Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist

• Senior AI leadership role at one of the UK's leading AI and Data businesses
• Cutting-edge work across machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI at enterprise scale
• Belfast based hybrid working with UK-wide client engagement
• Salary £90,000 to £130,000
• UK work authorisation required

Our client is a leading digital technology consultancy with a decade-long track record of delivering production-grade AI solutions across government, healthcare, defence and commercial sectors. Their 150-strong AI and Data Practice is trusted by Microsoft, AWS and others to deliver advanced solutions at citizen scale. Pioneers in responsible AI, this is a genuinely exciting practice to join at a pivotal moment in its growth.

A principal-level leadership position for a senior AI and Data Science professional who can operate with equal confidence in a technical deep-dive and a C-suite conversation. You will be accountable for large-scale AI solution delivery, help set the strategic direction for AI and data science across the business, and lead a community of data scientists and AI engineers. If you want to influence the future direction of AI in some of the UK's most important organisations, this is the role.

• Lead the delivery of complex, production-grade AI and ML solutions at scale across major client programmes
• Provide technical and thought leadership to C-level and senior stakeholders, defining architectural principles and strategic direction
• Drive adoption of scalable, cloud-native AI development practices and robust engineering standards
• Lead, mentor and develop a community of data scientists, AI engineers and technical managers
• Embed responsible AI principles, model interpretability and ethical considerations across all delivery
• Shape commercial AI offerings, influence account strategies and support business development
• Build enduring client relationships and develop new alliances with technology partners
• Contribute to the wider AI community through thought leadership, research and industry engagement

Essential:

• Proven track record delivering complex, production-grade AI and ML solutions at scale
• Deep expertise in advanced AI and ML models including time series, supervised and unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, LLMs and agentic AI
• Experience with modern AI engineering approaches including prompt engineering, RAG and agentic AI orchestration
• Expertise in data engineering for AI, including large-scale, unstructured and multimodal data
• Deep understanding of responsible AI principles with a track record of influencing policy and standards
• Ability to communicate and negotiate with C-level stakeholders, translating technical concepts into business value
• Experience shaping commercial AI offerings and driving business development
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing data science teams and communities

Desirable:

• Experience with PyTorch, Tensor Flow, and fine-tuning or distillation of LLMs including GPT, Llama and Gemini
• Experience with vector databases, semantic search and knowledge graphs
• Active contribution to open-source projects, research publications or industry events
• Familiarity with AI security, privacy and compliance standards including ISO 42001

• Salary of £90,000 to £130,000
• Work at the cutting edge of AI and ML delivery on programmes at genuine national scale
• Join a 150-strong AI and Data Practice at a pivotal moment in its growth
• Pioneer in responsible AI with real influence over policy, standards and industry direction
• People-first culture with a strong focus on innovation, continuous learning and engineering excellence
• Hybrid working within a collaborative and ambitious practice