Head of Machine Learning

Are you ready to build the future of our company?

About Mercury® Financial

Mercury® Financial is an innovative and growing financial services company with locations in both Austin, TX and Wilmington, DE. Our mission is to help customers build and maintain their financial future by offering them credit cards they can afford and understand. After only a few years, we’ve had great success building a significant credit card program, but we are aiming higher, which  means we have lots of challenging problems for you to help us solve. Come onboard, work with some of the most talented individuals who thrive on collaboration and teamwork, and help us continue to build something special.

Location 

Mercury® Financial is headquartered in the progressive and entrepreneurial tech hub of Austin, Texas. Our physical location is situated in a beautiful park like setting called the Domain. The Domain's ideal location and exceptional amenities, amazing restaurant selection, convenient parking are all perfect for after work happy hours!

And 

Mercury® Financial’s Wilmington, Delaware office is located near the Riverfront. Wilmington is Delaware’s largest city and is the economic engine of the state. Based on its convenient location, direct access to I-95, Amtrak and SEPTA, this location allows our employees the flexibility to live in a variety of the surrounding areas.

What it’s like to work here: 

We foster a collaborative and innovative culture where you will be empowered to do your best work. All of our employees bring everything they have to their job and are part of a larger team working towards a greater goal. We do right by our employees, our partners, and our customers.

Position Overview: 

We are seeking an experienced and innovative Head of Machine Learning to lead the development and execution of advanced machine learning (ML) initiatives across our credit card business. This critical leadership role will focus on transforming our data and analytics capabilities to enhance customer acquisition, credit decisioning, fraud detection, and overall customer experience. The ideal candidate will bring a blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and leadership skills to drive measurable results and align ML strategies with the company's vision.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

• Define and execute the ML strategy across the credit card lifecycle, including acquisition, underwriting, pricing, and customer retention.
• Partner with C-suite executives to integrate ML-driven insights into the company’s strategic initiatives and growth objectives.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and emerging technologies to ensure the company remains a leader in ML applications.

Model Development & Innovation:

• Develop and oversee deployment of ML models to optimize credit risk scoring, fraud detection, marketing campaigns, and customer segmentation.
• Leverage cutting-edge ML techniques such as deep learning and natural language processing to solve complex business problems.
• Collaborate with data engineering teams to create robust pipelines for model training, testing, and deployment.

Customer-Centric Solutions:

• Drive personalized customer experiences by implementing ML models for tailored recommendations and offers.
• Build predictive systems to enhance customer acquisition, retention, and lifetime value.

Operational Efficiency:

• Automate decisioning processes using AI/ML to reduce application processing time and improve operational efficiency.
• Establish frameworks for model monitoring, retraining, and validation to maintain high performance and compliance.

Regulatory Compliance & Governance:

• Ensure ML solutions meet industry regulations such as FCRA and any other applicable compliance standards.
• Develop explainable AI frameworks to enhance transparency and fairness in decision-making processes.

Team Leadership:

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists, ML engineers, and analysts to deliver on strategic objectives.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Drive recruitment and retention of top-tier talent in ML and AI.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Work closely with credit risk, fraud, marketing, product, and technology teams to align ML initiatives with business needs.
• Translate complex ML methodologies into actionable insights for stakeholders across the organization.

You’re perfect for this role if you have: 

Education:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Statistics, or a related field.

Experience:

• 10+ years of experience in data science, with a strong emphasis on machine learning in the financial services or credit card industry.
• Proven track record of deploying scalable ML solutions in areas like credit underwriting, fraud prevention, and customer acquisition.
• Hands-on experience with large-scale data analytics and cloud-based ML platforms.

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in ML frameworks and programming languages (e.g., Python, R, SQL).
• Expertise in big data technologies and cloud services (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).
• Strong knowledge of credit card business operations, including risk modeling, fraud detection, and customer behavior analysis.

Leadership & Communication:

• Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to inspire and guide high-performing teams.
• Strong communication skills to present technical concepts and ML insights to non-technical stakeholders and executives.

Why you’ll like working here:

This isn’t a place where you will fill a seat and keep your head down. This is a place where everybody is expected to help build something. This is a place where you can be involved and lead in your areas of expertise. So, how much do you believe in yourself? If you believe in your skills, in your drive and determination, we’ll give you the resources and room to show the world what you can do. Here are just a few of the benefits we offer:

• Employer insurance coverage for employee & dependents 
• Life insurance 
• 401K with generous employer match 
• Wellness program
• Monthly Company Events  

Mercury® Financial is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.