Senior Data Scientist, Team Lead

Who are we? 

Hi! 👋 We are Ravelin! We're a fraud detection company using advanced machine learning and network analysis technology to solve big problems. Our goal is to make online transactions safer and help our clients feel confident serving their customers. 

And we have fun in the meantime! We are a friendly bunch and pride ourselves in having a strong culture and adhering to our values of empathy, ambition, unity and integrity. We really value work/life balance and we embrace a flat hierarchy structure company-wide. Join us and you’ll learn fast about cutting-edge tech and work with some of the brightest and nicest people around - check out our Glassdoor reviews. 

If this sounds like your cup of tea, we would love to hear from you! For more information check out our blog to see if you would like to help us prevent crime and protect the world's biggest online businesses.

The Team

You will be joining the Detection team. The Detection team is responsible for keeping fraud rates low – and clients happy – by continuously developing, training and deploying machine learning models. We aim to make model deployments as easy and error free as code deployments. Google’s Best Practices for ML Engineering is our bible.

Our models are trained to spot multiple types of fraud, using a variety of data sources and techniques in real time. The prediction pipelines are under strict SLAs, every prediction must be returned in under 300ms. When models are not performing as expected, it’s down to the Detection team to investigate why.

The Detection team is core to Ravelin’s success. They work closely with the Data Engineering Team who build infrastructure and the Intelligence & Investigations Team who liaise with clients.

The Role

We are currently looking for a Data Scientist to line manage data scientists and ML engineers and drive innovation across our suite of fraud detection products. You’ll work closely with product, engineering and our operations teams to develop ML models and ML products and deliver them to current and future clients. Our ideal candidate is pragmatic, approachable and filled with knowledge tempered by past failures. 

You will hire, coach and develop a talented data science team to deliver on the ML product roadmap. You are in your element working with people. You’ll partner closely with senior members of Detection to discover new avenues for ML product innovation. From time to time, you’re excited to even do some software or model development yourself. 

The work is not all green field research. The everyday work is about making safe incremental progress towards better models for our clients. The ideal candidate is willing to get involved in both aspects of the job – and understand why both are important.

Responsibilities

• Act as a leader in establishing excellence across data science and within the detection team
• Line manage a team of data scientists - providing coaching and guidance in support of the ongoing development and growth of your team
• Research new techniques to disrupt fraudulent behaviour
• Investigate model performance issues
• Develop and deploy new models to detect fraud whilst maintaining SLAs
• Liaise with product, engineering and operations to question your assumptions and ensure we make the right ML product decisions 

Requirements

• Minimum of 1 year of experience as a data science or engineering manager, managing at least 3 people
• You are a strong collaborator with colleagues outside of your immediate team, for example with client operations teams, product, engineering and with senior leadership.
• You know how to manage and retain talented engineers and data scientists from a diverse range of backgrounds and personalities. You can handle difficult management situations with tact, empathy and support.
• You have significant experience building and deploying ML models using the Python data stack.
• You understand software engineering best practices (version control, unit tests, code reviews, CI/CD) and how they apply to machine learning engineering.

Nice to haves

• Experience with Go, C++, Java or another systems language
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes and ML production infrastructure.
• Tensorflow or Pytorch deep learning experience.
• Experience using dbt. 

Benefits

• Flexible Working Hours & Remote-First Environment — Work when and where you’re most productive, with flexibility and support.
• Comprehensive BUPA Health Insurance — Stay covered with top-tier medical care for your peace of mind.
• £1,000 Annual Wellness and Learning Budget — Prioritise your health and well-being with funds for fitness, mental health, and more.
• Monthly Wellbeing and Learning Day — Take every last Friday of the month off to recharge, on us.
• 25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays + 1 Extra Cultural Day — Enjoy generous time off to rest, travel, or celebrate what matters to you.
• Mental Health Support via Spill — Access professional mental health services when you need them.
• Aviva Pension Scheme — Plan for the future with our pension program.
• Ravelin Gives Back — Join monthly charitable donations and volunteer opportunities to make a positive impact.
• Fortnightly Randomised Team Lunches — Connect with teammates from across the company over in person or remote lunches every other week.
• Cycle-to-Work Scheme — Save on commuting costs while staying active.
• BorrowMyDoggy Access — Love dogs? Spend time with a furry friend through this unique perk.
• Weekly Board Game Nights & Social Budget — Unwind with weekly board games or plan your own socials, supported by a company budget

*Job offers may be withdrawn if candidates do not meet our pre-employment checks: unspent criminal convictions, employment verification, and right to work.​*