Lead Data Scientist

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Senior Data Scientist

Location: London
Department: Group Data & Analytics
Reporting to: Senior Data Science Manager

About the Role

Howden Group Holdings, a leading international insurance broker operating in over 100 countries, is seeking an experienced Lead Data Scientist to join our Group Data Science team.

This is a senior individual contributor role for a highly capable practitioner who has successfully delivered machine learning and AI products from concept through to production within large, complex organisations. The successful candidate will combine deep technical expertise with strong commercial acumen, helping shape and deliver scalable AI and machine learning solutions that drive measurable business outcomes across Howden's global operations.

Working closely with business stakeholders, data engineers, and platform teams, you will lead the technical delivery of high-value data science and AI initiatives, ensuring solutions are production-ready, scalable, and adopted by the business. You will act as a technical leader and trusted advisor, helping to establish best practices while contributing directly to hands-on delivery.

Role Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of machine learning and AI solutions, from discovery through to production deployment and ongoing optimisation

• Partner with business stakeholders to identify opportunities, define use cases, and prioritise work based on commercial value

• Design, develop, and deploy scalable machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI applications

• Drive technical best practices across data science, experimentation, model development, MLOps, and software engineering

• Collaborate closely with Data Engineering, Platform, and Product teams to deliver production-grade solutions

• Contribute to the evolution of Howden's AI and data science capabilities, standards, and ways of working

• Support agile delivery teams, providing technical leadership and guidance throughout the product lifecycle

• Stay current with developments in Data Science, AI, and cloud technologies, helping bring innovative approaches into the organisation.

Your Skills

• Proven track record of building and deploying production-grade AI/ML applications that generate measurable business value

• Experience working with Data Engineering, MLOps and Product teams to bringing Machine Learning systems from research all the way to deployment and maintenance

• Excellent Python programming skills and hands on experience with libraries such as XGBoost, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Hugging Face

• Experience working with cloud-based data and AI platforms, particularly Azure and Databricks

• Strong stakeholder engagement and storytelling capabilities; able to translate technical complexity into executive-level narratives

• Experience working within agile, cross-functional product and delivery teams

• Strong problem-solving skills and a commercial mindset, with a focus on outcomes rather than models alone

• Insurance, reinsurance, financial services, or other regulated industry experience is desirable

• Experience with Generative AI, LLM applications, agentic systems

• Exposure to mentoring or coaching other data scientists and technical practitioners

Why Join Howden?

At Howden, we are building data and AI capabilities that directly support our growth ambitions across the Group. As a Lead Data Scientist, you will have the opportunity to work on meaningful business challenges, develop innovative AI products, and help shape the future of data-driven decision making across an employee-owned global organisation.

You will join a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment where technical excellence, innovation, and commercial impact are valued equally. Working alongside talented colleagues from across the business, you will play a key role in turning advanced analytics and AI into measurable outcomes for Howden and its clients.

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.