complex service incidents, problems, and changes, ensuring effective communication and resolution with stakeholders.

· Drive continuous service improvement initiatives, leveraging data analysis and client feedback to enhance value delivery.

· Lead the gathering of critical client feedback and collaborate strategically with business development to enhance service offerings and shape product roadmaps.

Requirements

What you will bring to the role:

· Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Business Administration, or a related field. ITIL Expert or other advanced service management certifications strongly preferred.

· 8+ years of professional experience in data science or machine learning, with at least 3 years in a technical leadership or management role.

· Experience in a client-facing or technical advisory role, with the ability to communicate complex machine learning concepts to both technical and executive audiences.

· Expert-level proficiency in Python and ML frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or JAX.

· Demonstrable experience architecting and deploying ML models into a production environment on a major cloud & on-prem platform (AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudera).

· Strong theoretical understanding of a broad range of machine learning concepts, including deep learning, NLP, and statistical modeling.

Preferred Qualifications:

· Experience building and scaling an AI/ML team from an early stage.

· Direct experience in the fintech or banking industry, particularly with financial data (e.g., time-series analysis, credit scoring, anti-money laundering (AML)).

· A track record of publications in top-tier AI conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, KDD).

· Experience defining go-to-market strategies for technology-driven products or services.

Soft Skills:

o Proven ability to inspire, motivate, and mentor senior technical teams and managers.

o Outstanding analytical, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving skills, with a focus on systemic improvements and strategic impact.

o Superior communication (verbal, written, executive presentations) and negotiation skills, capable of influencing at the executive and board levels.

o Strong business acumen with the ability to translate technical AI/ML capabilities into strategic business value and revenue opportunities.

o Demonstrated ability to drive cultural change towards innovation and excellence in AI/ML engineering.