Machine Learning, Tech Lead

Role overview

A digital consumer bank is hiring a Machine Learning Tech Lead to head the ML function for its Workforce Management organization — the group that ensures the right human support supply meets customer demand. The team designs the ML and optimisation systems that power customer support at scale, spanning demand forecasting, real-time supply/demand matching, problem routing and escalation, and predictive models for work duration and assignment. This is a hands-on technical leadership role suited to a recent senior IC, Tech Lead, or Team Lead who still builds models themselves and is ready to grow into broader people leadership.

Responsibilities

- Set the ML strategy for Workforce Management, identifying where forecasting, optimisation, and machine learning can have the greatest impact on customer and agent outcomes - Lead design, build, and delivery of production ML systems across forecasting, routing, assignment, escalation, and completion-time prediction - Stay close to the technical detail: framing problems well, choosing modelling approaches, defining robust validation, reviewing trade-offs, and shipping safely - Partner with Product, Engineering, Data, and Operations leaders to turn ambiguous operational problems into pragmatic, iterative ML solutions that improve real outcomes - Coach and develop ML scientists through regular 1:1s, feedback, and technical guidance - Establish healthy ways of working: clear priorities, strong technical standards, good documentation, sensible monitoring, and space for focused work - Contribute to wider ML discipline practices for building, shipping, and operating models in production

Requirements

- Recent hands-on ML practitioner experience as a Senior IC, Tech Lead, Team Lead, or ML manager - Strong foundations in machine learning, statistics, forecasting, optimisation, or operations research, applied to messy real-world problems - Track record of building, shipping, and owning production ML systems with attention to reliability, monitoring, and safety - Ability to move between technical depth and business context, explaining complex ML ideas clearly to varied audiences - Genuine interest in coaching others; people management experience is welcome but a first formal management step is also possible - Comfort with ambiguous problem spaces where the right answer might be a model, an algorithm, or a simpler heuristic

Nice to have

- Familiarity with LLM applications, though the role emphasises rigorous ML, forecasting, and operations research rather than generative AI

Benefits and work setup

- Salary range £113,200 – £145,200 plus performance-linked incentive awards - Relocation support to the UK and visa sponsorship available - Location options: London office, Cardiff office, or UK remote with occasional London meetups - Flexible working hours with a focus on outcomes - £1,000 annual learning budget for books, training, and conferences - Company laptop provided, plus extra home-office support for fully remote workers