Data Scientist

About The Company
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a renowned British retailer committed to delivering high-quality products and exceptional customer service. With a rich heritage spanning over a century, M&S has established itself as a leader in the retail industry, offering a wide range of clothing, food, and home products. The company prides itself on innovation, sustainability, and creating a positive shopping experience for customers across the globe. As part of its ongoing digital transformation, M&S is investing heavily in cutting-edge technology and data-driven solutions to enhance its offerings and operational efficiency.

About The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Machine Learning Technical Lead to join our dynamic team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for designing, developing, deploying, and monitoring advanced AI and machine learning solutions that power our customer-facing platforms and internal systems. You will lead a team of talented data scientists, fostering a culture of innovation, excellence, and continuous improvement. Your expertise will ensure the development of scalable, robust, and impactful machine learning models, including retrieval, ranking, recommender systems, and large language models (LLMs) that enhance conversational experiences and personalization.

This role requires a strategic thinker with strong technical acumen, capable of collaborating with cross-functional teams such as Product, Engineering, Design, and Business stakeholders. You will define technical standards, promote best practices, and build reusable capabilities that streamline development processes. Your leadership will directly influence the technological direction of M&S’s AI initiatives, ensuring alignment with business goals and customer needs.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a technical lead in ML/AI, with a focus on end-to-end solutions including LLM-based systems
• Strong background in software engineering principles and scalable system design
• Expertise in working with large-scale datasets and distributed data processing frameworks such as Spark
• Experience with recommendation and personalization systems, real-time inference, and vector search architectures
• Excellent communication skills, capable of conveying complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop high-performing teams of data scientists
• Proficiency in coding languages such as Python, Java, or Scala, and familiarity with ML frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar
• Knowledge of model deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement practices
• Understanding of best practices in experimentation, evaluation, documentation, and productionization of ML models

Responsibilities

• Design, build, test, evaluate, deploy, and monitor machine learning and AI solutions in production environments
• Lead the development of retrieval, ranking, recommender systems, and LLM components to enhance conversational experiences
• Mentor and coach a team of five data scientists, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities and deliver impactful customer solutions
• Identify opportunities to abstract common logic and functionality into reusable components, frameworks, and assets
• Define and promote best practices across all stages of the ML lifecycle, including analysis, experimentation, coding, testing, and deployment
• Ensure the robustness, scalability, performance, and reliability of ML systems in production
• Stay updated with industry trends and emerging technologies to continuously improve AI capabilities

Benefits

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and selected third-party brands after probation
• Competitive holiday entitlement with options to purchase additional days
• Discretionary bonus schemes based on personal and company performance
• Generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance
• Comprehensive induction programs and ongoing training opportunities
• Exclusive discounts and perks via the M&S Choices portal
• Industry-leading parental, adoption, and neonatal policies supporting work-life balance
• Access to wellbeing support services, including 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist
• Charity volunteer days to support causes close to your heart

Equal Opportunity
Marks & Spencer is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and empowered. We embrace diversity and are dedicated to building teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and ensure equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. If you require any support or reasonable adjustments during the application or onboarding stages, please let us know. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and success, and we look forward to welcoming you to our team.