Lead Data Scientist
£75,000 per annum
Hybrid | Central London (2–3 days per week in-office)
Permanent | Full-Time
We’re working with a leading UK-based law firm that’s investing heavily in digital transformation, innovation, and AI. As part of this, we're recruiting a Lead Data Scientist to help shape and deliver scalable products that sit at the intersection of data science, software engineering, and DevOps.
If you’re a technically curious builder with a track record of delivering software into production - and you're ready to take the lead in a collaborative, fast-paced environment - this could be the ideal next step in your career.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead the development of innovative digital products from concept through to production
* Design and build scalable, containerised software solutions that incorporate data science components
* Make architectural decisions around tooling, frameworks, and development approaches
* Work with DevOps practices including Docker, Terraform, and cloud deployment (Azure preferred)
* Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including product managers, data scientists, and business stakeholders
* Mentor and support junior engineers, helping to grow technical capability within the team
* Stay up-to-date with developments in data science and AI (e.g., LLMs, agentic AI), and integrate this thinking into product delivery
* Communicate clearly and confidently to both technical and non-technical audiences
Ideal Candidate Profile
Technical Experience
* 5–7 years of professional experience across software engineering, DevOps, or applied data science
* Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with JavaScript/TypeScript
* Working knowledge of React (not a frontend role, but an understanding of the stack is important)
* Hands-on experience with containerisation (Docker) and cloud deployment (Terraform, microservices, Azure)
* Exposure to Jupyter notebooks, and understanding of how machine learning models are developed and deployed
* Experience in fast-paced or start-up environments where you’ve contributed across the stack
Background & Education
* Degree in a quantitative or technical field (e.g., Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, AI)
* Previous experience in data science or BI analytics is beneficial - particularly if you’ve moved into engineering
* Bonus: awareness of modern AI tooling (e.g., LLMs, Hugging Face) and an enthusiasm to apply this in real-world products
Leadership & Soft Skills
* Strong communication and collaboration skills
* Experience mentoring junior team members
* Willingness to step into a leadership role and grow into the function
* Pragmatic decision-maker who can weigh trade-offs and work well with product teams
If you're looking to join a business that's serious about building modern, intelligent software solutions - and want to help define how AI and data products are built in a complex, regulated industry - we’d love to hear from you.